Hoping for a surprise in the coaching search
I am seriously hoping the Dolphins hire someone other than Tony Sparano as their head coach.
It's not that I have anything against Sparano. I do not. Truth be told, I didn't know that much about the man until mid December. And I'm sure he is a fine coach and solid citizen etc ... etc ... etc ...
But it's just that I'm expecting, indeed hoping, for big things from the new Dolphins. I'm hoping the Dolphins of Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland can surprise folks -- most of all the New England Patriots, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.
I'm hoping they can truly keep things as hush-hush as the Patriots and Jets because, although it will be a challenge for me as a reporter, it will be beneficial to the organization.
I'm hoping the new guys have trick cards up their sleeves because they're going to need them if they want to convince some team to give up a king's ransom for the first overall pick. I'm hoping they can cast smokescreens with the best of them if they're going to convince free agents to come to Miami rather than say, to the Patriots. The Dolphins, you should remember, failed at that assignment last offseason and the product of that failure was New England signing Donte' Stallworth and Kelly Washington.
I am, in short, hoping these guys got game.
But I don't see that yet. The general manager search, with all due respect to Joey Clinkscales, was a farce. Parcells hired the top and only guy on his list after interviewing that guy and a minority candidate that satisfied the NFL's Rooney Rule. Period.
The coaching search? It has also been poorly veiled as a thorough process.
I mean, come on, is anyone truly convinced Sparano won't be the new coach? Does anyone doubt the guy Parcells told Atlanta owner Arthur Blank he wanted to hire before he joined the Dolphins won't follow him to Miami?
What's that saying? If it looks like a duck? If it walks like a duck? It's a duck.
Sure, the Dolphins interviewed other candidates, but these new Dolphins guys must think everyone is dumb. Frazier was the Rooney Rule guy. The only one. What happened to Mike Singletary? What happened to Ron Rivera? Or Green Bay assistant head coach Winston Moss, who happens to be from Miami?
The other candidates were Rex Ryan and Jim Schwartz. Schwartz is kind of hot right now because before he came to Miami he interviewed in Washington and Atlanta. The Dolphins, on the face of it, were interested in a bright guy with a bright future even though he had no connection to Parcells or Ireland. The Dolphins were being thorough, right?
Except that the agent who represents Schwartz -- Jimmy Sexton -- also represents Parcells. So how hard is it to suppose that this interview was just to keep Schwartz's name in the loop of hot interviews while also serving the Dolphins by making it seem they're being thorough? Not hard.
I hope this is not the best web the new Dolphins can weave. Otherwise it hearkens back to the days when the team conducted a grand and complex nationwide GM search that included Ted Thompson, Phil Savage and Tim Ruskell -- all of whom went on to build fine teams in Green Bay, Cleveland and Seattle -- and having such brilliance in front of them, the Dolphins predictably promoted Rick Spielman, whose decisions we are still suffering today.
The new Dolphins must do better.
So hopefully they pull a surprise no one expects. I would love it and commend them for it. It would be eye-popping. It would also command respect if Sparano is their guy and they just stand on that, not looking elsewhere, showing confidence in him and thus giving him a credibility he frankly lacks in South Florida.
But if Sparano is their guy and they're still going through the hokus pokus interviews to fool somebody then it's time to worry. Because nobody is fooled.
It's not that I have anything against Sparano. I do not. Truth be told, I didn't know that much about the man until mid December. And I'm sure he is a fine coach and solid citizen etc ... etc ... etc ...
But it's just that I'm expecting, indeed hoping, for big things from the new Dolphins. I'm hoping the Dolphins of Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland can surprise folks -- most of all the New England Patriots, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.
I'm hoping they can truly keep things as hush-hush as the Patriots and Jets because, although it will be a challenge for me as a reporter, it will be beneficial to the organization.
I'm hoping the new guys have trick cards up their sleeves because they're going to need them if they want to convince some team to give up a king's ransom for the first overall pick. I'm hoping they can cast smokescreens with the best of them if they're going to convince free agents to come to Miami rather than say, to the Patriots. The Dolphins, you should remember, failed at that assignment last offseason and the product of that failure was New England signing Donte' Stallworth and Kelly Washington.
I am, in short, hoping these guys got game.
But I don't see that yet. The general manager search, with all due respect to Joey Clinkscales, was a farce. Parcells hired the top and only guy on his list after interviewing that guy and a minority candidate that satisfied the NFL's Rooney Rule. Period.
The coaching search? It has also been poorly veiled as a thorough process.
I mean, come on, is anyone truly convinced Sparano won't be the new coach? Does anyone doubt the guy Parcells told Atlanta owner Arthur Blank he wanted to hire before he joined the Dolphins won't follow him to Miami?
What's that saying? If it looks like a duck? If it walks like a duck? It's a duck.
Sure, the Dolphins interviewed other candidates, but these new Dolphins guys must think everyone is dumb. Frazier was the Rooney Rule guy. The only one. What happened to Mike Singletary? What happened to Ron Rivera? Or Green Bay assistant head coach Winston Moss, who happens to be from Miami?
The other candidates were Rex Ryan and Jim Schwartz. Schwartz is kind of hot right now because before he came to Miami he interviewed in Washington and Atlanta. The Dolphins, on the face of it, were interested in a bright guy with a bright future even though he had no connection to Parcells or Ireland. The Dolphins were being thorough, right?
Except that the agent who represents Schwartz -- Jimmy Sexton -- also represents Parcells. So how hard is it to suppose that this interview was just to keep Schwartz's name in the loop of hot interviews while also serving the Dolphins by making it seem they're being thorough? Not hard.
I hope this is not the best web the new Dolphins can weave. Otherwise it hearkens back to the days when the team conducted a grand and complex nationwide GM search that included Ted Thompson, Phil Savage and Tim Ruskell -- all of whom went on to build fine teams in Green Bay, Cleveland and Seattle -- and having such brilliance in front of them, the Dolphins predictably promoted Rick Spielman, whose decisions we are still suffering today.
The new Dolphins must do better.
So hopefully they pull a surprise no one expects. I would love it and commend them for it. It would be eye-popping. It would also command respect if Sparano is their guy and they just stand on that, not looking elsewhere, showing confidence in him and thus giving him a credibility he frankly lacks in South Florida.
But if Sparano is their guy and they're still going through the hokus pokus interviews to fool somebody then it's time to worry. Because nobody is fooled.
posted by Armando Salguero at 11:38 PM
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55 Comments:
First!
BRING BACK SHULA!
BRING BACK BATES!
Heck, I don't care if you bring in Fiedler as the new coach.
JUST WIN SOME FRICKEN GAMES!
Winston Moss? I haven't heard of him, until you mentioned him.
Tell me something: If Tony Sparano is an Italian American, why doesn't he satisfy the dumbass Rooney Rule? ;)
Armando you must be a Jets lover.
I am just glad Bill doesn't care if you love or condemn or commend them that is why they will have a winner. Maybe in the far far future W.H. could hire you ( boy we would really suck! ) and we could sit around and get paid to criticize you and your Jets team!
If Sparano is the man, I hope he brings the respect & toughness that this team has been lacking for a long time. Whether the Tuna stays for the entire four years or not, I want to see a stable organizational structure in place that will produce a perennial winner that will be contending most of the time in the postseason (not getting blown out), making it to, & winning their share of Super Bowl.
We don't need guys that lose it like JJ & Old Nick and namby pamby guys like Wannstache & Cam Cam.
Shame Parcells can't clean house with our "beat" writers too - notice how i put quotations around the word beat - now that's creative writing folks!
Any idea why Jason Garrett isnt being considered?
The only way Sparano doesn't get the Dolphins job is if Jerry Jones finally wakes up and gets rid of Phillips and moves Sparano up to head coach. Garrett still needs another 2-3 good yrs as o/c before he gets moved up. That would be the only way he can keep both Sparano and Garrett.
Okay the idiot shows himself again. Why is it that when things are not done exactly the way you think is right, there is someone trying to make of fool of you. Maybe because you are a fool and it is easy to bring that out. Some times you actually do have some relevant thoughts but not usually and today is another one in the idiot column.
This whole process smacks of the same old, same old. I actually agree with you 100$ Armando. Here's hoping they can coax the rabbit out of the hat. The last few magicians weren't able to, but hey, at least they got nice tans.
The Rooney Rule does not apply to front office jobs, Almando.
Armando, really - who cares if they've already decided on Sparano? This is how things work in all businesses, not just football. People hire people they know and trust. Been that way for thousands of years. Why are you guys acting all righteous and indignant about it, as if Parcells should be concerned with what you guys think more than winning football games...
Let me get this straight.
The owner (Don) made his millions in the garbage business.
The Consigulari name is Bill "the Tuna"
The Capo's name is Tony Sparano.
Are we going to win the division or whack the heads of the other families?
I realize that you have a responsibility to post new content. That said, this post makes no sense whatsoever and is clearly something you came up with at the last second so that you could post something. In my view, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way the Dolphins have approached their GM or coaching searches. Who cares if everyone knows who they are hiring? Are they still getting the candidate they want? How does this reflect on anything else they will do once their staff is in place? It doesn't!
Going forward please come up with some interesting and fresh ideas for you blogs and articles. As my high school coach used to say "that is a piss poor effort"!
Armando,
You come out and say that you want Parcells and Ireland to hire a coach that will make a splash throught the NFL but you don't name one!!! Why would put out a statement like that without naming a coach who you think the Fins should hire to shock our division opponents? Who should the Fins hire if you don't think the guys they brought in for interviews don't put fear into other NFL teams? What or Who is the suprise coach in your eyes?
Go Fins!!!
So what you're saying is you're hoping for a surprise but would respect them if they stuck with their guns with Sparano. Thanks for clarifying your stance.
Armando....Ususally the best, but come on!!! Did you read your blog? Makes no sense! Come on. What's your point?
Not sure what your trying to say? You don't trust Parcells judgement? You want him to bypass who he beleives are the best candidates so that he can choose someone out of left field???
Who do you want? Parcells should name Keyshawn Johnson as the head coach? That would be a suprise pick!
Why don't you wait for your birthday for the suprises. Leave the football to Parcells
To those of you who say his blog makes no sense...come on...you are the ones who need to read it again.
I understand perfectly what he's trying to say. Don't agree...but understand.
I'm glad they are interviewing guys because they could have other motives. Maybe they are also doing some research on who these guys would bring WITH them and formulating a game plan for hiring the OC, DC, and ST coaches.
They may also be making sure they're prepared for if Sparano decided he wanted to stay in Dallas. Who knows. But I'm glad they are interviewing other guys. Someone may SURPRISE THEM.
I am also with you on Singletary...I'd LOVE to see him get atleast an interview.
JinVA
You're talking out of both sides of your face again. You say on one hand that you don't want them to hire Sparano, then on the other hand, you say if Sparano is the guy, then stop the interviews and hire him. Then you'll rip them for not being thorough; adhering to the Rooney Rule: or whatever kind of conspiracy theory you can conjure up. The new regime can't win either way.
It's no wonder reporters are ranked below lawyers on the list of bottom feeders.
Listen, Armondo, at this point, I'm trusting Parcels more than I trust you. I'm not saying he's right all the time, but you predicted this Dolphin 07 team would make the play-offs.
Garbage, Armando, garbage. Surprises? You want surprises? Surprises instead of letting Parcells' football knowledge (which is more than you could acquire in a 1000 years) simply pick the right man for the job? If there are football people to know in this league, Parcells knows them; he doesn't need to do an extensive search. Have you forgotten what the last extensive search got us? Cam Cameron? Have you also forgotten the surprise he gave everyone? "Surprise! I drafted Ted Ginn Jr. instead of the quarterback this team has been searching a decade for!"
If you prefer surprises over the wisdom of Parcells, you're either an idiot or twelve years old.
God some of you are idiot. Big time idiots. You bash A.S. for his blog...based on your own stupidity.
A.S. is talking about the PROCESS.
Why can't some of you moron's realize that?
If Sparano is "their guy"...why don't they quit p__sy footing around and stand firmly behind their choice because a no name guy like Sparano will need that for MANY fans to accept him.
However...now that they've interviewed several guys we know they won't hire, and they want to continue to poorly "smoke screen" or interview for some "other" reason...why not get bring in some other very LEGIT guys to interview too...LIKE Singletary or Moss?
It seems like most of you only come here to bash...and with little to no foundation.
JinVA
Obviously, Armando, you've never run a business. Whenever you hire anybody, even if you already know your #1 candidate, you have to hedge your bets. You simply must interview more candidates in case it doesn't work out with your first one. Plus, if the guy turns out to fail, you already have a short list of replacements. Come on! Don't be fooled by the process into believing something is amiss when it ain't.
Hey "Brady Quinn"...I'm glad you're on the Browns.
The point is...if the Tuna hired somoene we weren't expecting (someone not named Tony)...it would be both a surprise AND wisdom because it would still be the TUNA'S choice.
Get it?
JinVA
By no means am I defending Speilman, but Wanstead had final say {Dave decided to go with LB E. Moore over Rick's choice of WR A. Boldin in the second rd , Dave also chose J.Flecher over D. Brees in the first rd.
Good points Phinatic...let's not forget Spielman is now the GM of the Vikings...and even outside of Peterson has picked some pretty solid players for them.
I have to agree your post is a little convoluted this time Armando. But I understand your sentiment about at least looking at every option before grabbing the preordained choice.
It's the Parcells' show now and the man certainly knows this game better than we can hope to. For good or for bad, Bill is going to do what Bill thinks is best for his organization and make no mistakes about it, this is now Bill's organization.
I, for one, will defer to his wisdom.
Mando,
If you have nothing to write then just don't write anything instead of this garbage.
Excellent stuff Armando. I agree the Dolphins have to be better at hiding their intentions. Or at the very least they should not try to make it seem like they can fool us -- and the rest of the NFL.
LMAO...Nicely written Armando!
You have effectively positioned yourself to say "Remember, I said......on my Jan 13th blog"?
Very entertaining Armando. But I fear it is over the heads of most of your other readers who probably have a ninth grade education.
Actually, Paul it's Jan 15.
I don't get it Armando. They can't win with you. Pick one, don't pick one. Pick Sparano, don't pick Sparano.
Throughout all of the comments, I read more that we trust Parcells. I agree with that statement. He is a proven winner, builds winners and can take the phins to the superbowl.
Maybe the other guys he is interviewing aren't making the grade.
This guy is the worst sports writer in the USA. How the herald can employ such a dolt is beyond belief. Parcells has a plan and is sticking to it, how terrible. Oh no, a guy with a plan ! The horror !
Anonymous,
Thanks for the correction, but we were both wrong. The blog was dated the 14th...lol
Armando I'm not following you on this one. To a certain degree I agree , but on the same note you where in support of the Cam/ Muller regime and they clearly had no smoke screens or anything!! Really how was it they convinced you that they had a plan and it would work , but a proven winner's plan isn't surprising enough??? What gives?? Or is there just nothing to report so you decided to post your wondering thoughts?? Its your blog do as you please but this one is kinda left field from what you've been reporting..
Armando is focused on the process and laments the outcome.
But why blame Parcells for going through what you think - and emphasis on "think", as opposed to "know" - is a charade of a coaching search. The process has more to do with NFL regulations than it does with what Parcells or Ireland want.
However, just because you dislike the process doesn't mean the candidate is a poor choice.
I haven't seen one in-depth profile story on Sparano or the other coaching candidates from the Herald. I haven't seen anything in the way of pro/con analysis of candidates by the herald. Either of these might lead a "journalist" to offer informed opinions.
Instead you, A.S., come across ill-informed and ill-disposed to tackle your subject appropriately.
If we've said it before, we've said it a thousand times, the quality of the Herald's Dolphin coverage is just bottoming out. Unfortunately AS and DL are leading the charge.
“I'm hoping they can truly keep things as hush-hush as the Patriots and Jets because, although it will be a challenge for me as a reporter, it will be beneficial to the organization.”
By this statement alone, this blog is not beneficial to the organization and your media-meddling can be a detriment to the success of the Dolphins don’t you think?
It’s a dichotomy Armando, you can’t have both a hush-hush organization and a journalist who tries to mole inside that same organization he “desires” secrecy from.
You suck Armando. Has ANY football team called to ask your opinnion? No. Why? Like us, they could care less about your useless, uneducated, back-stroking across the Florida-straits, opinion. I am hoping for a surprise too, that the Herald would can your idiotic attempts at sports writing.
Tuna was hired to run the show.
And he is running it.
As long as he picks the right coach, what difference does it make how he does it. If he believes Sparano is ready, we should trust him at this point.
The smoke-screen is fabricated by the media. The media tries to create stories that are not there.
Tuna simply knew who he wanted from the get go and interviewed others to cover his bases. That's it.
Lets move on!
Armando-
I now crown you the "Queen of Mean", or the "Queen of Meaningless Reporting" as both apply. You are catty, girlfriend.
Hey Armando, did it ever occur to you that Tony Sparano is the best candidate for the job. The Tuna is looking for a puppet to run this team and Sparano looks more like a young Parcells than any other coach out there. Did you see him on the sidelines when the Cowboys were losing to the Giants the guy demands respect and showed me he aint going to sit there and take it if Joey Porter screams at him. Sparano will probably closeline Porter if he tries that nonsense with him. The point is you probably want the Dolphins to hire the "big name" guy. Lets look back has that ever worked before. Saban? Daunte ? Porter? Those are just three guys and where have they gotten us...nowhere excactly where you're reporting gets us...
To all fellow Armando dislikers, how annoying is it looking at his stupid face after reading one of his stupid blogs? Haha! Like now, I just want to slap him and say, "NO ONE LIKES YOU, so stop writing things with this undertone as if you have a giant audience of followers and supporters. You do NOT, you are a tool."
This is for ALL the Armando "HATERS"
If he is such a bad reporter and you dislike him SOOOOOOOOOOO much, why is this your first stop when surfing the web for Dolphin info?? If you really dislike him with a passion then really hurt him by STOP viewing his blog!!! Everytime you stop by to post your your hating statments it actually helps him!!!! I too don't agree with all of his reports, but me posting a hating comment on "his" blog is just a waste of time!!! He has been with the Hearld for years and I doubt he'll be fire becuase of some bad comments from the "Anonymous" crowd , and definitely won't be fired for people bad mouthing the Herald!!!
Wow, what a giant piece of garbage this is. It has no real point, and makes very little sense. You want to be surprised? What do you want them to do, bring Ditka out of retirement? How about if they bring back Wannstedt. Would that be surprising enough?
How about making a little sense and being a little more specific. This is all over the place and pointless.
Hey JinVA,
You see, Tony IS Parcells' guy. Armando has stated this repeatedly in his reports. Thus, what Armando is saying is that he wants a surprise, which would mean a head coach that isn't Tony (Parcells' guy). Armando wants someone other than Parcells' guy. This is fairly simple logic that should be obvious to any person with a college education, even just an undergraduate education.
Furthermore, this whole blog is moot according to the principles of pragmatism: the differences between these arguments are meaningless when you consider the fact that Sparano WILL be the head coach of the Dolphins very shortly.
As for the interviewing of other candidates, I agree with whoever it was on this blog that stated it is a necessity even when your first choice is clear. Generating a backup plan(s) to a plan that is certain, is a sign of intelligent people at work. There is nothing wrong with being prepared for the unexpected, even when there is a very, very minute chance of the primary plan falling through.
Hey educated Brady Quinn,
“Generating a backup plan to a plan that is certain, is a sign of intelligent people at work.”
You should consider the use of the comma after “certain” because with it you have created a fragment sentence. If you plan on touting your education, you should think about removing your tongue from the freezer door long enough to use it...the education that is.
BTW, how’s that Myo-Plex working out for you on the sideline?
"I'm hoping they can truly keep things as hush-hush as the Patriots and Jets because, although it will be a challenge for me as a reporter, it will be beneficial to the organization."
Are you kidding me ... challenge?
The minute you don't get the answer you want (or feel you deserve), you will start crying, "He Lied to Me", just as you did with Cameron.
This time next year, you will be screaming for the heads of Parcells and his "GM" and "coach" because the Phins will not be competitive next year. Heaven forbid you give anyone a couple of seasons you hypocritical worm.
The Dolphins search for a coach has been a farce. Armando is the first and only one out there who has stated this fact.
You driveling idiots that don't get that, stop reading his stuff -- it's over your head.
The Dolphins search for a coach has been a farce. Armando is the first and only one out there who has stated this fact.
You driveling idiots that don't get that, stop reading his stuff -- it's over your head.
If you read anything other than this blog, you'd realize that you are the driveling idiot. Armando certainly is not the only one who has speculated that point, he just blows his own horn to make morons like you think he did.
The Clinkscales interview wasn't a farce Armando. The rooney rule only applies to head coaching positions, not the general manager or any other front office positions. (You've been corrected on this before but you still keep saying it over and over again....who are you, Bill Clinton?)
Even if Parcells knew that he was going to hire Ireland, interviewing Clinkscales who is a friend of his and has worked with him, gets his name out there and possibly sets him up to be interviewed by other clubs in the future.
Alot of current head coaches and general managers interviewed for open spots for 2-3 years before they were finally given a gig (Marvin Lewis comes to mind)
If nothing else, by interviewing Clinkscales, Parcells was just doing a friend a favor.
So, the bottomline is that you are already second guessing Parcell's decision to hire Sparano.
You want someone with "tricks up his sleeve"? You got to be kidding me, you are a football reporter?
Sparano looks like the right kind of tough, no nonesense, coach that we need to turn this ship around. The only thing that bothers me is that this will be our 3rd consecutive first time NFL headcoach. It would make me feel a little better to have some head coaching experience at the helm. God, isn't there SOMETHING that we can entice Cower with? Tons of money? Hot chicks? Free Joes Stonecrabs?
LOOK! Sparano IS THE RIGHT MOVE! HE WILL BRING LIFE BACK TO A TEAM THAT I BELIEVE HAS A LOT OF BAD EGGS ON IT! WE NEED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FREE AGENCY(CHAD JOHNSON) AND THE DRAFT!I REALLY FEEL THAT CHRIS LONG(DE) IS A NO BRAINER. AFTER ALL JASON TAYLOR IS 33 YEARS OLD, RIGHT! I JUST DON'T THINK WE SHOULD DRAFT ANOTHER QUARTERBACK UNLESS MATT RYAN IS AVAILABLE IN THE SECOND ROUND(BOSTON COLLEGE-PROBABLY THE BEST QUARTERBACK IN THE DRAFT). ALL I KNOW IN CLOSING IS I HAVE BEEN A DOLPHIN FAN FOR 35 YEARS AND I WILL NEVER GIVE UP AND STOP BELIEVING IN Bill Parcells, Huzienga, Ireland, OR THE TEAM! P.S I HOPE JASON TAYLOR AND ZACH THOMAS RETIRE DOLPHINS!
Parcells - he can make a team good but not great. I wonder what his reputation would be if Scott Norwood had made a easy FG?
Gee, Parcells now gets a 1-15 team. What kind of person would it take to make 1-15 team better. Gee, he always takes a really crappy team, makes it good, then leaves. I doubt we will be as good at the fins of the mid-90's when Parcells is gone.
Look at what Wade Phillips has done in Dallas. Living in Denver I know a little about Wade.
The NFL is 70% getting players (GM), 20% luck (injuries especially), and 10% coaching.
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