I agree, and it's why I'm confused as hell and can only go on his last two years, and what I think I know what he was and was not responsible for.
Okay I'll bite. Blame Parcells for Tony Sparano, Jake Long, and Chad Henne. This obviously shows that Parcells didn't know what he was doing when he became the, Director of Football Operations for the Dolphins. Sparano was not an effective NFL head coach. Henne was not a quality starting QB in the NFL. While Long was a good pick, if the pressing need at the time was a RT. The real need was a quality starting QB, so Parcells should have picked Ryan. So we can agree that when it came to picking personnel for the Dolphins, Parcells failed. If that is the case, Parcells also hand picked Ireland to be the GM of the team. So as you point out, Parcells was ineffective in selecting players and coaches. So why is it you think he did a better job in selecting Ireland? I think Parcells failed all around and Ireland was his biggest failure, IMO.
It's entirely possible that Ireland was a poor choice as well, but we won't know that for sure until we've had enough time to evaluate the play of the team during a period in which we can be relatively certain he's the one running it, which I personally believe starts this year, with the selection of his own quarterback. If Ryan Tannehill doesn't pan out, I'll be the first one in here to nail the coffin shut on Ireland.
I commend you for your patience with Ireland. I guess that I have just seen enough and I wish Ross would go in another direction at the GM position. I tend to think Tannehill was the choice of Philbin and Sherman, but Ireland is the person who made the pick on draft day, so he will certainly get the credit or the blame, depending on how Tannehill eventually turns out. I guess we just have to agree to disagree when it comes to Ireland's ability as a GM. If he is the person responsible for selecting players in next years draft. I sure hope you are right about him and I am completely wrong. Because if I am right, we are looking at several more years of sub 500 records.
Ireland's been around the NFL for a lot longer than his time in Miami with Parcells, so it's slightly irrational to call him a failure by association, especially when Ireland isn't a Parcells' disciple and has since gone in an entirely different direction that Parcells. If Tuna didn't finagle Jeff away from Dallas, someone else would've b/c he was quite promising and well respected at the time. Tuna thought he could mold that talent & promise into Tuna 2.0, but Jeff's not an outdated Tuna 2.0 so that wasn't gonna happen. Now there's no more Tuna, so Jeff Ireland can simply be Jeff Ireland, a man in his own skin rather than cloaked in Tuna's.
I don't think he is a failure because of his relationship with Parcells. I just think he is a failure because he isn't a very good GM. I am just sorry that another organization didn't finagle him from the Cowboys before Parcells did. I just don't think any other team had an interest in signing him as their GM. His was not a hot name for a GM spot at the time and it appears that he only got the job because Parcells wanted to hire someone he could control while he was running the team. He certainly didn't want to hire a GM who would question his player personnel decisions. Once Ireland is finally fired from his job as the Dolphins GM, either this year or sometime in the near future. I don't see any other owner hiring him to be their GM. I have no problem with Ireland being a, "man in his own skin". I just have a problem with him selecting players for the Dolphins roster. He isn't very good at it.
I am not exactly sure how I am not being civil. I am constantly told on this forum that Ireland only did what Parcells told him to do while Parcells was with the organization. If this is true, Ireland was merely a figurehead as the teams GM, with no power what so ever. My view is that if he was just hired to be Parcells, "yes man", I am not sure how that qualifies him to be the GM of an NFL franchise. I also don't think he has done a good job as the teams GM since Parcells left the organization. What you see in Ireland which makes you believe he is qualified to be the GM of an NFL team is beyond me. I have no problem ending our discussion, because I find Ireland supporters somewhat frustrating anyway.
