The Conclusion I've Drawn regarding Jeff Ireland as a General Manager

[chrispepper]

I think i'm in the minority who actually believes Ireland gets a lot of unfair criticism, I'm still in wait and see mode right now. Yes we haven't addressed the quarterback position, and trading away Marshall has undoubedtly created another major hole on the offense.. But if it turns out Matt Flynn is nothing more than the backup quarterback most people perceive him to be, and Marshall gets a year long suspension, then Ireland will be laughing. I'm not saying that's the way I think it will play out, and I actually do believe he could of handled free agency a lot better. He didn't need to make a massive splash, but just a signing that proves he's addressing the key issues on the team instead of bringing in players for "depth", would of gone a long way in making me feel a lot more positive about the situation. As it stands right now, we lack a potential franchise quarterback, a pass rusher opposite wake and any semblance of a #1 reciever.

Yes these issues could be addressed through the draft, which is why I'm in wait and see mode right now, and it may turn out that Ireland knocks it out of the park with the draft, and we end up bringing in 2 quality recievers and drafting Tannehill, and whatever negative perceptions people have of him, I think we can all agree he is a very good talent evaluator. We can't assess him on the years working under Parcells, but he already appears to have found a few sleepers in 2011, in Jimmy Wilson and Charles Clay along with the stud, Mike Pouncey, who a lot of people criticised as being the "safe pick" at the time.

However his evaluation of talent often gets miscontrued with his poor management skills. He's proven to be a bit of a weasel regarding the whole Harbaugh coach search, and I definitley agree with the people saying he should of been fired at the same time as Sporano, and at this point it appears as if he is nothing more than Stephen Ross' bitch. The former players also being openly critical of him, whilst no doubt being partly down to bitterness, gives us an indication of what Ireland is like as a man. He lacks the people skills to be a General manager for an NFL Organisation, with some people saying he purposely avoids communicating with the players, the dez bryant incident and the coaching search all being examples of this.

So... What have I concluded? Jeff Ireland is not capable of being a succesful General Manager. Yes he is a very good talent evaluator and I think people that don't believe that, should probably look back at his previous drafts. But being a General Manager involves a heck of a lot more than simply being a Scout. He's proven to be a hindrance to the organisation and I think it's about time we moved on from him, enabling us to atleast try and re-establish some credibility to this once famed franchise.

 

[Asicswrg85]

Heres what I think: You take the teams who win consistently and have won recent superbowls and many superbowls overall and not a single person (especially the media) questions their front office including their General Manager. Since this is the case, then something is wrong. How wrong it is can be debated, but something is definitely wrong for there to even be a discussion about it.

 

[Pinkboy]

To sum it up,

pretty much he's a total a-hole and very unlikable

 

[miamiron]

He failed with the first 3 year rebuild now we're on his 5th draft
and 5th free agency and I still have very little optimism.

Our #1 wide receiver has one td in the past 26 games
We still don't have any semblance of a franchise QB
Our offensive line is still a work in progress/regress 5 years later
People talk about how good of a defense we have but
Our defense has allowed over the past 4 years an average of 338 points per year

We will be losing players next season that have become the core of our 6-10 team
Free agents in 2013 include
Reggie Bush
Jake Long
Cameron Wake
Matt Moore
Brandon Fields
Chris Clemons
Sean Smith
Anthony Fasano
Brian Hartline
Lydon Murtha
and others

We barely had enough money to sign Soliai and a safety and a few backups

How in God's name are we going to be able to afford
Long and Wake ?

 

[chrispepper]

He failed with the first 3 year rebuild now we're on his 5th draft
and 5th free agency and I still have very little optimism.

Our #1 wide receiver has one td in the past 26 games
We still don't have any semblance of a franchise QB
Our offensive line is still a work in progress/regress 5 years later
People talk about how good of a defense we have but
Our defense has allowed over the past 4 years an average of 338 points per year

We will be losing players next season that have become the core of our 6-10 team
Free agents in 2013 include
Reggie Bush
Jake Long
Cameron Wake
Matt Moore
Brandon Fields
Chris Clemons
Sean Smith
Anthony Fasano
Brian Hartline
Lydon Murtha
and others

We barely had enough money to sign Soliai and a safety and a few backups

How in God's name are we going to be able to afford
Long and Wake ?

Can't judge him on the past 5 years, only emerged from parcells shadow a couple of seasons ago.

 

[Zounds]

We barely had enough money to sign Soliai and a safety and a few backups

How in God's name are we going to be able to afford
Long and Wake ?

Because as of right now we are projected 30+ mil under the 2013 cap? And there were also some reports that came out of the owners meeting this week that next year will be a very large cap increase. We also had a lot of dead cap weight this year from Marshall, Carey, and a few other cuts from last year.

 

[LikeUntoGod]

I think I'm in the minority who actually believes Ireland gets a lot of unfair criticism

Yes, yes you are in the minority.

 

[finfan54]

You didnt convince me. You gave good examples of the "wait and see" then concluded with he is not a good GM because of all the other things a GM needs to do. You didnt prove those points to me. You get a C for effort.

let me clarify, you mentioned Harbough, that is not a fair thing to criticize him on. He was probly told by his boss to go with him. He was following orders.

Three/fours years ago, he was strapped by billy the golfer. henceforth, the patricia white pick.

 

[Danny]

People need to stop saying that the good picks were Irelan's and the bad ones were Bill's. Unless he has a great draft this year he should be gone.

Ozzy rules!!

 

[ciscoholgate]

How in God's name are we going to be able to afford
Long and Wake ?

The amount of dead money we are carrying this year, we will have a good amount of cap space in 2013.

It will be easy to get them paid after this season.

 

[Mogwai]

I really don't share the awe some of you have for Ireland's drafts. Is it that his predecessors were such **** that getting starters out of 1st round picks is viewed like a lunar landing? I'd agree with you that his qualities as a scout may not be enough. Being a GM and the responsibility of putting together a complete team through different avenues requires more than he's got.

 

[chrispepper]

You didnt convince me. You gave good examples of the "wait and see" then concluded with he is not a good GM because of all the other things a GM needs to do. You didnt prove those points to me. You get a C for effort.

let me clarify, you mentioned Harbough, that is not a fair thing to criticize him on. He was probly told by his boss to go with him. He was following orders.

Three/fours years ago, he was strapped by billy the golfer. henceforth, the patricia white pick.

I don't think the Harbaugh thing is unfair at all.. At the time he was Sporano's general manager, and whilst sporano was still in the head coach he was off on a private jet courting another head coach. This shows he has no loyalty what so ever, and will do whatever it takes to keep HIS job, disregarding what happens to his head coach... And that relationship between the HC and GM is crucial, and this incident probably acted as the catalyst for the downward spiral that followed..

The reason I am in wait and see mode right now is because I know he's a good talent evaluator, if he has a good draft then great the off-season will have worked out alright, but that doesn't mean the perception people have of him as a general manager hasn't been tained by previous excursions.

 

[Zounds]

I don't think the Harbaugh thing is unfair at all.. At the time he was Sporano's general manager, and whilst sporano was still in the head coach he was off on a private jet courting another head coach. This shows he has no loyalty what so ever, and will do whatever it takes to keep HIS job, disregarding what happens to his head coach... And that relationship between the HC and GM is crucial, and this incident probably acted as the catalyst for the downward spiral that followed..

Hmm...kind of like hoow Harbaugh was secretly working out Peyton Manning while publicly telling the media that Alex Smith was his long-term QB and was snubbed for the pro-bowl.

 

[LarryFinFan]

I think i'm in the minority who actually believes Ireland gets a lot of unfair criticism, I'm still in wait and see mode right now. Yes we haven't addressed the quarterback position, and trading away Marshall has undoubedtly created another major hole on the offense.. But if it turns out Matt Flynn is nothing more than the backup quarterback most people perceive him to be, and Marshall gets a year long suspension, then Ireland will be laughing. I'm not saying that's the way I think it will play out, and I actually do believe he could of handled free agency a lot better. He didn't need to make a massive splash, but just a signing that proves he's addressing the key issues on the team instead of bringing in players for "depth", would of gone a long way in making me feel a lot more positive about the situation. As it stands right now, we lack a potential franchise quarterback, a pass rusher opposite wake and any semblance of a #1 reciever.

Yes these issues could be addressed through the draft, which is why I'm in wait and see mode right now, and it may turn out that Ireland knocks it out of the park with the draft, and we end up bringing in 2 quality recievers and drafting Tannehill, and whatever negative perceptions people have of him, I think we can all agree he is a very good talent evaluator. We can't assess him on the years working under Parcells, but he already appears to have found a few sleepers in 2011, in Jimmy Wilson and Charles Clay along with the stud, Mike Pouncey, who a lot of people criticised as being the "safe pick" at the time.

However his evaluation of talent often gets miscontrued with his poor management skills. He's proven to be a bit of a weasel regarding the whole Harbaugh coach search, and I definitley agree with the people saying he should of been fired at the same time as Sporano, and at this point it appears as if he is nothing more than Stephen Ross' bitch. The former players also being openly critical of him, whilst no doubt being partly down to bitterness, gives us an indication of what Ireland is like as a man. He lacks the people skills to be a General manager for an NFL Organisation, with some people saying he purposely avoids communicating with the players, the dez bryant incident and the coaching search all being examples of this.

So... What have I concluded? Jeff Ireland is not capable of being a succesful General Manager. Yes he is a very good talent evaluator and I think people that don't believe that, should probably look back at his previous drafts. But being a General Manager involves a heck of a lot more than simply being a Scout. He's proven to be a hindrance to the organisation and I think it's about time we moved on from him, enabling us to atleast try and re-establish some credibility to this once famed franchise.

Without disputing a word you've written here, if Philbin and the Fins start to turn this thing around and win some games, no one will remember anything bad about Irish... Please don't forget our cracker barrel owner's responsibility in all this. It wasn't Jeff Ireland that told Fisher that he'd have no say in personnel. It wasn't Ireland who flew the plane out there to meet with Harbaugh, in fact, I don't recall Ireland having much to do with Harbaugh except for being there likely because his boss told him to be there...Nah...Ireland's job is to bring talent. I could care less whether players like him or not so long as they perform. That's what will make a difference...and as I said, he hasn't done anything that a few W's won't make us forget about...

 

[LarryFinFan]

I don't think the Harbaugh thing is unfair at all.. At the time he was Sporano's general manager, and whilst sporano was still in the head coach he was off on a private jet courting another head coach. This shows he has no loyalty what so ever, and will do whatever it takes to keep HIS job, disregarding what happens to his head coach... And that relationship between the HC and GM is crucial, and this incident probably acted as the catalyst for the downward spiral that followed..

The reason I am in wait and see mode right now is because I know he's a good talent evaluator, if he has a good draft then great the off-season will have worked out alright, but that doesn't mean the perception people have of him as a general manager hasn't been tained by previous excursions.

Again, you're assuming that Ireland was on that flight because he wanted to replace Sparano. Most of us say he was on that flight because he has a boss and that boss had him out there to interview Harbaugh. You draw conclusions based on speculation.