Rick Cartman
It is what it is
If i'm not mistaken he basically built that dynasty team of the early 90's and won 2 SB's with them. I was extremely young during that time so i'm curious what do you mean by that?
What if: Jimmy Johnson Edition
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If i'm not mistaken he basically built that dynasty team of the early 90's and won 2 SB's with them. I was extremely young during that time so i'm curious what do you mean by that?
Rick Cartman
It is what it is
This site probably was not up back then but Dolphin fans I knew LOVED Shula but felt the game had somewhat passed him by. Not saying that was true but it was the pervading thought. When a two time SB winner and former Canes coach became available they jumped on it.
Then Shula was pushed aside with no reguard which really pissed me off. The first thing Jimmy did was take down all the pictures and anything relating to our great history. His huge ego took over and you know the rest.
That's one of the things I like about Philbin. You can celebrate the past and still move forward towards the future.
All the signs and pictures are back up. Reminders of a team that reached perfection and establish the highest standard.
I was about five years old when Shula was given the boot, but some people i talk to say there were a lot of similarities between him and Bobby Bowden at the end of their coaching tenures. (Not really hands on, figurehead, didnt wear a headset, etc.) Would you agree or disagree with that?
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Kind of. Looking back I only have fond memories of Shula but I had season tickets for the years at the end of his career. Don shoot his load so to speak with the team that had like 10 1st round draft choices with lots of free agents. That team lost to San Diego and most fans were so disappointed we wanted change. Jimmy had just finished winning superbowls and that grass was looking greener.
Who know he was just looking for a place to fish and he soon lost interest in football.
The difference from Bowdens situation is that he handed picked his successor and the boosiers just upped the time table of his departure.
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39wildman
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how long will this coach last?
my biggest thing with jimmy was that he did not finish what he started. he gave wansted a good team in 2000. jimmy draft really good on defense side of ball. he miss on randy moss. zack was not ray lewis but close. beside jimmy and shula our coach have not done good at all. yes we got beat bad in playoff 62-10 but team was heading in right direction. if jimmy had stay 2-4yr dolphins program would of been one of best in afc... we have had a lot of losing coach last 12 yr.
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my biggest thing with jimmy was that he did not finish what he started. he gave wansted a good team in 2000. jimmy draft really good on defense side of ball. he miss on randy moss. zack was not ray lewis but close. beside jimmy and shula our coach have not done good at all. yes we got beat bad in playoff 62-10 but team was heading in right direction. if jimmy had stay 2-4yr dolphins program would of been one of best in afc... we have had a lot of losing coach last 12 yr.
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Don truly loved the Fins and team would have continued under his leadership until Dan Marino's retirement. He was getting older, and was delegating more to his assistant coaches, but his system was still a winner.
I would have preferred that to the drama and turmoil surrounding JJ, the treatment of Marino, and Shula exit the way it played out.
I also believe Shula would have passed the reins to Marty Shottenheimer, his close friend.
tazthenomad
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I should explain and say that I don't think he was that good a coach from an X and O point of view. He had FO support his main talent was amassing talent. He won with the Hurricanes with his recruiting as well. IMO his teams were much more talented than the two SB's they got especially when you consider the weak state of the competition in the NFC at the time. You might say that I'm too critical by saying he only won two SB's but after he left Barry Switzer took his talent and won a SB.
JOhnson was able to build the cowboys as the result of the trade of Hershel Walker to the Vikings, he and Jerry really scammed them. He wasn't able to make the same type of trade here. It's my understanding (I don't live local to Miami the net wasn't the force it is today) that Johnson actually wanted to trade Marino as an attempt to pull off the same type of deal - Wayne H. prevented him from doing it.
From vikingupdate.com the trade details :
http://www.vikingupdate.com/history/historyprofiles/thetrade.html
Dallas ended up woth assorted players and two drafts worth of picks, including 3 1sts and 3 2nds from the deal. (tried to copy / paste it was too ugly )
From vikingupdate.com the trade details :
http://www.vikingupdate.com/history/historyprofiles/thetrade.html
Dallas ended up woth assorted players and two drafts worth of picks, including 3 1sts and 3 2nds from the deal. (tried to copy / paste it was too ugly )
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Who cares? He didn't make those decisions and that is why he is no longer in football.
Rick Cartman
It is what it is
Yeah i was just curious about how the whole situation went down. To be honest i have a hard time ragging on JJ because he constructed that defense that basically defined us in the late 90's and early 00's (including the collapsing in the 2nd round which is far better than anything the last decade). I actually remember an interview where Shula made a snide remark about JJ pertaining to Marino not winning a ring. Shula had Marino for 13 seasons and he couldn't get a championship season once? That was always my guess on why he was shown the door. Wayne wanted to roll the dice on the hot commodity with a proven track record of building dynasties at his previous two stops than squander Marino's last few years with a coach that squandered his first 13.
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The 1994 season was definitely one of the most disappointing that I can remember. That team had the San Diego playoff game won, but couldn't finish. I know some people will blame the lights going off in the locker room and having to spend halftime on the field. That could have set the tone, but not being able to score to win that was a huge letdown. Shula was a great coach, but he stuck with some assistants too long that he should have replaced such as Tom Olividatti. But, I digress since this post is about Jimmy Johnson.
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I agree with that take. When you watched Jimmy Johnson coach, you really gained an appreciation for how great Don Shula was. Johnson lost several games due to bad clock management something I had never seen happen under Shula. I do think Johnson could have been a good GM with the Dolphins if he had decided to go that route. I know the 1991 Dallas Cowboys draft, which he was a part of, is considered one of the best all-time. If I'm not mistaken, Dallas had 18 picks that year due in part to the Hershel Walker trade. Russell Maryland and Leon Lett were part of that draft.
NEPA Phin Phan
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Everyone seems to forget that Jimmy never had the chance to draft Moss. He traded away our pick before the first round started that day. We were never on the clock with a chance to draft Randy Moss. Why does everyone act as if JJ passed on him to draft John Avery???
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In hindsight maybe trading Marino would have been the way to go. I hate saying that, but if the Dolphins could have got a slew of picks and made the right choices who knows? It never seems like Johnson and Marino were on the same page. Johnson wanted to run the ball first and Marino and the offense were built for the passing game. Speaking of the draft, I know Johnson was rumored to want Eddie George for his power running game. Perhaps dealing Marino could have made that move possible.
---------- Post added at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:59 AM ----------
You are right about that. However, that was a real head scratcher that he traded that pick without letting the draft play out. Moss was there at the original spot where the Dolphins would have picked. I believe it was at #20.
Highzenga
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I believe not drafting Moss was the point where this organization started its downward spiral. Up until that point JJ had 2 solid drafts (Gardner, Jabbar,ZT, JT, Madison, Rodgers etc) He rebuilt the defense and established at least some kind of a running game. If Yatil panned out and didnt get injured and we drafted Moss, it would have been scary what Marino would have done with 2 young wrs who are both 6'3+ and run 4.3s. We would have been clearly superior than those Denver teams that won back to back SBs. Instead Jimmy kept reaching for rbs early in the draft (Avery, Johnson, Collins).
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There is no love lost between J J and Shula. The way they handled Don departure was unforgivable. Jimmy had sucessfully replaced one great coach Tom Landry by doing every thing his way and ignoring the Cowboy traditions. It worked and won 2 superbowls. After a big fight with Jones Jimmy was let go and became available.
Meanwhile Don was having problems and we could not get deep in the playoff and win. Shula had abandoned the draft approach and half the team was high priced free agents. The team that lost to San Diego was LOADED with 1st rounders we had picked up and on paper we had a great team. They lost. Jimmy became available. Don was kicked to the curb and everything Shula was wiped away.
Really sad how they handled it. But to be honest I was glad we got Jimmy and thougth there would be many SB's to come.
i was young and stupid then. We may have been better off if Don had retired gracefully and then brought in Marty S to run the show.
hindsight is 20/20