All those other flaws disappear if there was good QB play. All coaches have flaws. Looking for the perfect coach is looking for failure
See you're totally neglecting all those other things we had go in our favor that season. All the west coast teams coming to the east coast to play us while our division rivals traveled out there. Division rivals folding faster that Superman on laundry day. Amazing health. Joey Porter making some kind of deal with the devil. These are things that have to be right for Sparano to be an effective coach? Well, I'll take my chances with someone who can gameplan and adapt to less than ideal situations. All of this back & forth won't matter soon anyway. Looks like they backed up a dump truck full of money to Harbaugh's doorstep.
This. A lot of the complaining I attribute to the "grass is always greener on the other side" mentality that a lot of fans have. Yeah, he's made his share of mistakes, but so do most teams. It's an inexact science and one where the success rate is often not that great. Check out how bad the Patriot drafts were from 2007-2009. A handful of impact players at the most. Let's get real here. Going from a 1-15 team with little to no talent to a SB contender in three years would have meant Ireland and Co. would have to have been nearly flawless in their personnel decisions. Obviously they weren't, but we do have an up and coming defense and a few offensive players of note. The big issue is that they may have guessed wrong on the QB. Unfortunate, but you can't condemn the guy just on one pick. And there's rumors that he may have wanted Matt Ryan over Long to begin with. I think it goes to the impatient, nit-picking attitude of some fans that they can't appreciate the solid job Ireland has done, especially when you compare it to not just the rest of the league, but to the barren wasteland of bad draft picks and personnel moves we've had to endure since the days of Dave Wannstadt.
The title of the thread should be changed to: "Ireland AND ROSS a bigger problem than Sparano" Tony is the only guy that behaved with any class in this debacle.
Ireland, the Gene Steratore of GMs, shouldn't be allowed within a mile of any calls regarding our offense.
How else would Tony react? If he gets fired, he gets paid. If he doesn't get fired, he still gets paid. Why should he be mad after turning in his 2nd 7-9 season knowing he'll be getting paid for another one? He's lucky he still has a job.
I would be mad at Ross for sure. He was willing to pay all these other guys $7-8 million and yet you won't pay me but $ 3 million or so ? I would feel cheated.
Go through our entire list of players offense since 2008 and tell me how many players haven't panned out or regressed compared to those who did. (and Jake Long doesn't count as the #1 pick) It's not a fun list to look at I promise you.
cheated? for what? going 7-9 two years in a row? If he's getting paid per win, then he's one of the highest paid coaches in the NFL. I'd feel cheated if I'm the guy cutting him a check for 3 million. just sayin. Ross: "Here's $3 mill, Sparano. Now go make us mediocre."
If he showed the same lack of class as Ross he could have gone to the media and spouted off. I don't like Sparano's style of coaching but the fact remains that he is the only one that has behaved with any decency.
Decency? He finished 7-9 while losing to Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo. How else is he supposed to act? He should've been fired but is now keeping his job through default. He should count his blessings that he's still employed.
Acting with decency is unrelated to whether or not he should be grateful to be employed. The fact is that it was this FO that signed Sparano to a 4 year contract. He did not hold a gun to their head in order to do so. I don't see where gratitude should enter into it. He has a contract and is entitled to be paid.
I can tell you 1 coach who made it to the AFC Championship game after 1 season and with an even worse coach.
So what do you think he said in his interview? "I deserve this job b/c I promise that year's 2 & 3 will be losing seasons?" He should be grateful that he was promoted to a head coaching job. Do you not show gratitude to a company when they hire you to a higher position than you previously held while giving you a pay increase?
You show gratitude to the company by giving it your best efforts. Hiring Sparano was not an act of charity by the Dolphins. They wanted his services and gave him a generous contract in order to secure his services.