The Upside, Downside, and Under the Surface

[rafael]

How is he going to get the recognition or accolades to make that jump when Saban is THE ONE VOICE of the Dolphins?

Any success that this team has in the next two years is likely going to be attributed to Saban, and not the GM.

Clearly BB gets all the credit for their defensive success. How did Romeo Crennel make the jump?

It happens all the time. People in successful organizations are sought after by other organizations.

 

[inFINSible]

Clearly BB gets all the credit for their defensive success. How did Romeo Crennel make the jump?

It happens all the time. People in successful organizations are sought after by other organizations.

How many SBs did New England have to win before Crennell made the jump?

Why is Scott Pioli not a GM with full control over his own team?

 

[Surferosa]

If you are basing this pay-per-view headliner on Mueller's fall in New Orleans then I think your fears are misplaced. Mueller has worked behind the scenes for a few very good coaches and it wasn't until the dunderhead Benson decided to pull a Jerry Jones that Mueller was characterized (falsely) as an egomaniacal powermongerer.

I agree with this post. Id blame Benson and Haslett before pointing a finger at Mueller.

In the end, we got EXACTLY what we wanted - a sound, experienced personnel guy that is willing to be Saban's leuitanant. The very fact that he signed means that hes willing to check his ego at the door. Hes not plotting some evil plot to undermine the Dolphins FO.

 

[rafael]

How many SBs did New England have to win before Crennell made the jump?

Why is Scott Pioli not a GM with full control over his own team?

Crennel was hurt by the rule limiting interviewing during the playoffs. Mule wouldn't face the same difficulty.

Mule, like Pioli would never have full control here. That's just the system he's in. But if Pioli hit the open market you don't think he'd be highly sought after?

 

[rhadaddy]

Imo

I Think this move is like most if not all of the other Saban moves thus far in regards to his staff.

Mueller is an unquestioned great talent evaluator, who's hits far outweigh his misses.

I think Saban as well as Mueller may have an understanding that this may be a short marriage that will benefit both parties.

Mueller, again in IMO, seems to be hungry to get back into what he does best, and the best way to do that is to work his way back up into the good grace of the NFL front offices circles.

Saban, also in IMO, likes to bring in his own people, however he also realizes that, the person he had tabbed (forgot his name), was not experienced enough to hold the position yet.

You add those two situations together and you have Mueller helping to rebuild a strong franchise while having an apprentice soaking up his information and connections, and when, not if Mueller leaves, Saban's man is prime to take over the position and Mueller moves on to run his own franchise.

I can see it blowing up as well, but I don't that will benefit anybody.

If Saban overides Mueller's suggestions and it doesn't work out, it's in Mueller best interest to remain quiet, because distancing himself will only fuel the already negative ideas about his ego. The same goes if Meuller makes a great recommendation and it works out and Saban gets the credit. In the long run Mueller will be rewarded not for the individual recs he did or did not make, but for being a part of a successful rebuilding situation.

lets face it none of us know exactly how much say Pioli has with BB, and Bill gets most if not all the credit, however Pioli is probably the hottest front office personality right now based on BB success, despite the general public not knowing what exactly he contibutes or what mistakes or bad suggestions he's made.

So in a nutshell I think Mueller and Saban both know that this is a win win situation for both parties if they can coexist.

 

[rhadaddy]

How many SBs did New England have to win before Crennell made the jump?

Why is Scott Pioli not a GM with full control over his own team?

Crennel was hurt by the SB's and Pioli could've left but opted to honor his contract, which I believe is up at the end of this year.

Pioli pulled himself out of our possible candidate pool last year, by making the aforementioned statement.

 

[phillyphinphan]

For the record, I'm somewhat skeptical of the Mueller hiring. He carries risks, IMO.

THE UPSIDE

Nick Saban needed a guy to team up with who has experience managing the salary cap. Randy Mueller has the most extensive hands-on experience of any GM candidate available, and he has it in the role of a talent evaluator (as opposed to a contract negotiator, like Bryan Widmeier). Mueller's had all the juice before, if I'm not mistaken, so the guy knows what he's doing. That kind of thing could be key to Nick Saban's getting acclimated to the salary capped NFL.

The guy has also made some well-documented good decisions. He tossed the Ricky bomb off his ship before it blew, drafted his effective replacement in only one shot (some teams takes a few shots before you land the right dude). He made some decent decisions in both Seattle and New Orleans. He worked his way up in Seattle.

There is also a POSSIBILITY (I say possible, not necessarily probable) that the guy really wants to work his way back up to being the guy with all the juice, somewhere in some NFL city. So, he should work hard in Miami under Saban, do his homework, make good decisions, and then he'll get his shot again. By now he must know that after being interviewed and passed over so many times for the GM role, he's not going to get back into it by staying with ESPN.


THE DOWNSIDE

I don't think this is a guy Saban can trust, especially long-term. Mueller is a power-hungry type of GM candidate, and he's also very arrogant. So is Saban, mind you. They will eventually clash, Saban will overrule Mueller and Mueller will hate Saban for it. If Mueller makes good on working hard to shine up his reputation and gets the Dolphins some good talent, we had better let this guy go off to some other team because if he stays he will position himself for a power struggle with Nick Saban over final say and authority.

This smells of a desperation move by Mueller, to get back into the game so that maybe he makes a better candidate than he has been. As such, he could take it as a sign that he needs to work really hard, make himself attractive to other teams. Or, he could have just done it for the sake of being paid by an NFL team, and he won't be looking to work hard, at least not until he actually gets what he wants, his own NFL team to run how he sees fit.

All offseason Saban has been catching balls of lightning and hoping to use them the right way without getting burned. This smells like the same thing. Lets hope it doesn't blow up.


UNDER THE SURFACE

Randy Mueller interviewed for the Dolphins GM gig last offseason, when it was eventually given to Rick Spielman. He felt insulted, like he was just toyed with to pick his brain for ideas and then they went ahead and hired their own guy.

He was sort of right. The main thing to take from it is they picked his brain for ideas. It is similar in my business. If you are looking to hire a research analyst to cover healthcare stocks, you interview him and the first thing you may ask him is what stocks he likes right now and why. Similarly, they may have asked Randy Mueller what you like on the dolphins, what you like in the next draft, what you like in free agency or the trade market, what you would change about the Dolphins, and what you do not like out there in the market or draft.

I'm guessing he nailed some predictions pretty dead on. He made a big enough impression that they hired him so fast after Spielman left and none of us saw it coming.

Issues he may have nailed:

1. Ricky is a pothead and can't ever be trusted to lead a franchise
2. Wade Smith at Left Tackle is worst than a joke
3. Our interior offensive line was weak
4. David Boston should not be trusted to stay injury free and out of trouble

I'm guessing he nailed at least two or three of those. The biggest one could have been revealing that Ricky was a pothead and should not ever be trusted. Maybe I'm a little bit fuzzy on the whole timeline, but the marijuana thing started coming to a head I think only a little after we hired Spielman as the full General Manager, no?

The main thing to take, under the surface of this move, in my opinion is that Mueller felt taken advantage of after his interview with the Dolphins because the Dolphins picked his brain apart and I am guessing he gave us his best stuff, and then they went ahead and hired their own guy. If he is still willing to join the Dolphins, I am guessing it is because the Dolphins largely avoided his suggestions. If the Dolphins had stolen all his ideas while hiring their own guy, I doubt he would have accepted a job under Huizenga and Jones and company.

Very good breakdown, however I believe there is one component missing-the actual interveiw process. Saban has struck me as a innovative upfront cat. And a good communicator as well. In the course of their conversation I'm sure Saban told Mueller EXACTLY what is to be expected of him and what saban is looking for in a FO/scout guy. I believe (or hope) that Saban will ave done his homework and gauged Mueller's true intentions in this conversation. You can't be stabbed in the back if you know it's coming......

 

[inFINSible]

Fair enough, fellas.....good answers. I hope you're right. :)

 

[MDFINFAN]

Oh the rose color glasses we wear, to make this hiring a great one at all logically points of view, rather their pro or con. I for one hopes this works out...I don't like the hiring, mind you, I'll have my thoughts on this...but we just gave up a good talent evaluator to be here. As CK later found, Muller's good in the 1st and 2nd round, then he blows, Rick was excellent in the latter rounds..we needed a combination of both. Oh well, I hope someone else in our personnel dept. steps up and uses some of Rick's tricks in the latter rounds.

 

[Megatron]

The Mule is here to organize the scouts and negotiate money.