Here are some of the things that rubbed me wrong in this article:
Is his style of recruiting -- which multiple agents have described as borderline degrading -- keeping free agents away?
How could anything be more damning than that? Perception is reality, Jeff. I don't care what you say to defend yourself ("I'm just keepin' it real, yo!"), the guys you're talking to are walking away feeling like you're a dick and they don't want to play for you.
"I've never been degrading," said Ireland, when told by NFL.com about the sentiments shared by several anonymous agents and players. "I'm abrupt. I'm brutally honest. And I'm not going to lie to anybody. I don't try to tell them something to get them in the door and tell them something different after they sign. That's not me.
The fact that Darlington would even pose the question in this manner to Jeff Ireland shows that he's not just coming up with **** out of thin air. This is stuff that actual agents and players have told him, have told people at NFL.com about Jeff Ireland. Ireland's defense, the "I just tell it like it is. I'm too honest, that's my problem" defense...speaks volumes to me. It's cliche rationalization coming from a person who lacks social skills and has become belligerent over the fact that his own shortcomings are responsible for how a plurality of people are starting to regard him.
Further, what baffles me is the nature of his defense. His attempt to characterize himself as a guy that is brutally honest, that does not lie or sweet talk players to try and get them in the door...is in DIRECT CONTRAST to something that multiple players have said about Ireland, which is that they just can't trust what Jeff is saying to them. The latest example is a perfect one. He tells Drew Rosenhaus in private that he's not going to cut Yeremiah Bell, literally NOTHING HAPPENS that was not easily predictable, and then he's cutting Bell conveniently after the Jets sign Laron Landry. This is why you have guys like Crowder and Porter specifically attacking the fact that they think Jeff Ireland lies. And yet Ireland is going to take the "I'm just too honest, that's my problem" defense?
"I haven't missed out on too many players I've gone after. Peyton Manning? I'm a small piece of that situation. Matt Flynn? That was half his decision, and it was half our decision."
Which is in DIRECT contrast with Joe Philbin's statements on the matter.
Ireland wouldn't disclose details of those negotiations, but a Dolphins source said the team only was willing to offer Flynn nearly $4 million per year because they weren't convinced he was a franchise quarterback. Seattle ended up paying him more than double at nearly $8 million per year on a three-year deal.
RIDICULOUS. A truly RIDICULOUS, LUDICROUS offer. They're giving essentially the same amount of money to David Garrard. That $4 million a year is BARELY over what they gave Matt Moore. If this is the offer you plan on making to a Matt Flynn, you do NOT even fly him in for a visit. I'm sorry. What an entirely MISGUIDED way to run your business that is. If that's the offer, you don't have Joe Philbin constantly calling Flynn and trying to sweet talk him, getting him to come down here. Joe Philbin's problem is that he has nothing to do with the money side of things,
by his own admission. That's all Jeff Ireland. No wonder Philbin comes away thinking they made a hard run at Flynn while Flynn comes away feeling insulted.
"Sometimes you bring in guys to get to know them," Ireland said. "Just because you bring him in, it doesn't mean you're absolutely going after him. Sometimes, you bring him in to see if there's chemistry between him and the coach.
This is just philosophically NOT a good way to run your business. It isn't. You're not doing yourself any favors as it comes off looking like you're wasting these players' and agents' time. So let me get this straight, Eric Winston and Mark Anderson visited the Dolphins and the Dolphins were not prepared to make either one of them an offer? Again, it's no wonder he's got a bad reputation around the league.
"Bill Parcells messed Ireland up," Crowder said. "He tried to teach Jeff to have that aura, but it doesn't work for him. It doesn't work for everybody. Bill Parcells is a unique individual."
I think this REALLY hits the nail on the head.
The sentiments expressed by those around the league, though, could not be more opposite than those expressed by those who know Ireland outside of the Dolphins' facility. They see a committed father of four, who balances a brutal schedule to help care for his twin daughters -- both of whom deal with the difficulties of autism.
Another reiteration of the PLURALITY of people around the league that express negative sentiments toward Ireland. Those that know Jeff outside of football like him as a person and as a father. But here you have Darlington laying it on strong that this isn't just coming out of thin air, you have a lot of people in the league saying this about Jeff.
"I'm not a recruiter; I'm an evaluator," Ireland said. "I tell them exactly what the position is. From what I understand, I told Matt Flynn the same things Pete Carroll told him. There are so many different things that go into why you bring a player and why you don't sign him. I have a strong record on the guys I've brought in and wanted to sign."
This really says it all. I don't even need to explain how this is a damning explanation from Jeff. He's delusional, and doesn't even grasp how his
approach can turn people off, even if his
content is the same. He just doesn't 'get it'.
That can be pinned on a perception that Miami doesn't have a plan. Ireland remains equally adamant that he does, leaving others to sit back and see how it unfolds.
This is part of the frustration. People keep hearing, we have a plan. But there are mixed messages. For instance, go back to the Yeremiah Bell termination. They HAD a plan, and two weeks later CHANGED the plan, and yet nothing unexpected had developed in between. Nada. Yet, Ireland wants everyone to believe that a man that has produced 20 wins over the last three season has a consistent and clear plan in place. Really? You don't understand people being a little skeptical of that? Sort of like you don't understand how you can tell Matt Flynn essentially the same thing as Pete Carroll ("we want you to compete for the job") and come off rubbing Flynn wrong while Pete Carroll smells like a rose, right?
