GM Jeff Ireland: We violated our principles by drafting Ryan Tannehill

Ok, so he does what fans seem to think he should do (draft a QB high) and he's wrong for doing so because he didn't follow Tanny when he was a high school shot putter ?? I don't get the correlation as to what the exact issue is here. Wasn't all the clamoring about Ireland that he didn't pick skilled players high ?? (the answer is yes, I've been here reading it all along) and now he that he's taken a flyer on a skilled player, who didn't exactly disappoint, now he's being scrutinized because he didn't stick to his guns on the '30 start' rule.

There is absolutely no definitive proof that Ireland DIDN'T want Tanny before Sherman's arrival, as you said, they are always secretive about who they are looking at. Which isn't wrong either, given the competitive nature of this business...

But having the guy that has coached Tanny for the last 4 years tell you to take a flyer on him, despite the '30 start' thing is bad?

Just another way to hate on Irish, no matter what he does...not that everything he has or does is always right, but geez...

 

Of course there's a trend. Brandt was also the one who mentioned that White was one of Parcells' projects. That of course had to be a lie, but when he said that Ireland was not hot on RT that directly refutes that Ireland was on RT early on? Better reading comprehension skills would allow someone to understand that Ireland could have been on RT early (as there were reports of that way before Brandt said anything) and then cooled. Or even that he just told Brandt he cooled on him b/c it was right before the draft during lieing season.

 

Ultimately if your point is that Ireland doesn't draft Tannehill without Mike Sherman in the fold, I agree with you. That doesn't mean Ireland doesn't deserve credit though.

I just don't particularly appreciate the lack of truthfulness in his story. Or perhaps it's Gil Brandt that is lying. But Gil has no reason to lie and Jeff has every reason.

 

well this should totally help our qbs confidence, the hell is ireland thinking?

 

Every source that has come out on the Pat White thing has pointed toward Pat being everyone's pick, including Jeff Ireland. Parcells takes credit for it just like Parcells takes credit for everything that happened while he was in Miami, whether that's accurate or not. Parcells would take credit for tsunamis in the south pacific if he thought it would make him look more authoritative. Whenever Parcells talks about when, how and why he liked Pat White, that doesn't contradict the reports of other people that Tony Sparano and Jeff Ireland were equally on board.

 

Ireland had more reason to be lying before the draft than after.

 

If you watch enough of his tape, you see it. I thought he could've tested out even faster based on some of the players he beat in foot races on the field.

 

Who said that was a lie?

The failure in logic on your part is that Pat White being a Parcells pet project means that other people in the organization were not equally on board with selecting him.

 

How is this for an explanation:

Ireland knows he has to draft a QB to replace Henne so he is scouting the top prospects. He also knows that Luck and RGIII will not likely be available unless he trades up so he starts focusing on the next group of guys. Neither Wilson (size) or Tannehill (inexperience) fit his template perfectly but Tannehill's deficiency can be fixed (Wilson isn't going to get any taller) so he is leaning towards Tannehill. Brandt calls to clue Ireland in on Tannehill but Ireland plays it coy as he doesn't want it to get out that he is interested in RT. Dolphins hire Sherman and every media source in the country ties Tannehill to the Phins so Ireland calls Brandt back to see who else he is talkiing up RT to so that he can judge his competition and threats of a trade up.

That scenario seems plausible to me and fits both what Ireland and Brandt have said.

 

And your failure in logic is acting like people always fight their boss.

 

We've been over this. There's an obvious hole in your logic. According to Gil, when he first spoke to Ireland on the subject of Tannehill, Ireland was very "meh" on him. And then some time later Ireland talked to Gil about him again and was really high on Tannehill. You're choosing to believe that one conversation involved lying and one conversation involved truth. That's out of pure convenience to an argument. If he had reason to lie to Gil the first time then that reason did not lessen when he was suddenly truthful with him the second time. It is much more likely that he was being truthful on both occasions. Any other theory is least likely, and has no real rationale to it.

Rafael brings up another valid possible theory which is that Jeff Ireland was high on Tannehill, then not high on him, then got high on him again after Sherman got to town. That's possible.

 

I expect the General Manager of a franchise with final say authority written into his contract to speak up for himself if he disagrees, yes. If he has no balls whatsoever then I suppose he might pretend to agree even though he really does not. The latter would not make him a very good General Manager though.

 

Plausible. But thin.

 

We've been over it, but you failed to convince me with your ample assumptions.

There is no reason for Ireland to lie after he already selected Tannehill. None. Raf does have a plausible scenario. Either way, I think you APPEAR to be too convinced based on too little evidence.

 

You keep acting like the contract dictates what happens. It doesn't.

All it does is give Ireland a legal avenue to defend himself SHOULD he choose to use it. It does not magically make things happen.

Parcells wants White, if Ireland didn't it wouldn't be worth jeopardizing his relationship with his boss over and possibly a legal battle to fight him on it. For all you know, he did fight him, and on draft day Parcells still made the call, since he was the boss. I know, I know, its not like Parcells to throw his ample ego around or anything. Hell, Parcells is known for respecting contracts...like the one he offered JT on a post-it note without JT's agent. Funny, you'd think that would have been Ireland since he had the GM contract and everything.....

 

Gotta love the Circqe Du Phins

 

Why is it thin? It fits what both Gil and Ireland have said, Ireland's MO of be secretive and the time line as well.

 

That's bull. I'm not even going to explain why since I'm pretty sure anyone reading this will know that yes indeed there are reasons for Ireland to lie after the fact.

 

The contract gives Jeff Ireland the ability and excuse to stand up for himself. It's up to him and his ginger vagina to decide whether to use that power and actually do so.

Quite literally no source whatsoever has suggested that Jeff Ireland did not want Pat White.

 

Do you know what a contract is? Have you ever worked for anyone?

 

Not bull at all. At best there's minor reasons.

 

Yes I'm well aware what a contract is and I'm well aware of standing up for yourself on subjects for which you've been given the authority and responsibility.

 

And he gave pretty specific reasons for his relaxing or minimizing the importance of that one principal (poise and maturity showed in the interview). I just don't see any reason why Ireland should be criticized for these comments other than some people just want to complain about Ireland. These comments should more reasonably be taken to indicate that Ireland isn't as married to the Parcellian blueprint as some have suggested.

 

The contract isn't a bullet proof vest. Ireland would have to be willing to take it to court for the contract to matter. Him not taking Parcells to court is not evidence he was behind the White pick or that he is a *****. There's more evidence your argument is biased, then there is for Ireland to be 100% behind the White pick.

 

Ireland did what people complain he doesn't do and he still gets roasted. That's just people trying to be right about hating on a guy.

I don't think it too thin. I think it could be plausible. Who knows. To me it doesn't matter. We have what everyone wanted...a QB.

This^^^^^^^^^^ I think he looks for the kinds of guys the Head Coach wants. That explains the Pat White pick for me. We got a little taste of success with the Wild Cat and all of a sudden, coaches wanted to use it all the time thinking the other NFL teams would have a hard time adjusting for it. I think we will see him draft guys that fit Philbins mold this year. We will see very soon.

 

Who said anything about court?

 

ck, dont waste your time with the ireland obsessors, they will defend him at every angle. Wrong or right, he is god to them and they enjoy his losing seasons.

 

That's what I took from the quote too, that he broke a principle by drafting a QB with less than 30 starts. That shouldn't be extrapolated to say he has the same principle for other positions, or that he was talking about other principles being violated by drafting Tannehill.

 

Can we please just stop this kind of stuff? We can go in circles with this whole thing. I could argue that you'll hate Ireland for allowing the sun to come up in the morning and go down at night. It's chicken and the egg.

 

Agreed. And if you ever listened to Parcells' radio show (which he had before joining the Dolphins), he talked about the running QB quite a bit. Brandt, in one of his interviews, talked about how Parcells wanted to bring in an offense that would "change the NFL". He wanted that as part of his legacy. I think the whole "wildcat" thing was what he saw as his opportunity to do that. So while others may or may not have argued or protested the drafting of White, it was clearly something that Parcells was driving. That was his pick all the way.

 

Are you being purposely obtuse?

Bringing in the court system is the only thing a contract does. Arguing that the contract matters in this case means you think Ireland should have taken Parcells to court after White was selected for violating his contract otherwise Ireland was 100% behind the pick.

 

I have repeatedly said if the Dolphins do not make the playoffs this coming season, Ireland should be fired. That is hardly putting him on some kind of pedestal. In fact, its easy to prove the haters are the ones that are obsessed.

 

This is the kind of ridiculous statement that ruins so many threads. There are far more people who will criticize Ireland for everything than those who will defend him for everything (if there are any). I know that personally, I've criticized many of his picks and decisions. I just refuse to simplistically blame him for everything.

 

That's not hard to believe when you watch the film of him playing WR at TAMU, or on that long TD run he had in 2011 against Oklahoma St. Not hard to believe at all.

 

I think that scenario is as likely as any, and probably the most likely.

 

It was not directly refuted by Gil Brandt. We've been through this before.