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http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/20/3946915/greg-cote-the-time-is-right-for.html
The Dolphins should bring Dan Marino home, back into the franchise he defined for two decades, but they should do so with caution and care.
Let’s say the Dolphins in two or three years were trying to pry Bill Cowher out of retirement. Who would you think would have a better shot at it: Miami general manager Dennis Hickey? Or Dan Marino?
The NFL is a copycat league, and the Broncos have offered an enticing template with the rise of Elway as executive vice president overseeing personnel.
Elway had the same amount of experience as Marino does in running a football operation or making roster decisions — that would be zero — when Broncos owner Pat Bowlen hired Elway in January 2011. He served one season in essentially a learning role before assuming full control.
Does Marino have the nose for talent evaluation and the aptitude for running a team that Elway showed? Would Marino be committed?
If he believes so and the Dolphins agree, why not find out?
Hire him in an at-first limited role, groom him, give him a season (or two) to learn and develop in more of an advisory role — to prove himself. Let him earn his power over decision-making, not be handed it because he’s Dan Marino.
Meantime, he’d bring stature and history to the table even during that evolution — a good man to have at the table when you’re trying to impress Jeff Fisher, for example. Undoubtedly, Marino also would be a plus in further developing Ryan Tannehill.
Marino’s 12 years in TV don’t hurt. It has kept him involved in the league, in its trends, in what works. It has kept him connected with players and coaches.
Of course what happened in 2004 must be mentioned here, if only to downplay its significance 10 years later. Marino agreed then to be the Dolphins’ executive VP of who knows what? His role was ill defined and he obviously wasn’t that into it. He quit after three weeks, an embarrassment to all concerned.
Marino and the owner then, Wayne Huizenga, were close friends. Golfing buddies. I don’t think either thought it through. Fair to also suggest Marino might have been going through personal issues around that time, considering the love child he admitted last year to fathering was born in 2005.
Today, at 52 and seeing Elway’s success, Marino could be ready this time for the challenge. Ross needs to find out. Simply that.Few franchises in the NFL — or at the moment in all of sports — need something good to happen more than the Dolphins. When it has been 13 seasons since your last playoff victory, a shame augmented by Bullygate, you have an image problem. You have a fan base that can’t decide if it is angry, embarrassed or disinterested. You need help.
Remember how I said the main reason for hiring Marino shouldn’t be to make fans happy? True enough.
But that sure would be a heck of a welcome little bonus, wouldn’t it?
Cote makes a good case.
The Dolphins should bring Dan Marino home, back into the franchise he defined for two decades, but they should do so with caution and care.
Let’s say the Dolphins in two or three years were trying to pry Bill Cowher out of retirement. Who would you think would have a better shot at it: Miami general manager Dennis Hickey? Or Dan Marino?
The NFL is a copycat league, and the Broncos have offered an enticing template with the rise of Elway as executive vice president overseeing personnel.
Elway had the same amount of experience as Marino does in running a football operation or making roster decisions — that would be zero — when Broncos owner Pat Bowlen hired Elway in January 2011. He served one season in essentially a learning role before assuming full control.
Does Marino have the nose for talent evaluation and the aptitude for running a team that Elway showed? Would Marino be committed?
If he believes so and the Dolphins agree, why not find out?
Hire him in an at-first limited role, groom him, give him a season (or two) to learn and develop in more of an advisory role — to prove himself. Let him earn his power over decision-making, not be handed it because he’s Dan Marino.
Meantime, he’d bring stature and history to the table even during that evolution — a good man to have at the table when you’re trying to impress Jeff Fisher, for example. Undoubtedly, Marino also would be a plus in further developing Ryan Tannehill.
Marino’s 12 years in TV don’t hurt. It has kept him involved in the league, in its trends, in what works. It has kept him connected with players and coaches.
Of course what happened in 2004 must be mentioned here, if only to downplay its significance 10 years later. Marino agreed then to be the Dolphins’ executive VP of who knows what? His role was ill defined and he obviously wasn’t that into it. He quit after three weeks, an embarrassment to all concerned.
Marino and the owner then, Wayne Huizenga, were close friends. Golfing buddies. I don’t think either thought it through. Fair to also suggest Marino might have been going through personal issues around that time, considering the love child he admitted last year to fathering was born in 2005.
Today, at 52 and seeing Elway’s success, Marino could be ready this time for the challenge. Ross needs to find out. Simply that.Few franchises in the NFL — or at the moment in all of sports — need something good to happen more than the Dolphins. When it has been 13 seasons since your last playoff victory, a shame augmented by Bullygate, you have an image problem. You have a fan base that can’t decide if it is angry, embarrassed or disinterested. You need help.
Remember how I said the main reason for hiring Marino shouldn’t be to make fans happy? True enough.
But that sure would be a heck of a welcome little bonus, wouldn’t it?
Cote makes a good case.
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