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By far the biggest problem

Austin Tatious

Austin Tatious

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With all the debating about Ireland, Philbin, or Sherman, not to mention Aponte, Mike Dee, whether Will Weatherford is a bad guy, should Matt Higgins be so involved, what about Eric Mangini, is Tannehill the answer, blah blah blah, these are all small potato issues. There is one unifying problem here. It's the owner, Steven Ross. Under "befuddled" in the dictionary, there is a picture of him.

Things go wrong, and he starts fact-finding missions. It could be the way Dee and company bungled the stadium issue. Ross starts looking at his flunkies and tries to determine what went wrong. Next thing you know there is a campaign against Weatherford and Dee gets a new job. Then Ross makes a swap with the Padres and brings in Garfinkel, whose qualification is that he is a Michigan guy. But Ross passes the buck to his underlings. This is his modus operandi.

The Dolphins bomb in their last two games, and Ross uses his helicopter to fly in for the attention. A car and driver aren't good enough for him. He needs to make a statement that he is serious, so he flies in. Ross does one of his classic "fact finding missions." That's the sound of Ross passing the buck as usual. It's tired and lame. You're the friggen owner. This is your franchise. Whether the failures are due to him being completely incompetent or absentee, it doesn't really matter. Ross is the biggest and main problem.

A franchise under previous ownership hired Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson, and Nick Saban. Now this guy tries to woo the likes of Jim Harbaugh, Jeff Fisher, and reportedly Jon Gruden. Yet Ross ends up with Joe Philbin, a stubborn man who is not meant to stand in front of a group of alpha males. It's such a strain and out of character for the bookish Philbin to command a room. Yet, that's the best Ross gets. His minions draft talent based on a 3-4 defense and then abandon it for a 4-3. Ross stands idly by.

Don't kid yourself, Ross is completely the problem here. Ireland, Philbin, Dee, Garfinkel, Aponte, et al. are bit characters. Ross sees things go wrong, and passes the buck on responsibility. Acting like a classic rich guy, he is looking for his scapegoats, when really he should look in the mirror.

What can be done? If Ross insists on being a clueless, absentee guy who won't take ownership so to speak of the day to day issues, then he needs to hire a strong, CEO type of leader. I don't mean a Dee or Garfinkel. I mean like a CEO of a corporation. Someone who can understand football, stadium, and business issues, and all the points involved in running a football franchise. Someone with an office in Davie and the stadium who is essentially doing what Ross should be doing. Under the CEO would be a strong structure. By the time you get to the Irelands of the world, they are small potatoes. The CEO would ask Ireland in advance what he is doing, why, etc. When it inevitably doesn't turn out the way Ireland says (see Wheeler and Ellerbe), then there are grounds to fire Ireland. Ross is too detached to really know. He needs a high level guy who would know.

Because the CEO would be immersed in football issues, new hirings and firings, would be far more understood, and you could attract better candidates because of a strong organizational structure. Under the CEO you could have Presidents of football operations, stadium, and finance. The President could be a strong football figure. Under the President of football operations would be the GM. Right now GM reporting to Ross is a train wreck. Ross' role? He'd be like the board of directors of a corporation. The CEO proposes issues, gives him plans etc, and he signs off.
 
Ross is waiting for someone to tell him what to do.
 
LANGER72 said:
Ross is waiting for someone to tell him what to do.
Click to expand...
Smart owners consult with learned others in areas about which their own knowledge is insufficient, but Ross's knowledge is so insufficient, and so pervasive, that a John Elway type is needed in a full-time position.

If you're someone like Ross, you can't spend a week after the season huddling together with advisors who are only tangentially associated with the team (i.e., consultants) and expect to come to the best possible decision about this sort of subject matter. You need to consult with someone who has operated in a much more closely associated capacity during the whole season (and offseason), and who is making the relevant assessments on a continual basis as the primary part of his job description.
 
Good post. I think we all know Ross is the major problem. The franchise has sucked overall since he took over. But there's nothing we can do about it (besides not go to games, but he already appears to not be concerned about attendance issues).
 
shouright said:
Smart owners consult with learned others in areas about which their own knowledge is insufficient, but Ross's knowledge is so insufficient, and so pervasive, that a John Elway type is needed in a full-time position.

If you're someone like Ross, you can't spend a week after the season huddling together with advisors who are only tangentially associated with the team (i.e., consultants) and expect to come to the best possible decision about this sort of subject matter. You need to consult with someone who has operated in a much more closely associated capacity during the whole season (and offseason), and who is making the relevant assessments on a continual basis as the primary part of his job description.
Click to expand...


Good point about the consultants not being immersed enough. There needs to be more accountability and understanding of the inner workings. For example, when the team decided to part ways with Reggie Bush, how did that go down? Did Ireland decide that, or did Philbin want to jettison him? Was it both of them? You've got a legit playmaker, someone that scares defenses. Bush was a great worker by all accounts and excellent role model for young players. His contract wasn't bad. Granted, Sherman didn't use him properly. But, in a league about making plays, you get rid of him? Now, after the fact, Ross is sitting there accepting what happened or is too clueless to decipher the internal decision. It's precisely this type of move that should be scrutinized to determine the dysfunction in the organization and eradicating it.
 
Completely on point! Great post. Ross desperately needs a Czar in the building so that his bungling presence isn't interfering with operations of the team.
 
Notice all the criticism levied against the team and how the cast of characters change, except for one person, Ross. Sparano gone. Ireland gone. The criticism isn't against the abstract concept of "Miami Dolphins." It's about the organization and the set up. That's all Ross.
 
How do you know he's not attempting to hire a Czar. Hence the time needed to make the right hire?

The problem with this thread is the OP doesn't know the real facts. And unless he's spoken to Ross personally, No one who isn't in that inner circle really knows.
 
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