Excellent column by Ethan, who has some time on his hands thanks to the NBA lockout. He suggests looking to the past -- 2004 to be exact -- so as to not repeat it. Give it a look. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports...e-miami-dolphins-owner-seeks-new-1882621.html
The key is having a trusted source that can identify the talent. Maybe it's Carl Peterson. I wonder how close his ear may still be to the ground.
Amen... They were talking on the Sedano show this morning to have listeners rank Cowher, Fisher, and Gruden in the order you would want them. I texted that I dont care about the big name guy. Big names just give you fun offseasons. But offseasons are not near as cool as real seasons. I'd love to get somebody from Green Bay, New England or Philly (3 best organizations in football IMO). Wouldnt mind someone from New Orleans or maybe Atlanta (a protege of Thomas Dimitroff?). I do not know of who in these organizations would be good candidates... but I would have to think that some of these very well run organizations would have some good younger candidates ready to take the next step after being groomed... And that is what we need. I agree with the article that if you are going to cut with Sparano... you need to just cut clean and start from scratch... hiring someone from the top and allowing them to fill everything below... bringing in everyone on the same page and of the same philosophy.
I don't think you should strictly go for the big names, but I don't think you should avoid them either. I think expecting either way to have a constant result is to not look at reality properly.
Fantastic article. Thanks for posting. Of the "big three", the only one I'd be happy with is Cowher, and even then, only under the circumstances (or similar circumstances) that CK outlined in the Club Thread.
Remember how we were all laughing at Atlanta after Parcells jilted them, and they had to settle for no namers Dimitroff (who was just the head Patriots scout) and Mike Smith? Yeah we sure showed them.
I, for one, do not want any of the big three names mentioned. Past success in one place does not firmly predict future success in another. What we need is a good, rising, knowledgeable executive to head the program. As much as I do not think Ireland is anywhere near as responsible for this clinging miasma Miami Dolphins football has become, as long as he remains, the residue of the aroma of the Parcells Era (and this was truly HIS creation!) will hover over the efforts of this team. Every decision will be questioned to the point of exhaustion not only of the questioner, but also everyone who has to respond either formally or informally to the questions. I think Sparano, should the next game be a loss, needs to be relieved from the hot seat. That states firmly that the organization knows that what had been started in 2008 has not succeeded, and a new team will be brought in to evaluate the team and begin the process of rebuilding. I do not think that this will be a fire house sale as some would call it, because some valuable assets are on this team. But, there are some real question marks as well. I do not think that repackaging Cowher/Gruden is the way to go for a replacement coach. For all of Cowher's success, it took him.. what?.. 15-16 years to reach the promised Land. There is no indication that he has the necessary acumen in the personal aspect of the game if that indeed is one of his requirements. Gruden is more adaptable I feel, but also much more of a risk - feast or famine, and he never met a quarterback he didn't like. Most of all, I do not think that this team should ever again give the head coach complete control. That is what lead to Shula's teams declining, and was an abject failure with Johnson and with Saban. No bueno!!!!!!! Skoknick's article is absolutely right on! Find the best young person who is coming into his own to build the leadership around, and work with him to find the rest of the pieces - from the head coach on down.
I see that argument about it taking Cowher so long to win a Super Bowl thrown around a lot. While true, it does distort things a bit. The bottom line is that Cowher's teams were competitive year in and year out for almost his entire tenure. They went to the Super Bowl in 1995 and 2005, winning it in 2005. Look at some of the other years, though. They should have gone in 1994 but lost to San Diego in the AFC Championship on a pretty flukey play. They went to the AFC Championship game in '97 and 2001, too. I'm not 100% in favor of hiring Cowher either, but the man can clearly coach. His teams always seemed to be prepared to play and it always seemed to me like they played really hard for him. He, or whoever worked with him in the front office, always had a knack for making smart draft picks as well, and this was often picking late in each round. At this point, I am kind of shying away from backing one of the retread guys like Cowher, Gruden, or Fisher, but out of those three I'd definitely take Cowher or Fisher over Gruden. There's just something that comes off a bit phony about Gruden to me.
They are called big names....because they have a track record. A history of winning. I would like a coach who has a history of running a team, building a winner.
I am not so sure about two of the teams you mentioned. If you take Brady off the Patriots right now, they wouldn't be much better than the Colts, without Manning. They have a bottom ten defense and even with all the draft choices they have had over the past few years, their personnel people have not been able to locate the talent to rebuild the defensive side of the team. So I would be hesitant to go after any of the individuals involved with player personnel decisions for the Patriots unless Ross can somehow pry Belichick away from them. Since this isn't going to happen. The Dolphins should avoid going after anyone now working for the Patriots. Scott Pioli was suppose to be a GM guru when he was with the Patriots. While the Chiefs had some success last season, this season they are considered one of the worst teams in the NFL. I also am not that crazy about going after anyone in the Eagles organization. The last I checked the Eagles are 1-2 this season and the talent on the Eagles don't appear to be any better than the other teams in their division. I would have no problem with Ross hiring someone from the staffs of the Ravens, Packers, Steelers, or even the Saints, since these teams have shown over the last several years that they know how to effectively use the draft to upgrade their team.
I personally think Baltimore has the best FO and would love to see if someone from there is available. Bill Polian gets a lot of credit, and probably deservidly so from his days in Buffalo, but it is pretty easy to look like an NFL genius when you have Manning. Without that one guy they are one of the worst teams in football. Those guys in New England get a lot of credit too but take Brady away from that team and they go from a 16-0 team to a team that doesnt make the playoffs. Yeah i know they were 11-5 but still 6 teams finished ahead of them in the AFC to get into the playoffs and the guy they replaced Brady with went the the probowl with KC. Speaking of Belichick, what a lot of people dont remember is his first year coaching there he was 5-11 and the next year in which Bledsoe got hurt they started off 0-2 and 1-3 including a loss to the Bungles back when they were the laughing stock of the NFL. There were some people in NE calling for his head. Bam he lucks into Brady and the rest is history. Baltimore built a team that has won a superbowl with Trent Dilfer with one of the greatest defenses ever. They have been a constant contender all decade while constantly upgrading their roster and coaching staff through FA and the draft. If any one player went down, including Flacco, i still think it would be an excellent team.
I think we have to look at it a bit closer. Matt Cassel didn't come to New England as a Pro Bowler. He was a 7th round pick who threw all of 33 passes in college. The Patriots were trotting out a guy who hadn't started a football game since 1999, his senior year of high school. It took a few games, but they found their footing and were unquestionably a better team than us at season's end. I think the rest of the league got lucky New England didn't get in that year. My point is, Belichick always finds a way to coach them up. He's the best coach in the league, but they're pretty adept at finding the right players. Look at what his boy Thomas Dimitroff has done as GM in Atlanta. He got the right coach, the right QB and has stocked that roster. From a talent acquisition perspective, Ozzie Newsome is certainly at the top of the list. So is Green Bay and Ted Thompson. They're solid everywhere and won a title despite a ton of injuries. Probably the deepest team in the league. Some folks here are touting his right-hand man Russ Ball and it doesn't seem like a bad opinion to have.
