http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/03/2437199/miami-dolphins-owner-stephen-ross.html Stay the course until game 16.
Good move Ross. Just stay out of the Andrew Luck Express's way. Tony is absolutely the right man for that job.
That's right and here is proof to it: Take a closer look at #5 and #2... imo they look like brothers or somehow related! But imo, Al Davis is a better owner right now, it's sad but true and we all know it! We're doomed for a long time! [video=youtube;LLc1oLdlXKM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLc1oLdlXKM[/video]
Marino why did you make me a fan of this team..... I root for these clowns and will continue to do so, but it hurts. I don't think we'll ever get it right. I have this bad feeling we'll see Sparano next year after these comments. Sigh.
I hope you are right and there is a part of me that beleives that Ross must have some plan in place , yet Ross hasbt made very many good decisions so far. i think there will be a change but the million dollar question is when ?
Some people just don't understand the genius that is Stephen Ross. Tony is the right man for the job. Nobody can lose like Tony Sparano can. Fire him now, you might go a mediocre 5-11 and miss out on Luck. Keep Sparano, and you have as good a chance as any at landing Andrew Luck.
Thats a good PR move IMO. At least it shows he's going to support him. Incoming coaches look to these things. It sure looks a hell of alot better then then mess he made with harbaugh last year.
It is definitely PR. Ross pretty much painted himself into a corner with this. The fiasco of interviewing a head coach without firing Tony in the first place is why Tony will get the chance to finish out the season as the head coach. I'm sure Ross has been advised to not do anything that looks like a knee jerk reaction. If he fires Tony now, the national media will crucify him after the fiasco of the offseason, and he will have a difficult time convincing a quality head coach that he is an owner that is worth working for. If he keeps him through the season and the team goes 1-15, then at least he can say he gave Tony every opportunity to turn this thing around. That will get some of the heat of the media off his back. Of course, the catch 22 here is that he is going to alienate even more of the fan base, but making the right move in the offseason will bring those fans back. Right now, he can't worry about fan opinion.
Fan opinion can be summed up thus: Suck for Luck. If keeping Sparano around lets us continue to lead the Luck sweepstakes, then Ross will have the fans' support. Doubly so in hindsight if he hires a GM and head coach who actually draft Luck. Strange as it is, keeping Sparano and Ireland through the end of this year is in the franchise's best interests.
He just better hope nothing gets out into the media if he happens to be putting out feelers behind the scenes. If it comes out around week 8 that Ross has been talking to Gruden, Cowher, or Fisher behind the scenes, then he may not be able to hire anyone good for the job when that time comes.
He said all the right things. I know some fans hate Ross for praising Sparano, but he is not going to go on radio and bash the coach and/or players. What did you want him to say? "Sparano is a moron and he will be fired soon." or "at this point I hope we tank the season for a top QB prospect."? Then what high quality coach or free agent would want to come here if he did that? Support the coach until the end of the season, fire them all if (let's face it, when) we have another losing record. Yes, he already did something stupid going for Harbaugh, but he can get a free pass for being a rookie owner. Just give Ross a chance to hire his own regime. No sense bashing him yet.
A thousand times this. We need to send Ross a letter or something to make sure he understands his best opportunity to produce the exciting, Hollywood team he so desperately wants is to Suck for Luck this year, and the fans will absolutely come back to see him on the field with a new coach roaming the sidelines.
I think he's learned his lesson and will wait until one second after the week 17 loss to fire Sparano. Ireland will probably, in ironic Cam Cameron fashion, be left hanging for a few days until the next head coach decides to give him the boot. Actually, it would be pretty ironic if a new GM were hired in week 16 or so. Talk about coming full circle from 2007.
He will keep TS until Ross finds a suitable replacement. Then regardless of what Ross says he's gone. At the moment there are no suitable replacements.
It has nothing to do with a suitable replacement. It has to do with saving face. If it were about improving the team you'd give a coordinator a chance.
Ross knows the season is a wash. I'm sure he's anxious to sign his own regime & put his own stamp on the team come January (He better fire Ireland too, he's worse). He obviously can't do that now though. Support them in the media until the season is over.
If Ross fires Sparano at the end of the season...after his statement of wanting consistency, he'll be completely discredited. I understand the need for consistency and there have been many teams that took a whlie to transition with a new head coach. I know that in this day and age of free agency it's difficult to maintain consistency with players as they jump from team to team looking for their "payday". I understand that as a fan, we only see what happens on the field and not what happens in practice. I get all of that. But after what Ross has said, he better know something WE as fans do not. If he fires Sparano at the end of the season, he's a lying hypocrite and we're screwed. If he keeps Sparano through next season and he doesn't win in his 5th year as head coach, we're screwed. Ross's only saving grace to keep from looking like an idiot like Al Davis is that somehow, should he keep Sparano, the Dolphins next year somehow become a juggernaut on the field, pushing other teams around like bullis pushing other kids around on a playground.
With the Baltimore Orioles and Miami Dolphins I've seen it all when it comes to losing over the last 15 years. Angelos, Huizenga and now Ross are all cut out of the same mold. It's about the profit margins in the end, even if pride and ego still play a part, since no one wants to be in charge of a loser after all. I felt Tony Sparano lost control of this organization last year in listening to some of the things he said to the media and based on their play so far, he's never regained it. I can only hope these guys have enough pride to go and beat the Jets at least once, helping to keep them out of the playoffs. No to 0-16 first, then I can worry about sucking for Luck.
