spydertl79
Active Roster
Whenever a football team does not meet or exceed fans expectations the blame is placed somewhere. Sometimes the coordinators, sometimes the defense, sometimes the offensive line, sometimes the quarterback but usually the blame falls on the shoulders of the Head Coach. Why is the blame often placed here? Because being an NFL Head Coach is a lot like being the President of the U.S. While only about 50% of the responsibility for running a team falls on their shoulders, they are a figurehead for the organization. The head coach is held responsible for all of the players and coaches that are brought in. Well, I began to wonder if firing head coaches was actually effective of if, just maybe, owners fire head coaches to please the fanbase while often hurting the organization. I did some research and this is what I found.
First I researched the actual role of a Head Coach in an NFL organization. I discovered that while at one time head coaches were in charge of everything, nowadays the coach serves more of a consulting role as well as the aforementioned responsibility of a figurehead. Often times, basically every time a coaching change is made with the exception of a retirement, a head coach is brought in to be the savior of a franchise. These coaches are often gone within five years because fans get anxious and instead of blaming the players, blame the coach. What do you think the average tenure of a head coach is in the NFL? Less than four years. Obviously it takes longer then four years to rebuild a franchise. Heck, it takes longer then that to even evaluate a draft class in most people's minds.
This brought me to the career of Bill Cowher, head coach of the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. He has the longest tenure of any NFL head coach despite having some terrible seasons and a less-then-stellar record in many years. There was a three year streak where the Steelers didn't even compete for a playoff spot. Granted, he has never gone longer then three years without making the playoffs, which is very impressive. I feel that the Steelers' Super Bowl victory last year would not have happened if Cowher had been let go during their three year slump. To be fair to Nick Saban, Cowher took over a franchise that had finished 9-7,9-7, and 7-9 in their previous 3 seasons, meaning the team was in much better shape then our Dolphins of just 2 years ago (Remember having the 2nd pick in the draft?)
Next, I move on to Bill Belichick, the man we all love to hate. He has won three Super Bowls and built an NFL dynasty out of a mediocre team. Belichick is a shoo in to the NFL Hall of Fame because of his success with the Pats. We all know about his success with the Patriots but what about his short tenure with the Browns. Fans in Cleveland hated Belichick because he decided to bench the beloved Bernie Kosar. That along with a 36-44 record during an era of NFC dominance isn't going to help anyone keep their job. Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore without Belichick and they won a Super Bowl under the coaching of Brian Billick a few years later. Does this make Belichick a bad coach? No, obviously he can be very successful in the NFL. Nick Saban is compared to Belichick more then any other coach because they have similar coaching styles and have been trained in the same philosophy. I would be willing to bet that the Cleveland Browns would be a good team if they had kept Belichick on as their coach, but maybe not.
Now I'm going to bring up my third and final example, the coach of our beloved team, Nick Saban. He is the 4th coach the Dolphins have had in the last 10 years. Last year he took over a 4-12 team and turned them into a 9-7 team after a 3-7 start. His draft class last year was phenomenal and going into this season Dolphins fans would have defended him until the very end. Unfortunately it has been revealed that our 6 game winning streak to finish the season last year was exaggerated and perhaps a result of many things, not just strong play. This year the Dolphins started out weak again, losing Daunte Culpepper to injury and having to bring in Joey Harrington. Harrington and Culpepper have only been with the team a matter of months and their lack of chemistry with their receivers shows. However, despite the QB controversy, Miami has still managed to move to a 6-8 record. When a fan looks at our team two years ago and our team today the improvement is obvious. Saban is now 15-15 as our head coach, off to a better start then his mentor was with the Browns.
Basically, I feel that Saban should be given at least 5-6 years to bring in his players and get the team to buy into his philosophy. The players still support him, whereas with a bad coach the players usually speak out against him. This year is worse then last year, but we have had injuries to our secondary and quarterback early in the year and now Ronnie Brown is out as well. Chris Chambers has been having a rough year. The only reason the Dolphins even have 4 wins is that Dom Capers' (fired from Houston, a team that has declined since he left) defensive scheme has been highly effective. I did not support Jimmy Johnson or Dave Wannstedt and I am glad that they were fired. I feel differently about Saban, however, he has turned this team around completely. This season was disappointing only because of the unrealisitic expectations that were placed on the Dolphins by fans and the media. A super bowl victory only occurs if everything falls into place at the right time. You may not remember that the great Don Shula had a 20+ year super bowl drought when he retired. Expect improvement, not a Super Bowl, and you will be pleasantly surprised every year by Nick Saban.
First I researched the actual role of a Head Coach in an NFL organization. I discovered that while at one time head coaches were in charge of everything, nowadays the coach serves more of a consulting role as well as the aforementioned responsibility of a figurehead. Often times, basically every time a coaching change is made with the exception of a retirement, a head coach is brought in to be the savior of a franchise. These coaches are often gone within five years because fans get anxious and instead of blaming the players, blame the coach. What do you think the average tenure of a head coach is in the NFL? Less than four years. Obviously it takes longer then four years to rebuild a franchise. Heck, it takes longer then that to even evaluate a draft class in most people's minds.
This brought me to the career of Bill Cowher, head coach of the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. He has the longest tenure of any NFL head coach despite having some terrible seasons and a less-then-stellar record in many years. There was a three year streak where the Steelers didn't even compete for a playoff spot. Granted, he has never gone longer then three years without making the playoffs, which is very impressive. I feel that the Steelers' Super Bowl victory last year would not have happened if Cowher had been let go during their three year slump. To be fair to Nick Saban, Cowher took over a franchise that had finished 9-7,9-7, and 7-9 in their previous 3 seasons, meaning the team was in much better shape then our Dolphins of just 2 years ago (Remember having the 2nd pick in the draft?)
Next, I move on to Bill Belichick, the man we all love to hate. He has won three Super Bowls and built an NFL dynasty out of a mediocre team. Belichick is a shoo in to the NFL Hall of Fame because of his success with the Pats. We all know about his success with the Patriots but what about his short tenure with the Browns. Fans in Cleveland hated Belichick because he decided to bench the beloved Bernie Kosar. That along with a 36-44 record during an era of NFC dominance isn't going to help anyone keep their job. Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore without Belichick and they won a Super Bowl under the coaching of Brian Billick a few years later. Does this make Belichick a bad coach? No, obviously he can be very successful in the NFL. Nick Saban is compared to Belichick more then any other coach because they have similar coaching styles and have been trained in the same philosophy. I would be willing to bet that the Cleveland Browns would be a good team if they had kept Belichick on as their coach, but maybe not.
Now I'm going to bring up my third and final example, the coach of our beloved team, Nick Saban. He is the 4th coach the Dolphins have had in the last 10 years. Last year he took over a 4-12 team and turned them into a 9-7 team after a 3-7 start. His draft class last year was phenomenal and going into this season Dolphins fans would have defended him until the very end. Unfortunately it has been revealed that our 6 game winning streak to finish the season last year was exaggerated and perhaps a result of many things, not just strong play. This year the Dolphins started out weak again, losing Daunte Culpepper to injury and having to bring in Joey Harrington. Harrington and Culpepper have only been with the team a matter of months and their lack of chemistry with their receivers shows. However, despite the QB controversy, Miami has still managed to move to a 6-8 record. When a fan looks at our team two years ago and our team today the improvement is obvious. Saban is now 15-15 as our head coach, off to a better start then his mentor was with the Browns.
Basically, I feel that Saban should be given at least 5-6 years to bring in his players and get the team to buy into his philosophy. The players still support him, whereas with a bad coach the players usually speak out against him. This year is worse then last year, but we have had injuries to our secondary and quarterback early in the year and now Ronnie Brown is out as well. Chris Chambers has been having a rough year. The only reason the Dolphins even have 4 wins is that Dom Capers' (fired from Houston, a team that has declined since he left) defensive scheme has been highly effective. I did not support Jimmy Johnson or Dave Wannstedt and I am glad that they were fired. I feel differently about Saban, however, he has turned this team around completely. This season was disappointing only because of the unrealisitic expectations that were placed on the Dolphins by fans and the media. A super bowl victory only occurs if everything falls into place at the right time. You may not remember that the great Don Shula had a 20+ year super bowl drought when he retired. Expect improvement, not a Super Bowl, and you will be pleasantly surprised every year by Nick Saban.
