First 3 Years: Sparano Vs. Philbin (Progress? What Progress?) | Page 5 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

First 3 Years: Sparano Vs. Philbin (Progress? What Progress?)

dablur said:
The three year cycle of hope
Here we are again, hire a new coach/GM and have high hopes things will change. About 2 1/2 years go by then you realize the new coach or GM or both aren't the answer. The owner cleans house, we hire a new coach/GM and once again have hope. Rinse repeat, this the life of the modern day dolphin fan.
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The problem is that Ross DID NOT clean house when he fired Sparano. He kept Ireland and hired Philbin, which was a terrible pairing! Then, when Ross fired Ireland he kept Philbin and hired Hickey which was IMO another bad match.

Here's my reasoning: Miami has had a succession of GMs who refused to draft offensive playmaker positions (QB, RB, WR, TE) in the early rounds of the draft. Since 2000, Miami selected just 3 offensive playmaker positions in the 1st round: Ted Ginn Jr, Ronnie Brown, and Ryan Tannehill. That's it. (No wonder the offense has sucked for so long!) And, I forget the exact number, but they only selected about 8-10 offensive playmaker positions in the first 3 rounds of all those drafts. Ireland was just another GM who refused (or couldn't) pick offensive talent early in the draft. Then, Ross hires Philbin because Philbin says that he's going to turn Miami's offense into a Green Bay offense. So, we have a HC with an offensive system built around Pro Bowl caliber offensive playmakers, and a GM who hasn't got a clue when it comes to picking offensive playmaker position talent. Next, Hickey comes in after many years with a Tampa Bay team that was successful when they were a physical team that played smash-mouth football, but Philbin wants finesse players to fit his scheme. (I am in no way defending Philbin here... if he didn't have the players to run his "system" he should have changed his system to fit the players.)

When Ross refused to clean house after Sparano was fired, he started this mess. His mixing and matching of different philosophies is the reason why this team is in such a sorry state. Actually, the more I think about it, this team might have been better off if Ross went in the opposite direction by firing Ireland and keeping Sparano. Tony's team was competitive; they had a good defense but the offense lacked playmakers and good playcalling. (Which is why they moved the ball well, but stalled in the red zone. Presently, Philbin's offense is tops getting to the red zone, but lousy at scoring TDs when they get there... no different than Sparano's offense with no playmakers. Philbin has a slight edge in playmakers, so this means that his coaching and playcalling is even worse than Tony's regime!) If Sparano had a better Offensive Coordinator and a GM who could find talented playmakers I feel that they would have built a playoff team. Also: Sparano had more success with the o-line than Philbin ever did!

I'd take Sparano and Hickey over Philbin and Ireland or Hickey any day of the week!
 
Sparano is the better coach. Philbin is closer to Cam Cameron's level of ineptness.
 
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