By all reports, Saban's reputation is that he can spot talent. He did it in Cleveland a bunch. Belichick sent him out all over the country scouting. Yes it was collegiate scouting. But that defense became the league's best on his watch. And I'm sure he watched a lot of film on pro players when free agency came around back in Cleveland.
For me personally, Randy Mueller comes as a suprise. Just doesn't seem like the type that would take a non-authoritative position like this. But he's been out of the league for awhile. So he jumped at this opportunity to get his foor back in the door.
I don't think that it's insecurity so much as Saban just wants a top notch SPECIALIST to handle this very large part of the organization. I mean, Saban certainly doesn't have a weakness when it comes to defensive X's and O's. But he searched high and low for a defensive coordinator. His words were that, as head coach, he'd rather not have to dedicate so much of his time to one individual facet of the team. But he'd do it if he had to. I think the same thing applies here. But it's not as if he wasn't going to hire someone to fill this position anyway.
Saban's been all about getting the best of everything around here. He's gotten the best coaches he could. Now he went out and got the best, most experienced evaluator of talent he could, not to mention a guy who can wheel and deal.
I'll concede that wheeling and dealing probably isn't Saban's stock and trade. He's a football coach. Whereas that kind of thing requires more of a negotiating, business sense. But you have to wonder just how the Dolphins will manage the salary cap in the years to come.
Saban acknowledged that he had a lot to learn in this area. But his philosophy is to build a perennial contender the right way (i.e. thru the draft). That speaks to fiscal responsibility. So I wouldn't think he'd go crazy in free agency.
While he gave Kevin Carter a lot of money up front, Saban also traded away Patrick Surtain due to cap concerns. Remember, Saban is a defensive guy who said that CB is the position that predicates what you do on defense more than any other.
Even though Mueller might have other motives, I like this move. If he does have his eye on a bigger prize down the road, Mueller knows that he has to do a bang-up job here in Miami. He's working for a great coach. So no matter who he brings in, he knows they'll be well-coached. And the better he helps stock the pantry, the better the team will perform, which gets him closer to his (alleged) goal. And that also entails doing things the way the head coach stipulates them to be done.
