Joe Philbin's Power Play

[HoneyB]

What happened in our GM search was not part of a grand plan. Don't buy it - never will. Philbin perhaps seized more power because all that was left were table scraps for GM candidates and he presented the best remaining option on the table (and also an easily reversible option - they all could be out of jobs in a year).

The Dolphin's aren't some grand manipulator of the media - social and otherwise. What "fooled" everyone is the vast amount of information and bad information in our social media age ... and of course our willingness to suck it all up as gospel.

There's an old saying, a little information is a dangerous thing. And that's the position we're in most of the time. Beat writers really have no idea, they're just parsing information here and there and making assumptions off of that. To make matters worse, if the sources are providing wrong and/or biased information, then you're really off the rails because the very things you've started with are bunk.

As far as Philbin, looking at a distance, there's absolutely nothing I see to indicate he somehow inherited influence and power by accident, as a result of someone like Farmer not taking the job. Philbin is a primary person in this structure. It's his plan, his team, his schemes. And that's the reason many candidates didn't want the job.

I have no doubt that Ross started with first-tier candidates first, as reported. He's always seeking the best. But these candidates are not going to take a job they don't feel is powerful enough for them, and they don't want to wait around for Philbin to be gone. Some of them even probably suggested to Ross to go interview guys like Farmer, who may want to work within our system. But Farmer doesn't want a lateral move, he wants power just like everyone else. Hickey was someone we settled on, yes, but not settling in the sense of Ross not getting what he wants. Ross got what he wanted, which was an Ireland replacement, someone who will do exactly what Ireland did but not b*tch about it.

 

[The Goat]

It was a power play that fooled the masses! It was genius and I applaud Joe, Ross and Aponte for keeping it under wraps, as well as Joe having the guts to push all of his chips into the center of the table and say "I'm all in".

Most of the posters on this board, due to an obscene amount of nefarious twatter and blog reports, were sure that Dawn Aponte was the devil and the reason that some of the GM candidates decided to not interview for the job or not take the GM job once it was offered to them. But now, since the dust has cleared and you connect the dots it is plain to see that Philbin was the puppeteer pulling the strings all along.

There are many rumors about how the relationship between Ireland and Philbin began to sour. First there are the reports that Philbin was not happy with how Ireland addressed the offensive line this offseason. Then there were reports about how Ireland was unhappy with how Philbin was using his draft picks. Then there is the report of Ireland going off on Ireland in the press box with other Dolphins hierarchy in the room about how he can't coach. When the relationship crumbled, Philbin probably know only one of them would be around for the 2014 season. What Joe then had to do was convince Ross that the problem wasn't with the coaching staff but with the players Ireland provided. In the end Joe won the argument. We know this because Ireland chose to resign after some of his power on deciding the final roster was going to be stripped away and given to Philbin.

However, somewhere during that argument I believe that Ireland was also able to convince Ross that Sherman was a huge part of the problem. Ross then told Joe that Sherman has to go. Philbin (who I don't blame one bit for his choice as this will probably be his only HC opportunity in the NFL) then let go of his mentor, knowing that he would be able to hire whomever he wanted as OC. His choice, Bill Lazor. A very competent QB coach who has worked with some of the biggest coaching names in the NFL. Philbin has shown he is a very hands off HC when is comes to his coordinators so he needed someone that he 100% trusted. Lazor had proven he was able to handle many responsibilities in the past as both a HC and OC at the college level so he was a natural fit. Add in the fact he showed he was able to curtail his offense to his players strength/defenses weakness as well as run an up tempo system and I believe Joe did about as well as he could on this hiring.

Now comes the interesting part, the hiring of Hickey. Hickey was a name 99% of us didn't know. Hell, when the report first came out, on him hitting his interview out of the park from Armando many, including myself, totally disregarded it. But when you look at what Hickey has done in Tampa it is pretty easy to see that he is probably pretty good as what he does but also a conformist as well. You don't spend 18 years in one organization, with multiple FO and head coaching changes without being able to do that. You have to be good at what you do or the new regime will replace you with someone they have a personal/professional relationship with. This is the exact kind of GM Ross/Philbin were looking for. One that didn't want to upset the apple cart but who would conform to the task already at hand. The task outlined by Philbin to Ross. Which is why Ross wasn't willing to give the new GM the ability to hire/fire the head coach. The GM in this situation will be implementing Philbin's plan, not the other way around.

Now if we dig a little deeper into Hickey's past we can also probably see that him and Philbin more than likely may have had a working relationship as well. From 1999-2002 Philbin was an assistant at Iowa under Kirk Ferentz. During that same time, 1998-2004, Hickey was the Midwest scout for the Bucs. Now there is no mention off them ever having a personal relationship but one can definitely assume they spoke on a professional level at least a few times. This is where I believe Joe would have first become impressed with Hickey. Not at an interview they shared years down the road.

Taking a look back this is probably the best way the OC and GM search could have turned out. We are continuing with one vision, Philbin's vision. Ross has given Philbin all the rope he needs. He will either hang himself with it or scale the mountain. Hopefully for all of our sake Philbin doesn't leave us once again, crying at the gallows, waiting for a new GM/HC to be hired to right the ship.

Like sand through the hourglass...these are The Days Of Our Lives.

 

[Phantom]

To bad Philbin wasn't smart enough to get his team to score more than 7 points in 8 qtrs., with a playoff spot on the line.

 

[DolphinBrandon]

1. We won 3 more in a row and in drivers seat for playoffs

2. Jeff was told his job was safe.

3. Joe and co. lost last two games.

4. The blame game started. Joe off hook. ireland bad guy time to go.

Thats how I see it.

We didn't just lose those last two games, we got annihilated. How in the world do you even get shut out in today's NFL? And to the Bills of all teams. I'm not the owner, but I would have absolutely cleaned house if I were Ross because those last two defeats were inexcusable. It's one thing to lose a closely fought contest, it's another thing to not even get off the bus.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

He was the head coach of Cornell's JV team.

Erm, OK. Was not aware of that. Is that even a thing?

 

[iwastherein1972]

We didn't just lose those last two games, we got annihilated. How in the world do you even get shut out in today's NFL? And to the Bills of all teams. I'm not the owner, but I would have absolutely cleaned house if I were Ross because those last two defeats were inexcusable. It's one thing to lose a closely fought contest, it's another thing to not even get off the bus.

When players TANK in order to get someone fired they despise.

We win those games and ireland has this franchise by the throat for another 2-3 years. Philbin was NEVER going be gone after only 2 seasons.

BTW I submit that there is a reason for the 2-year Hickey deal. Philbin gets a full 4-year stint and those both coincide. Even if we are not good next year, the track record of Ross suggests that he will give them the next year as sink-or-swim as a unit. Both get '14 and '15. After that, clean house. Ross obviously HATES to fire people, he is the anti-Trump.