The worst Dolphins take in history? | Page 5 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

The worst Dolphins take in history?

FINFANFOREVER1972 said:
Poor drafting...poor handling of free agency...too loyal to lousy defensive coordinators...lack of a consistent running game (by running backs) are all reasons why the greatest QB never won a super bowl, but he himself not running is absolutely one of the more ridiculous opinions every posted on FH!
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I'll give you greatest passer.

He had shortcomings as an "QB", though. I don't put the blame for no rings on him, however.

That lies solely at Shula's feet. He should have put his foot down about Dan's propensity to audible in questionable situations. He should have put his foot down with the defensive staff. He should have gotten some advice on evaluating draft prospects.

Don is a legend and deservedly so, but he was not immune to errors.
 
Mach2 said:
I'll give you greatest passer.

He had shortcomings as an "QB", though. I don't put the blame for no rings on him, however.

That lies solely at Shula's feet. He should have put his foot down about Dan's propensity to audible in questionable situations. He should have put his foot down with the defensive staff. He should have gotten some advice on evaluating draft prospects.

Don is a legend and deservedly so, but he was not immune to errors.
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Marino certainly wasn't perfect and neither was Shula. Nobody is. But neither of us knows what Shula tried to do re: restraining those audibles and one can't really assess the wisdom of doing anything to restrain it without fully understanding the benefits of it. By my recollection, there were a lot of audibles that had huge benefits and resulted in big, important plays.

I think it makes little sense to assume that Shula did not try to exert some control and influence over the defense. He played defense and before becoming a head coach his experience and expertise was entirely on the defensive side of the ball.

As for evaluating draft prospects, Shula had plenty of advisors and advice. He had a full personnel staff. He had Joe Thomas, Bobby Boatyard, Chuck Connor, Charley Winner, Monte Clark, Tom Heckert Sr., etc. over the years.
 
Fineas said:
Marino certainly wasn't perfect and neither was Shula. Nobody is. But neither of us knows what Shula tried to do re: restraining those audibles and one can't really assess the wisdom of doing anything to restrain it without fully understanding the benefits of it. By my recollection, there were a lot of audibles that had huge benefits and resulted in big, important plays.

I think it makes little sense to assume that Shula did not try to exert some control and influence over the defense. He played defense and before becoming a head coach his experience and expertise was entirely on the defensive side of the ball.

As for evaluating draft prospects, Shula had plenty of advisors and advice. He had a full personnel staff. He had Joe Thomas, Bobby Boatyard, Chuck Connor, Charley Winner, Monte Clark, Tom Heckert Sr., etc. over the years.
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So everything was just bad luck?

I get not wanting to throw anyone under the bus, but the buck has to stop somewhere.

Where does it stop, IYO?
 
Mach2 said:
So everything was just bad luck?

I get not wanting to throw anyone under the bus, but the buck has to stop somewhere.

Where does it stop, IYO?
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No, not all bad luck. But it's also important to realize that the Dolphins were not one of the worst teams int he league during that time. They were one of the better teams. A lot of teams were far worse.

The buck stops with a variety of people, including Marino and Shula. Shula had final say on draft decisions so on those the buck stops with him. But it wasn't because of lack of advisors -- it was just some bad decisions. And some bad luck mixed in too.

To the extent Marino made some bad audible decisions, the buck stops with him. But one can't fairly just look at the bad ones without also looking at the good ones.

Winning titles is really hard. Only one out of 32 teams does it each year.
 
I laughed.

But realistically, the worst Dolphins take in history has to be Edwin Pope's assertion in the mid 1970s -- when players were jumping to the WFL -- that Joe Robbie should have fired Don Shula. Any yahoo can have a terrible opinion, but Edwin Pope was paid by the local metro area's major newspaper (back when people still read those) to write that drivel. And people actually took him seriously.
 
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