If Ross had blown this thing up and got rid of Sparano, Ireland and Parcells after he bought the team from Wayne H, we'd be a lot further along in the process. Instead we have had fiasco after fiasco, starting with the botched attempt at hiring Harbaugh. Management changes, coaching changes, GM changes, that stuff affects player development and player retention, too. We just need more stability all around...
I agree with this. And I agree with the predicating problems. This, along a few personality traits in Philbin and Ross, is why I believe Philbin is NOT on or near the hot seat.
Ross is INVESTED in his decisions. For all of the things that have happened, Ross is one of the few owners letting his own money do the talking. If you reflect where we have traveled in Ross' tenure and what we left behind before him, you can see Ross is unwavering in his ownership of the team, it's resources and it's direction. Ross believes in Philbin. Ross wants Philbin leading this team. And you can tell he has no doubt in his decisions, his people and the direction of this franchise.
Ross is playing for the long game. And that mentality requires a "stay the course" and "improve dont change" mantra. Ross would not have addressed the stadium if he felt he didn't have the right guy leading the team. He's building his brand and he's confident he has the right coach. And furthermore we are starting to develop evidence that we manufacture talent within and depend less and less on FA. We have needed an infusion early in their tenure to help accelerate the process and turn over the roster in certain areas. Now, we are starting to see how their patience with young players and deferring their starting blends with their mantra to groom, teach and develop talent.
Fans want to see rookies start. Unless pressed, we won't. Grading our drafting after the season is not a good way to measure our draft ability. Years 2 and 3 are when our draftees really start to mold into the players they envisioned when they drafted them. For example, last year we didn't hear a peep out of Dallas Thomas. Fans wrote him off as an injured bust. Now, he is the unchallenged starter at LG. And quickly become the leader of the OL. That is an impressive growth in one season. A lot of it is talent, much more is coaching and opportunity.
As fans, we don't like not getting our radical changes year in and year out we feel are necessary. We've all had our moments when we would love a fresh start. But we have to evaluate everything involved. We will change mid-level coaching and replace troublesome or underperforming players, but Ross is the owner, Philbin is the coach and Tannehill is the QB. This is the design of our franchise, like it or not.
As frustrating as it can be at times, it is what we have needed as a franchise for decades. We have needed an owner willing to spend his money on players, investing in our infrastructure and facilities. An owner who doesn't clamor to make sudden drastic changes to the scheme of the organization. An owner who will endure losing for the greater good. We've weathered a lot of storms and some recently. But you have to say, as a collective whole, Ross has stayed the course and believed in his decisions.
He has paid for FAs. He has invested heavily in his own stadium and infrastructure. He has let his HC lead and mold this team in his own vision. Yes, there have been bumps. There are always bumps. But as a franchise, we've needed someone who doesn't respond to the bumps and keeps his eyes on the road.
We've got it finally. We just need to be patient while this reclamation project finally turns us into the direction we need. Philbin has to produce wins to turn the fans into believers, but I can see signs that he's on the right track. He's just got to keep pushing forward until the hard work pays off. And it will.
