A coaching staff built on cronyism.

"texasPHINSfan wrote:

I actually think you have a point here.

But I'll counter and say:
* where in the NFL is cronyism NOT employed?
* is that necessarily a bad thing?

Look at Bill Belichick. He always gets his own guys, and they tend to work pretty well for him - enough so that they get pilfered for promotions/HC jobs almost annually. :up:

To be justified, it has to work. Belichick has won three SBs...he has earned the right to do what he wants. Sparano has never even won a playoff wildcard game. He should be on a much shorter leash.

"FinFan316 wrote:

To be justified, it has to work. Belichick has won three SBs...he has earned the right to do what he wants. Sparano has never even won a playoff wildcard game. He should be on a much shorter leash.

Once upon a time, Bill Belichick went 36-44 in Cleveland.

Be careful about leash lengths.

There's one rule to cronyism, to which all who live by its friend favored nuance must inexorably abide.

Don't suck.

"Merauder wrote:

Thank you. That was my entire point from the beginning. Everyone knew that special teams was a liability. I don't care where they finished last season, whether it was 10th overall because of Ginn's kickoff returns or what. Instead of making an upgrade, they stuck with him until the wheels (that were being held up by scotch tape) fell off. Now we have a guy running 1/3 of our team who was an assistant with Sparano at the University of New Haven. I am losing almost all of my faith in this coaching staff. It's seriously starting to seem that Sparano was not ready to be a head coach and did not have the proper staff assembled. I don't care how many of you are going to disagree and rip me apart like you always do either. We all know you are better than me and know more about football than me. So proceed with your reply, try to belittle me, and tell us how great it is up there on that high horse. Thanks.

So this boils down to yet another rant about special teams and nothing else. Okay, there is some validity there but evert where else your argument holds no water. Football is no different than starting up a company. Tony and Bill took the WORST team in the NFL and staffedit with people who fit their style of play and people they trusted. It worked, in case you haven't noticed we are furious that we are only 2-2. It is because we are vastly improved.

If you are going to be this thin skinned when people counter your argument, especially when it has very little validity, you should not start threads anymore. Lot of expertise here, try listening more

"Merauder wrote:

Already done it. Read my posts.

Therein lies the problem, you clearly have not.

"Desides wrote:

Once upon a time, Bill Belichick went 36-44 in Cleveland.

Be careful about leash lengths.

And then he got lucky when Bledsoe got hurt, Brady became the QB and he won three SBs.

I will not be careful about leash lengths. You guys notwithstanding, I think if we win less than 8 games this year, Mr Ross fires this guy. And I will be very happy if he does.

"Stringer Bell wrote:

I suppose Dan Henning never made Jake Delhomme into a pro bowler, and never had the Panthers in the Super Bowl :rolleyes:

Yeah when was that? 7 years ago? Just asking, and I'm not really sure because I'm not all that interested in ancient history. Ever hear the expression what have you done for me lately? Besides have an infactuation with trick plays that result in 6 yard losses on great drives?

what makes my head spin it seems alot of people are ok with us being 2-2 with greenbay pit, cincy, and the ravens then da bears.

i my opinion everyone of those games is going to come down to henne
greenbay is going to score atleast 28
pit not gonna be able to run against that d
cincy who knows with this one
ravens not gonna be able to run here either
bears same as above

4 out of 5 games in my opinion the game will be on henne's shoulders - how confident are you with that - we could very well be 3-6 after the next 5 games especially with this coaching staff

"Merauder wrote:

The person who is now Miami's special teams coordinator worked at the University of New Haven with Sparano. THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN!!!!!! Did anyone know they had a football team before Sparano arrived? I'm sure Rizzi is one of the BEST available. I don't know about everyone else but I'm MUCH more confident in Miami's special teams now!!!!

Dripping with sarcasm and I bet a lot of guys don't get this. Good post bro.

"Conuficus wrote:

I think if you looked back through just about any coaches background you'd find he worked at some small school in the middle of nowhere. The fact that he coached at New Haven really doesn't matter as much as how well he did it. Most of the time the smaller schools have great coaching as they don't have pressure from outside influences and are concerned about coaching rather than only winning. There's usually a lot more coaching going on at smaller schools than bigger ones - that's not true of everywhere but get the idea.

These coaches don't just win with more superior athletes, they win with schemes - and thats coaching.

are you insinuating that Joe Paterno actually died ten years ago and has since been an animatronic robot that does nothing but ramble on saying "we are...penn state!" and no ones noticed a thing?! But still gets credit for every win the pansy-ass big ten gives them every year?! Is that what you're saying!?

As for the actual point of this thread, it sucks.

"Desides wrote:

It isn’t cronyism if they get fired. What will it take for you to recognize that?

Also, you’re utterly naive about and ignorant of hiring practices in general if you think Sparano is the only coach to ever hire people he knows. This is how people get jobs and promotions: they know people, or know people who know people.

Ken Whisenhunt brought Russ Grimm with him from Pittsburgh; Pete Carroll brought Jeremy Bates with him to Seattle; Mike Shanahan brought Kyle Shanahan with him to Washington (nepotism on top of cronyism!); Pioli brought Haley, Weis, and Crennel to Kansas City; Gruden and Bruce Allen both went to Tampa Bay together; Mike Holmgren imported Matt Hasselbeck from Green Bay to Seattle; I can keep going and going.

You aren’t offering some grand revelation about our coaching staff. On the contrary, you’re ignoring facts for the sake of complaining. You have no point, just anger.

In his defense Desides, I think the point of this thread was to point out not that Sparano was bringing people in, but rather holding on too long to people he has brought in. There is a stark difference. I have not read the whole thread in quite a while so I may be mistaken.

"Merauder wrote:

I've taken a more negative view because I'm realizing more and more each week that I think we have all been fooled by believing this coaching staff is better than they really are. I honestly believe that they aren't as good as we think and I can't sugarcoat the situation. I am going to voice how I feel about anything related to the team, just how you and everyone else does. I'm a fan and I have the right to be pissed off. I'm not going to sit here and say that I have full confidence in this coaching staff like some of you might say. How can you have full confidence? What has this coaching staff done to make you feel so confident? For the past three years, why is it that seemingly EVERY game the Dolphins play is a nail biter? Why can't this team ever seem to put an opponent away? I'm tired of people saying "______ is doing a good job with what he has to work with." as if the team is full of a bunch of scrubs. This team has more talent than they have been showing. We all know that. People want to talk about execution vs play calling. It's not all execution all of the time, and you can't blame it on poor execution every time. If you set your players up in a bad situation with a bad play call, even if the play is "executed" properly, it still might not go anywhere. For example the Wildcat on 3rd and 6 near the red zone. Some might say the play wasn't "executed" properly. You could also say that the defense executed properly also, and easily shut it down. Teams know how to stop the Wildcat obviously. If you are averaging 1.4? yards a carry with the Wildcat this season, what motivates you to call it on a crucial 3rd and 6 near the redzone? After the game Sparano said that they had to throw the ball because they were behind. They were not behind once in the first half when the first two int's occurred. Both times on first and 10 after the play call had been pass pass pass pass pass leading up to that. Henning didn't give Henne a rest and he made a critical mistake. Henne forced the throw so some blame obviously has to fall on his shoulders but he shouldn't have had the option of forcing it to begin with because more runs should have been called. That is a coaching deficiency. Some people agree with what I'm saying. Some don't. We will find out very soon who is right.

express yourself...its all good.

Henning made 3, crucial, bad, playcalling situation's, in the past two weeks..

Iam not sure how to quantify that in the big picture....

They were so obviously wrong that it makes me feel that he is fundamentally flawed..

"FinFan316 wrote:

I will not be careful about leash lengths.

Then you’ll continue to make foolhardy statements.

"CitizenSnips wrote:

are you insinuating that Joe Paterno actually died ten years ago and has since been an animatronic robot that does nothing but ramble on saying "we are...penn state!" and no ones noticed a thing?! But still gets credit for every win the pansy-ass big ten gives them every year?! Is that what you're saying!?

As for the actual point of this thread, it sucks.

Well, he does still walk around practice I'm sure. He never stayed in one spot that was for sure. He didn't say much during practice, but he would if he saw something wrong or didn't like something. I've seen him grab a few players by the face mask to get them to his level. He relied heavily on his assistants to get his message to the players.

Can I say you're making me feel old?

"Desides wrote:

Then you’ll continue to make foolhardy statements.

Or...I will continue to be proven right; week after week after week.

I was told I was being reactionary, called names, mocked, insulted after the Jets game, when all I said was, we arent elite.

If the NE game proved ANYTHING at all, its that its a very reasonable statement to say, "We are not elite".

As I told confucisous, and he mocked me incessantly, I get it earlier than most. He wanted stock tips, and scores to every game, blah, blah, blah...but I was right, he was wrong.

So I am very used to "you people" calling me foolish and foolhardy and insulting me and mocking me.

I dont care. Because I know I am right about Sparano. The guy is in over his head. This job is (way, way, way) to big for him. I "might" have him as my OL coach, maybe. If there was no one better around. But no way in hell should be the head coach.

Thats my opinion. Now, the season will play out and I will be proven right or wrong. I would LOVE to be wrong. But...I think I've seen enough of this guys act to know I am not.

This final 12 games of this season will prove me right or wrong. Can't wait.

"finfaninilinois wrote:

what makes my head spin it seems alot of people are ok with us being 2-2 with greenbay pit, cincy, and the ravens then da bears.

i my opinion everyone of those games is going to come down to henne
greenbay is going to score atleast 28
pit not gonna be able to run against that d
cincy who knows with this one
ravens not gonna be able to run here either
bears same as above

4 out of 5 games in my opinion the game will be on henne's shoulders - how confident are you with that - we could very well be 3-6 after the next 5 games especially with this coaching staff

So, I just spent the last half-hour writing a reply to this and the OP, only to have it wiped out b/c I accidentally pressed 'Backspace' while not clicked in the box.:angry: Very, very frustrating...

Suffice to say, I will re-write and post it in a few hrs, but the jist of it was I don't think that majority of those games are on Henne's shoulders.

To the OP- yes, whilst the majority of the NFL works on cronyism, I wonder after this incident how prevalent it will be here. The fact that it has affected us negatively (to a degree) I think will temper thing. As it stands, the training wheels are off now (BP has stepped down) so I'll give it one off-season before I decide whether or not this HC/GM are going to allow it to affect their judgement moving forward.

"frags wrote:

In his defense Desides, I think the point of this thread was to point out not that Sparano was bringing people in, but rather holding on too long to people he has brought in. There is a stark difference. I have not read the whole thread in quite a while so I may be mistaken.

And in contrast, weren’t we complaining about the high amount of coaching turnover prior to Sparano arriving? We’ve had four head coaches in one decade, including Sparano. Five if you count Jim Bates. We’ve had a boggling amount of offensive and defensive coordinators—Henning, Cameron pulling double duty, Mularkey, Linehan, Foerster, Gailey, Capers, Bates, Smith, Pasqualoni—to say nothing of positional coaches or special teams coordinators.

So, which is it? Do we want high turnover or do we want stability?

"FinFan316 wrote:

Or...I will continue to be proven right; week after week after week.

Only in your mind.

"FinFan316 wrote:

Or...I will continue to be proven right; week after week after week.

I was told I was being reactionary, called names, mocked, insulted after the Jets game, when all I said was, we arent elite.

If the NE game proved ANYTHING at all, its that its a very reasonable statement to say, "We are not elite".

As I told confucisous, and he mocked me incessantly, I get it earlier than most. He wanted stock tips, and scores to every game, blah, blah, blah...but I was right, he was wrong.

So I am very used to "you people" calling me foolish and foolhardy and insulting me and mocking me.

I dont care. Because I know I am right about Sparano. The guy is in over his head. This job is (way, way, way) to big for him. I "might" have him as my OL coach, maybe. If there was no one better around. But no way in hell should be the head coach.

Thats my opinion. Now, the season will play out and I will be proven right or wrong. I would LOVE to be wrong. But...I think I've seen enough of this guys act to know I am not.

This final 12 games of this season will prove me right or wrong. Can't wait.

I think you're the one who's in over his head.

"FinFan316 wrote:

Or...I will continue to be proven right; week after week after week.

I was told I was being reactionary, called names, mocked, insulted after the Jets game, when all I said was, we arent elite.

If the NE game proved ANYTHING at all, its that its a very reasonable statement to say, "We are not elite".

As I told confucisous, and he mocked me incessantly, I get it earlier than most. He wanted stock tips, and scores to every game, blah, blah, blah...but I was right, he was wrong.

So I am very used to "you people" calling me foolish and foolhardy and insulting me and mocking me.

I dont care. Because I know I am right about Sparano. The guy is in over his head. This job is (way, way, way) to big for him. I "might" have him as my OL coach, maybe. If there was no one better around. But no way in hell should be the head coach.

Thats my opinion. Now, the season will play out and I will be proven right or wrong. I would LOVE to be wrong. But...I think I've seen enough of this guys act to know I am not.

This final 12 games of this season will prove me right or wrong. Can't wait.

I'd love to truly respond to this, but I think this sums it up best:

"When you argue with a fool, you are truly with him."

As you yourself have noted; "It gets lonely sometimes."

"Conuficus wrote:

I'd love to truly respond to this, but I think this sums it up best:

"When you argue with a fool, you are truly with him."

As you yourself have noted; "It gets lonely sometimes."

And I'd like to point out, even a 10-6 record means 4 more opportunities to be made to look like a fool, so all in all, if a paste eater choses to pat their own back for at least 6 games a season, there really is no discussion to be had.

Moving forward, 8-4, so half the time this sort of pap will be heard after every loss..why bother?

"Desides wrote:

And in contrast, weren’t we complaining about the high amount of coaching turnover prior to Sparano arriving? We’ve had four head coaches in one decade, including Sparano. Five if you count Jim Bates. We’ve had a boggling amount of offensive and defensive coordinators—Henning, Cameron pulling double duty, Mularkey, Linehan, Foerster, Gailey, Capers, Bates, Smith, Pasqualoni—to say nothing of positional coaches or special teams coordinators.

So, which is it? Do we want high turnover or do we want stability...

I will give you the lawyerly approach: a calculated approach, which implies stability overall and turnover when needed (see Bonamego). However, I believe Bonamego should have been let go far earlier. Hindsight is 20/20 as some will say, but I was honestly upset early on that we did not go after April, which some are now clamoring for in the offseason. Perhaps it was due to "cronyism" as the thread implies or "stability..." Who knows?

As an aside...Its funny, but I would tell my Dolphins buddy that Fields seemed to be very slow on his release on punts (I started noticing this in preseason and into the season)...that is something to watch moving forward as the ST Coach may no longer be the excuse.

"padre31 wrote:

And I'd like to point out, even a 10-6 record means 4 more opportunities to be made to look like a fool, so all in all, if a paste eater choses to pat their own back for at least 6 games a season, there really is no discussion to be had.

Moving forward, 8-4, so half the time this sort of pap will be heard after every loss..why bother?

Actually, a third of the time.

And after every win too.

Basically, all the time.

"padre31 wrote:

And I'd like to point out, even a 10-6 record means 4 more opportunities to be made to look like a fool, so all in all, if a paste eater choses to pat their own back for at least 6 games a season, there really is no discussion to be had.

Moving forward, 8-4, so half the time this sort of pap will be heard after every loss..why bother?

One little fact is often overlooked:

Since the NFl went to this Conference Championship game format, there has never been a case where both #1 and #2 seeds in each conference met for the right to go to the Super Bowl. That means that there has been at least one team that was a 3 seed or lower to make the Championship game every year.

Getting to the playoffs allows you that opportunity. I could care less what the record is as long as we make the playoffs. Thats all. If you're record is good enough to get in, then you have the same chance as everyone else.

"lmeister3 wrote:

Actually, a third of the time.

And after every win too.

Basically, all the time.

Well, the record could be 1-2/3-0/1-1/ etc so after every loss the sky will fall even if we finish at 10-6 and in the playoff mix, that is why there really is no discussion to be had over this, if we lose to the Packers then the world ends!

When in fact if we split the next 4 and are 4-4 at the turn, we are in good shape.

Which sounds nice, but this is a game by game league, it is impossible to mark "W's" and "L's" beforehand.

"Conuficus wrote:

One little fact is often overlooked:

Since the NFl went to this Conference Championship game format, there has never been a case where both #1 and #2 seeds in each conference met for the right to go to the Super Bowl. That means that there has been at least one team that was a 3 seed or lower to make the Championship game every year.

Getting to the playoffs allows you that opportunity. I could care less what the record is as long as we make the playoffs. Thats all. If you're record is good enough to get in, then you have the same chance as everyone else.

And despite Mr. 316's dire predictions, it is impossible to know what will happen even in the packers game, let alone 3 games from next Sunday.