Mr. Magoo
Ayatollah of rock and rolla
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With these two men emerging as the top two candidates to be the new leaders of the Miami Dolphins organization (rather than a Russ Ball type President of Football Operations), I think it's important to start getting together some biographical information in one place as well as describing the pros and cons (not just independently, but relative to each other) that each man would bring to the Dolphins.
Bill Cowher
Pros: The "safest" high profile name out there, in my view. Cowher had consistent success in Pittsburgh, making the playoffs in 10 of his 15 years as the top man there, including eight division titles and six AFC Championship Game appearances (though, it must be said, mostly years in which the AFC was not that strong relative to the NFC). Cowher did this without having much more than a serviceable starter at quarterback for most of his years, relying on the likes of Neil O'Donnell, Tommy Maddox, Mike Tomzack and Kordell Stewart before landing Ben Roethlisberger in the draft. In many ways, Cowher is a Don Shula kind of coach. A rock solid foundation to build your organization on. A guy the players trust and will play for. A guy who preaches fundamentals. A coach flexible if perhaps not brilliant from an X's and O's standpoint who won't follow flights of fancy into the gutter of the NFL. He's also only 54 years old and did not resign because of "exhaustion." It was not known at the time but Cowher's wife was ill and he left to spend more time with her and his daughters (Cowher's wife passed away last year of skin cancer).
Cons: Cowher is a flexible coach but he also has a reputation for being a safe one, building his team around the running game and defense. Now, you can argue whether this was because for most of his time in Pittsburgh he didn't have a quarterback good enough to emphasize anything else... or whether, like the current regime, he simply thinks this is the way to build a successful football team. If so, I disagree. The league has changed. The best teams are the ones that pass the best, and if Cowher is going to succeed as our coach he's going to have to get on board. Now, there are signs that Cowher is flexible in this philosophy. He allowed Tommy Maddox to attempt 519 passes in 2003. And though he babied Ben Roethlisberger early on, by the time he left Big Ben was passing basically as much as he is now. Cowher has also been said to only want to go to a team that has a good quarterback situation, which if true would indicate the importance he places on it. Overall, I don't think the concern about Cowher trying to install and ground and pound philosophy would be as valid as it would be if we were talking about Jeff Fisher. But as a former linebacker and defensive coordinator, Cowher does not have the answers if things go wrong on offense and it would therefore be vitally important that he hire well, since he went through a lot of coordinators in his days in Pittsburgh. Also, it must be noted that the Steelers carried on just fine without him, forcing one to wonder how much of his success was due to support by what is one of the most solidly run organizations in the NFL. On the other hand, he does know what that kind of organization looks like, so he'll know what needs fixing in Miami (meaning, everything).
Jon Gruden
Pros: Despite Gruden's reputation for being brutally hard on quarterbacks and preferring veterans, I think if you're Andrew Luck, Gruden is the guy you want coaching you. First of all, Gruden teaches the same West Coast system that Luck runs at Stanford, giving him a better opportunity to hit the ground running. Also, Luck's head coach at Stanford, David Shaw, worked for Gruden as a quality control coach in Philadelphia and later in Oakland before becoming the quarterbacks coach there, meaning there is very likely to be a great deal of continuity in coaching points and style. Sure, Gruden is a taskmaster, but that's because he puts a lot on a quarterback's plate and few young guys can handle it. Luck can. He wants the responsibility (he calls a lot of the plays now at Stanford), and he's smart enough to handle the details of the position in a way that few rookies are able to do. It's widely known the amount of respect Gruden has for Peyton Manning for the way he prepares and controls the game. Well, Gruden has to be salivating at the prospect of getting his own Manning, and he'll drive Luck and give him the best opportunity to reach his fullest potential. Under Cowher, Luck could turn into an All-Pro kind of quarterback the way Roethlisberger has, winning multiple rings at the helm of a dominant team. Under Gruden, Luck could be a Hall of Famer. It also bears noting here that Gruden has spent a lot of time with college coaches learning the spread and other unique concepts that are making their way to the NFL more and more. Like Bill Belichick, who spends a lot of time with Urban Meyer and Nick Saban every year picking up new tricks, Gruden is committed not just to flexibility, but innovation. It's the kind of thing that can blow up in your face but it's also the kind of thing that can make you not just good but dominant until other teams catch up.
Cons: Gruden is a much more volatile presence than Cowher. In contrast to Cowher's reputation in Pittsburgh for never having two bad seasons in a row, after winning the Super Bowl Gruden's Buccaneers were all over the map, enduring three winning seasons and three losing seasons in his last six years there. Sure, they had a lack of draft picks due to his presence and enormous salary cap problems, but in his last two years -- after those problems had been resolved -- he only managed two 9-7 records before being fired amidst numerous accusations from current and former players of bad blood and unkept promises. Gruden also comes with the reputation of being more of a mercenary. He could have coached the last two years, but chose to remain in the broadcast booth because of the financial windfall his firing and the broadcast job afforded him. He's also been careful about making sure his name is linked to any potential coaching jobs that are out there, from Miami to Cleveland and on down. Now, is there anything wrong with this kind of thing? No. But contrast it to Cowher taking time off to spend time with his dying wife and not politicking to make sure his name is still "hot." Which one sounds more like Jimmy Johnson and which one Don Shula?
My view: I think if we have the #1 overall pick then I like the gamble of choosing Gruden. I just can't get beyond the drool factor of having an Aaron Rodgers type wearing Dolphins orange and teal, and Luck is more likely to turn into Rodgers with Gruden as his coach than Cowher, imo. Otherwise I tend to lean more toward Cowher. The notion that Gruden -- if Luck was out of the picture -- would want to take a quarterback like RG3 and run a full on spread offense scares the **** out of me, since I'm convinced that would just represent a waste of the next five years of my life. Unfortunately, I doubt we'll have the opportunity to wait long enough to see if we have the #1 overall pick basically locked up, so I'm left somewhat torn overall.
Bill Cowher
Pros: The "safest" high profile name out there, in my view. Cowher had consistent success in Pittsburgh, making the playoffs in 10 of his 15 years as the top man there, including eight division titles and six AFC Championship Game appearances (though, it must be said, mostly years in which the AFC was not that strong relative to the NFC). Cowher did this without having much more than a serviceable starter at quarterback for most of his years, relying on the likes of Neil O'Donnell, Tommy Maddox, Mike Tomzack and Kordell Stewart before landing Ben Roethlisberger in the draft. In many ways, Cowher is a Don Shula kind of coach. A rock solid foundation to build your organization on. A guy the players trust and will play for. A guy who preaches fundamentals. A coach flexible if perhaps not brilliant from an X's and O's standpoint who won't follow flights of fancy into the gutter of the NFL. He's also only 54 years old and did not resign because of "exhaustion." It was not known at the time but Cowher's wife was ill and he left to spend more time with her and his daughters (Cowher's wife passed away last year of skin cancer).
Cons: Cowher is a flexible coach but he also has a reputation for being a safe one, building his team around the running game and defense. Now, you can argue whether this was because for most of his time in Pittsburgh he didn't have a quarterback good enough to emphasize anything else... or whether, like the current regime, he simply thinks this is the way to build a successful football team. If so, I disagree. The league has changed. The best teams are the ones that pass the best, and if Cowher is going to succeed as our coach he's going to have to get on board. Now, there are signs that Cowher is flexible in this philosophy. He allowed Tommy Maddox to attempt 519 passes in 2003. And though he babied Ben Roethlisberger early on, by the time he left Big Ben was passing basically as much as he is now. Cowher has also been said to only want to go to a team that has a good quarterback situation, which if true would indicate the importance he places on it. Overall, I don't think the concern about Cowher trying to install and ground and pound philosophy would be as valid as it would be if we were talking about Jeff Fisher. But as a former linebacker and defensive coordinator, Cowher does not have the answers if things go wrong on offense and it would therefore be vitally important that he hire well, since he went through a lot of coordinators in his days in Pittsburgh. Also, it must be noted that the Steelers carried on just fine without him, forcing one to wonder how much of his success was due to support by what is one of the most solidly run organizations in the NFL. On the other hand, he does know what that kind of organization looks like, so he'll know what needs fixing in Miami (meaning, everything).
Jon Gruden
Pros: Despite Gruden's reputation for being brutally hard on quarterbacks and preferring veterans, I think if you're Andrew Luck, Gruden is the guy you want coaching you. First of all, Gruden teaches the same West Coast system that Luck runs at Stanford, giving him a better opportunity to hit the ground running. Also, Luck's head coach at Stanford, David Shaw, worked for Gruden as a quality control coach in Philadelphia and later in Oakland before becoming the quarterbacks coach there, meaning there is very likely to be a great deal of continuity in coaching points and style. Sure, Gruden is a taskmaster, but that's because he puts a lot on a quarterback's plate and few young guys can handle it. Luck can. He wants the responsibility (he calls a lot of the plays now at Stanford), and he's smart enough to handle the details of the position in a way that few rookies are able to do. It's widely known the amount of respect Gruden has for Peyton Manning for the way he prepares and controls the game. Well, Gruden has to be salivating at the prospect of getting his own Manning, and he'll drive Luck and give him the best opportunity to reach his fullest potential. Under Cowher, Luck could turn into an All-Pro kind of quarterback the way Roethlisberger has, winning multiple rings at the helm of a dominant team. Under Gruden, Luck could be a Hall of Famer. It also bears noting here that Gruden has spent a lot of time with college coaches learning the spread and other unique concepts that are making their way to the NFL more and more. Like Bill Belichick, who spends a lot of time with Urban Meyer and Nick Saban every year picking up new tricks, Gruden is committed not just to flexibility, but innovation. It's the kind of thing that can blow up in your face but it's also the kind of thing that can make you not just good but dominant until other teams catch up.
Cons: Gruden is a much more volatile presence than Cowher. In contrast to Cowher's reputation in Pittsburgh for never having two bad seasons in a row, after winning the Super Bowl Gruden's Buccaneers were all over the map, enduring three winning seasons and three losing seasons in his last six years there. Sure, they had a lack of draft picks due to his presence and enormous salary cap problems, but in his last two years -- after those problems had been resolved -- he only managed two 9-7 records before being fired amidst numerous accusations from current and former players of bad blood and unkept promises. Gruden also comes with the reputation of being more of a mercenary. He could have coached the last two years, but chose to remain in the broadcast booth because of the financial windfall his firing and the broadcast job afforded him. He's also been careful about making sure his name is linked to any potential coaching jobs that are out there, from Miami to Cleveland and on down. Now, is there anything wrong with this kind of thing? No. But contrast it to Cowher taking time off to spend time with his dying wife and not politicking to make sure his name is still "hot." Which one sounds more like Jimmy Johnson and which one Don Shula?
My view: I think if we have the #1 overall pick then I like the gamble of choosing Gruden. I just can't get beyond the drool factor of having an Aaron Rodgers type wearing Dolphins orange and teal, and Luck is more likely to turn into Rodgers with Gruden as his coach than Cowher, imo. Otherwise I tend to lean more toward Cowher. The notion that Gruden -- if Luck was out of the picture -- would want to take a quarterback like RG3 and run a full on spread offense scares the **** out of me, since I'm convinced that would just represent a waste of the next five years of my life. Unfortunately, I doubt we'll have the opportunity to wait long enough to see if we have the #1 overall pick basically locked up, so I'm left somewhat torn overall.
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