1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

I hate Wayne Huizenga, but...

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Joe Robbie, Sep 25, 2011.

  1. Joe Robbie

    Joe Robbie The Patriarch

    388
    253
    63
    Dec 24, 2008
    Miami Gardens
    ... I feel there's not enough people that feel the same way. This guy took a once proud franchise and ran it into the ground with a series of horrible personell hirings. Wannstache, Saban, Cameron Cameron, and brought in The Tuna as a parting gift for more conservative bs that lead to more mediocrity. So why is it that old Crater Face seems to get a free pass from everyone? Am I the only one that feels this way on this board?
     
  2. Disgustipate

    Disgustipate Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    31,608
    55,630
    113
    Nov 25, 2007
    He's sort of not a great human being, but he made good-faith, popular decisions as an owner for the most part.
     
  3. Muck

    Muck Throwback Uniform Crusader Retired Administrator

    14,523
    22,246
    113
    Nov 25, 2007
    Sunny Florida
    Not at all.

    Wayne largely gave the people what they wanted.

    Shula's time had come and the fans could see it. They wanted a change so he went out and got Jimmy, the guy that EVERYONE wanted....fresh off a couple of Super Bowls and national title with UM before that.

    Wannstedt was Jimmy's recommendation. Saban was a guy who the NFL wanted for 10 years and couldn't get. Everybody loved that one too.

    Cam Cameron was a mistake. But to Wayne's credit, he wanted to hire Mike Tomlin, only to be talked out of it by his executive advisors. He was redeemed with Parcells, who.....again, the vast majority of fans wanted. And it resulted in a historic turnaround and division title. Before that, he brought in Dan Marino in the Parcells role (though it only lasted 17 days). Fans liked it.

    He also had no problem opening the wallet. Money was never an issue in free agency and whatnot.

    On top of that, he bought Miami a World Series title and the Panthers went to the NHL Finals under his watch.

    Wayne's intentions were good. And he mostly made moves fans and analysts agreed with.

    If you have any questions about how much he cared, witness Wayne's tears after Camarillo ran that TD in to avoid that 0-16.
     
    Section126, aesop, GoPhins! and 15 others like this.
  4. Joe Robbie

    Joe Robbie The Patriarch

    388
    253
    63
    Dec 24, 2008
    Miami Gardens
    Hindsight is always 20/20, and he might have had good intentions, but in the end it was him that made what turned out to be bad hires. Most, if not all, of those coaches had a conservative play it safe attitude and he chose them.
     
    firedan likes this.
  5. electrolyte

    electrolyte New Member

    1,209
    553
    0
    Oct 27, 2009
    Brings back good memories, honestly. That 1997 Marlins team was one of the best times for a sports team in Miami. I also remember the rat craze with the Panthers, throwing the toy rats....

    Yeah, overall Wayne did his best. I'm not mad at him. What he did was delegate decision making to what -everyone- thought to be "football minds"........ Yimmy Yohnson (lol) recommended Wanny....... Saban chose Culpepper over Brees............

    not really his fault if you think about it.
     
  6. electrolyte

    electrolyte New Member

    1,209
    553
    0
    Oct 27, 2009
    Yes you are right, the results speak for themselves... but at the time, most of his moves were seen as great moves.... everyone wanted Jimmy johnson and Nick saban....
     
    steveincolorado likes this.
  7. steveincolorado

    steveincolorado Spook, Storme & Pebbles

    11,511
    3,069
    113
    Mar 23, 2008
    Colorado
    Bingo Muck! Wayne may have been a better owner than JR. Wayne did everything possible (business wise), to put a winning team on the field, not sure JR did that.
     
  8. Desides

    Desides Well-Known Member

    38,949
    20,033
    113
    Nov 28, 2007
    Pembroke Pines, FL
    Translation: "I don't like his politics."

    This. He unquestioningly paid for whatever his football people wanted, and everyone loved the hirings of Jimmy Johnson, Nick Saban, and Bill Parcells at the time they were made. Even the Wannstache and CamMul hirings had pretty decent initial support. He also poured hundreds of millions of dollars into stadium renovations out of his own pocket.

    Huizenga gets a bad rap. Ross gets worse.
     
    electrolyte likes this.
  9. Coral Reefer

    Coral Reefer Premium Member

    10,281
    5,232
    113
    Nov 25, 2007
    Back in Miami
    I'm actually pretty tired of Wayne H. getting trashed.

    The guy always opened up his wallet when the orgainzation needed to make an upgrade.

    He made 2 coaching hires that NO ONE heralded as anything but HUGE acquisitions in JJ Johnson and Saban.
    Both those guys were top hires. Who could have known JJ's fathers death would have made him reevaluate his career choice and that Saban would walk out of his first NFL gig? There was no way to see either of those.

    Wanny was a mistake but the recommendation came from JJ himself.
    The talent the team had covered up what a disaster Wanny was for a number of years so you can't really blame Wayne for sticking with him for so long.

    The Cameron hire was a toss up. There was no real slam dunk coaching prospect available at that point and our roster was so depleted at that point I don't know that anyone would have survived.

    Wayne's biggest mistake was not demanding that in agreeing to go with Wanny at JJ's recommendation he would need to bring in a GM. Giving Wanny complete control was a disaster.

    Still, Wayne H. takes too much blame. He simply had a really bad run of luck and listened to the wrong people.
     
    electrolyte likes this.
  10. Muck

    Muck Throwback Uniform Crusader Retired Administrator

    14,523
    22,246
    113
    Nov 25, 2007
    Sunny Florida
    If we want to blame someone, blame Stephen Ross for publicly courting Jim Harbaugh in January and then not hiring him.

    The statute of limitations on Huizenga has run out.
     
    gilv13 likes this.
  11. Disgustipate

    Disgustipate Season Ticket Holder Club Member

    31,608
    55,630
    113
    Nov 25, 2007
    There's plenty of people who I don't agree with politically who aren't good human beings. Only thing political I know of from Huizenga is wanting to sell the team before a perceived estate tax hike, which he's absolutely entitled to. Don't project.

    Ross deserves more than he gets. Virtually every single marketing/public relation move he has made has been an embarrassment, along with most of the time he opens his mouth. He hasn't managed to do any structural damage to the franchise yet, but he hasn't really had a shot at it yet.
     
  12. Muck

    Muck Throwback Uniform Crusader Retired Administrator

    14,523
    22,246
    113
    Nov 25, 2007
    Sunny Florida
    Before we thrash Wayne for the current state of the franchise (years after he sold it), think back to how good it felt to be a Dolphins fan in 2008. How much fun that ride was and the amount of pride we had in the team.

    Honor was restored in a single season. And it was on Wayne's watch. His swan song, if you will.
     
    gilv13, muscle979 and Clark Kent like this.
  13. Desides

    Desides Well-Known Member

    38,949
    20,033
    113
    Nov 28, 2007
    Pembroke Pines, FL
    Well, there was that Republican fund raiser he had in 2005, among other low-key events.

    If the orange carpet and minority ownership sales are any indication, he refuses to intervene enough to do any sort of structural damage. Unless one considers the retention of Ireland and Sparano to qualify as structural damage, which I'm sure many do.

    If he decides to hit the reset button, then it'll be interesting to see if we have 2007 redux, with the business side deciding who will work on the football side. We know the 2007 coaching search team passed on Mike Tomlin for the ridiculous reason that he was "too hip-hop", so I doubt Ross can do much worse than that.
     
  14. jw3102

    jw3102 season ticket holder

    7,760
    3,486
    113
    Sep 4, 2010
    Maui, Hawaii
    I can't agree. I think Huizenga did everything he could to bring a winner to the Dolphins. When he hired Jimmy Johnson, many fans thought this was a great hire because Shula appeared to be at the end of his coaching career and most people thought Johnson was the best available head coach on the market. I was never happy with the Wannstedt hire but I guess Huizenga just put to much faith in Johnson recommending Wannstedt for the job. To his credit, when he saw that Wannstedt was losing the team during the season. He took the action necessary to rid the team of Wannstedt and replaced him with Jim Bates.

    While the hiring of Saban ,in retrospect, ended up being a major error. The fact is that Saban had turned down several NFL head coaching jobs in previous years. He was at the top of the list of many NFL teams but Huizenga was the only owner who could convince Saban to take an NFL head coaching job. I am sure if Huizenga knew in advance how Saban would quit after two seasons as head coach and go back to college football, he would have never hired Saban. Yet you can't blame him for hiring a coach who was on the radar of many other NFL organizations.

    The hiring of Cameron turned out to be a total disaster. While Huizenga takes the blame because he hired Cameron. The fact is that once again Huizenga listened to his football people and those around the league who thought Cameron would be a good head coach. To his credit, Huizeniga didn't let Cameron stick around after one terrible season. Instead, Huizenga fired Cameron and paid off the remaining years on Cameron's contract.

    In an effort to bring a winning team to the Dolphin fans, Huizenga went out and signed Bill Parcells to run the football operations. Again, in looking back, this was a terrible hire. At the time though, most every Dolphin fan and individuals in the NFL thought this was the best hire of the off season. Parcells had a record throughout his career of rebulding teams and leaving them much stronger when he left than they were when he arrived. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Parcells seemed to have lost his desire to rebuild the team once Huizenza sold the team to Ross. He instead was more interested in getting all his money and getting out of town before the fans booed him out of town.

    So basically when you look at what Huizenga did to try and turn this organization into a winner once again. At the time he made most of these moves, the vast majority of the fans and people around the league thought he was doing the right things to rebuild the organization. Things just didn't work out for the best during his time as the majority owner of the Dolphins. I certainly don't fault him for his efforts to bring a winner to the fans of Miami.

    Now I am waiting to see if Ross can do a better job of selecting a head coach and GM who can finally turn the Dolphins into a contender once again. Blame Huizenga all you want, but the fact is that he no longer owns the team and now it is up to Ross to make the moves necessary to get this team headed in the right direction.
     
  15. Aquafin

    Aquafin New Member

    4,736
    304
    0
    Jun 16, 2011
    the poor house
    there is no way Wayne should get the blame here its Ross' s faught for not firing Ireland and sparano both last year. I would take Wayne H as owner of the fins any day , and I hate to say because I hated his draft picks but Dave Wannstedt 's coaching is no way as bad as sparano 's just look at Wanny's win loss record compared to Sparano's Dave's offense scored more then 31 points more then once and Sparano 's clowns havent score more then 24 points atl east not last year orthis year. Of course I may be wrong but the players loved wanny but the players dont love love sparano.
     
  16. Ozzy

    Ozzy Premium Member Luxury Box

    Well Joe, your kids sold the team to him!!


    :)
     
    Muck likes this.
  17. Ozzy

    Ozzy Premium Member Luxury Box

    WH did everything within his wallet to get this team the right coaches.

    He was just full of bad luck.

    I want to hire a priest to perform an exorcism at the practice facility, the stadium, the new coaching staff, the owner, and whomever else is here next season....
     
  18. Vengeful Odin

    Vengeful Odin Norse Mod

    21,837
    10,818
    113
    Dec 2, 2007
    Kansas City, MO
    I'm not sure I understand how blaming an owner who has not been associated with the team in some time makes sense.

    I get the premise I guess, the timing just seems a little odd. If anything, blame Ross's open courtship of another coach, promotional blunders, and other nonsense (*cough* Jimmy Buffett *cough*) for the deterioration of the franchise.

    When Wayne left we were fresh off a division title with the legendary Bill Parcells at the helm. Not sure how you can lay this blame at his feet 3 years later.
     
    steveincolorado likes this.
  19. Onehondo

    Onehondo Senior Member Club Member

    2,671
    879
    113
    Dec 20, 2007
    Chesapeake, Virginia
    I agree, I wouldn't put this on Wayne's head. He tried as much as any owner could to bring a winner to Miami. He tried to bring in the best coaches and the biggest names available at the time. Wannstedt was an exception, but he listened to the great Jimmy Johnson on that one. How could he know Jimmy Johnson was setting the Dolphins up for eventual failure? Wayne put his heart into the Dolphins, hiring two of the biggest names and most highly sought after Coaches in the NFL in Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells, both of which had won Super Bowls. He put his team in their hands with the best intentions, how was he to know the eventual outcomes. In between those two's tenures he hired the most highly sought after college coach and one of the best coordinators trying to find someone to turn the teams fortunes around. None of these moves were considered reaches and were considered sound moves at the time.
     
  20. HardKoreXXX

    HardKoreXXX Insensitive to the Touch

    20,459
    14,210
    113
    Apr 2, 2008
    Coral Springs, FL
    Wayne looks like Mickey Arison compared to Ross at this point. I get the sense Ross sees this more as a business, whereas Wayne seemed to be more a fan who just happened to be owner (though he was an excellent business man).

    Still early though. Hell, we could get Cowher and Luck and be laughing at all this three Super Bowl wins later. THIS IS TOTALLY A LEGIT POSSIBILITY.
     
  21. Destroyer

    Destroyer There for every play.

    3,770
    1,500
    113
    Oct 25, 2010
    Maryland
    Yea I don't see how this thread is justified.
     
  22. NaboCane

    NaboCane Banned

    31,949
    11,899
    0
    Nov 24, 2007
    I don't understand "hating" Wayne Huizenga.

    The youngsters have an excuse for not knowing most of this, but Joe Robbie's wealth was among the most modest in the league. In fact, although we owe him big for his vision in bringing the AFL franchise to Miami, if it weren't for Danny Thomas coming in as a partner Robbie might have never turned it into reality.

    He rolled the dice with the $95M he spent building JRS; it was an expenditure he could ill afford. His family was all but forced to sell the team after his death because they would not have had the cash to pay the taxes on the inheritance and keep the team running properly; if Huizenga hadn't come in when he did and bought both the team and the stadium, virtually ensuring that the franchise would remain in South Florida, it's likely that the team would reside elsewhere now, since there weren't any other Miami billionaires lining up to buy the package.

    Later, as the franchise gained value from the >$200M or so Huizenga paid for the team (plus another <$100m for the stadium) to the $1.1B for which Ross bought the team, Huizenga did not want his family to face similar choices to the ones the Robbie family faced, that forced them to sell the team. So he sold.

    So...unless you have an abiding reason to hate garbage pickup or video rentals, hating Huizenga doesn't make much sense, since right about now you might be rooting for the Los Angeles Dolphins or a Sofla expansion franchise if not for him.
     
    Trowa likes this.
  23. Jaj

    Jaj Registered

    6,359
    1,671
    0
    Mar 23, 2008
    Los Angeles
    I would not mind.
     

Share This Page