I love the blog Finsnation. They re-published a letter that succinctly sums up the argument against Ireland when you look at Ireland's complete body of work, not just this offseason. Its been really annoying that all the pro-Ireland people are coloring those who want him out as "reactionary" or "chicken-littles". This guy seems to have hit the nail on the head: http://www.finsnation.com/fins_nation/2012/03/heres-your-letter.html "You oversimplified a point yesterday when you argued that Jeff Ireland hasn't done anything during *this* free agency period that warrants an uprising, that if you wanted him to go, you should've wanted him to go when Tony Sparano was fired. Well, yeah, but that's the thing: everyone *did* want him fired then, only he wasn't. So, it's not like fans watched him swing and miss on Matt Flynn and decided that that one action was worthy of dismissal. It was more just another sprinkle placed on top of this turd sundae the Dolphins have been shoving down fans' throats for the better part of a decade, but more specifically, the four years Ireland has been here. I think the biggest issue most Dolphins fans have has been the organization's obvious lack of direction. I can understand being concerned with Dez Bryant's character and not wanting that kind of baggage on your team, but they had *just* signed a crazy person in Brandon Marshall two weeks earlier, so which is it? More recently, the Dolphins decided to try and get Peyton Manning, which tells me that they're interested in winning now, and that's fine. Manning falls through, so they turn their attention to Matt Flynn, which tells me that they're interested in rebuilding, and that's fine, too. Then Matt Flynn falls through, so they turn their attention to…Alex Smith? Now I'm confused, because signing Alex Smith is neither "building for the future" nor "trying to win now." He's 9-7, personified. So, what exactly is the ultimate plan? If they didn't think Matt Flynn was good enough, didn't they know that before the Redskins moved up for RGIII? And if that's the case, shouldn't they have tried to overspend to ensure they got RGIII first? Right now, the plan seems to be "Wait for something to happen and then react," which is how you wind up with Joey Harrington and Matt Moore. And it's how you occasionally luck into Chad Pennington. But, it's never a long-term solution and it always winds up setting the franchise back, somehow. And I have a feeling that that's what's frustrating to Dolphins fans, that this team's plan always seems to be "Do just enough to not suck." And Jeff Ireland seems perfectly content in continuing the trend. To put this whole "plan" thing into perspective, the Falcons and Dolphins started in more or less the same place four years ago. Atlanta now has impact players at QB, RB, WR1, WR2 and TE. And that's just on offense. The Dolphins have Reggie Bush. That's it. Also, can people like Stugotz stop with the idea that this was Ireland's first year as "the guy?" He's been on the payroll as GM for four years. We can't be so naive as to decide that all of the bad decisions were Bill's and all of the good decisions were his. Was he out getting coffee every time a bad decision was made those first three years? He deserves some of that blame, too, and to absolve him of that is borderline idiocy. Anyway, that's what I think Dolphins fans are thinking." -Smoot
well, that was complete garbage for a hundred reasons that have already been stated. But you go ahead and keep starting new threads everytime you find some random person that writes a story that supports Ireland being incompetent.
You don't like the threads I start, don't post in them! The other thread I started that you hated (and yet posted in) seems to have taken off quite nicely and has spawned some nice debate. So if you don't like it, go away. Buh-bye!
I hate this uninformed nonsense people keep saying about Flynn. We didn't swing and miss. If you want to use the baseball analogy, we were looking for a first pitch fast ball down the middle (a cheap contract), if it was outside the zone we weren't going to swing (let him walk) If Philbin truly thought Flynn was THAT good, and worth tying his coaching future to, don't you think he might've urged us to beat Seattle's offer? Fact is, Flynn is an unproven commodity, and there's a reason he went in the 7th round. He doesn't have Franchise QB "tools". Consider, he played 2 NFL games his whole career, with one of the best most consistent offenses in those years. By far the best WR corps. And who'd he light up? The NE D, and the Lions D. Not exactly the 85 bears. Get a grip with this Flynn-sanity
By the way, I think you guys are thinking Philbin has a lot more say than he actually does. Does anyone remember why Fisher didn't come here?
How egotistical do you really believe Ireland is? He knows that his future is tied to finding a QB just as much as Philbin's is. Let's consider motives. Philbin and Ireland- Want to win Getting a franchise QB- helps them win Philbin- Knows Flynn better than anyone else in the NFL Putting these three logical sentences together as context to the situation, what makes you think Ireland wouldn'tve offered a bigger contract if Philbin thought Flynn was anything more than a backup/ borderline starter? It's just logic, even the most ardent Ireland detractors should be able to see this.
You didn't start this thread... I mean rant. Smoot apparently did, and apparently you think you deserve to have your own thread rather than posting this outside OPINION in one of the threads already discussing the topic. peep-peep-peep-peep.
We have a top 10 defense and how many playoff games have the Falcons won the past 4 seasons? Just sayin'.
Well, we lost out on Fisher because of Ireland wanting to have more control. Is that not egotistical? Honestly, I don't know what Ireland's future is tied to at this point. The guy is made of Teflon. And LOL at you pointing out "logic" to Ireland detractors. Just stop. We're a 20-28 a team over the last 3 seasons. That's the only logic you need.
No, we don't like when threads exist on the subject yet you feel the need to scream louder than everyone by creating your own thread instead in order to make sure everyone hears you.
No, he's the GM he's supposed to have control. If anyone was egotistical in that it was Fisher, he's a coach.
Not the Smoot Letter!! Errbody run.... quick..... grab a pen & paper.... Ipad.... sumpin..... anything to make sure you don't miss this outstanding nugget of insight.
We were 1-15 before this regime got here. We had a fluky season because we made a saavy pickup of Pennington. This drove up expectations, while the team wasn't truly ready. There is always a bit of mediocrity before the breakout year. Rome wasn't built in a day. Also, I don't know why you would WANT Fisher that bad? The guy is a fossil at this point. Great coach, for sure, but not worth bringing in a new GM and starting the rebuild totally over for.
Keep on a posting. That's the beauty of the boards. The crappy threads sink like stones. But I get it, you're the "VOICE OF REASON" and everyone else is a reactionary dope. Smoot is right. He deserves a place in the Dolphins Ring of Honor!
Holy hell gents.....WHY ARE WE HAVING THE SAME DEBATE EVERY....SINGLE....DAY? Unless there is new news....can we stop? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I agree with the assertion that the organization appears directionless. I'd even agree that we're failing to find impact players. HOWEVER - I'll with hold condemning ireland until seeing what happens this year, both for the draft, and Philbins use of talent he brought in. Its certainly plausible the last regime - no matter how loved by players - was just awful at putting young talent to use. I do think Ireland will need to do a great job in the draft, and will need some big time help from the coaching/performance of the team if he wants to keep his job...unless hes really that far up Ross' ***, but hopefully we never have to worry about it.
So what you're essentially saying is the irrational Ireland dislikers (the ones clamoring over the "failed Flynn attempt") believe Colt McCoy is our answer at QB since the Browns wouldn't even look at Flynn? Great post by the way. Too bad we cant switch the title of this thread to "The Aqua4Ever04 Letter" and bump your post to the very top instead.
You can spin it all you want to in an attempt to support Ireland, but the fact is the fans in South Florida aren't buying it. The reality is that season tickets sales are at their lowest level in over forty years. Nearly thirty thousand former season ticket holders have given up their tickets in recent years because they no longer support the direction Ireland and Ross have taken this team. If Ross wants to sell more tickets, he needs to fire Ireland and hire a GM who actually has a plan on how to turn this team around. Until Ireland is out of here, less and less seats will occupied by paying customers. If Ross doesn't care about his team playing before a half empty stadium, he can go right ahead and keep the clueless Ireland.
Not having Final say is not the same thing as having no say. You are equally naive if you think that Philbin didn't have a pretty good amount say in what was up in Flynn, no matter how incompetent you think Ireland is.
Actually I don't have to believe that. Barry Jackson reported months ago that people in Miami's front office weren't particularly high on Flynn. Also, Ireland tried to sign Garrard last year. You think Philbin came in and was like, "You know the guy we need to go get is David Garrard"?
I understand but I'm kind of fed up with people comparing us to the Falcons all the time. There's just no point.
I know, but so what? That was almost 5 years ago and neither team has won a playoff game in that time. People just need to let that go.
Could it be that Philbin's say got Philbin brought in and Ireland's final say meant us passing on him? Final say is kinda a big deal.
Yes it could. It s is it guaranteed that's what happened? No. But you're sure enough to want the man fired.
Yes, I want him fired. I've wanted him fired for the last year or so. He should've been on his way out the door with Sparano. What's happened in the last several weeks wasn't the tipping point, merely the squirming on the ground. The letter that Adam Smoot wrote was brilliant in so many ways. Especially when he talked about direction. He pointed out that Ireland has no real direction. Peyton's available? Let's go after him. Flynn? Sure, let's go after him. Build through the draft? Yeah, let's do that. It's frustrating. Matt Moore was supposed to be a backup, and now he's the starter? Matt Moore who went 6-6, and now he's without his leading receiver, THAT Matt Moore? And now Ireland was quoted as saying "I feel pretty confident about our QB situation right now." /hangs self
I can't understand the people here defending Ireland so vehemently. At the very least, he's done nothing to improve this organization. How can you be so antagonistic in defending a 7-9 season over and over and over again? I get being sick of the same repetitive posts but to be so angry that anyone says they hate Ireland.... it makes no sense