Xanders’ interview lasted two days

[Hayden Fox]

I like his candidacy, but I just hate metrics. I got to find more.

 

[ONole1]

It doesn't bother me that Armando is really negative. He's just doing his job and let's face it, there are a lot of good reasons to be negative about the Dolphins.

But anyone who thinks he goes about his job in an 'objective' and 'professional' manner is nuts. DawnJoe? Are you kidding me? I realize the Herald is a total rag, but DawnJoe?


Hayden, Xanders worked as a scout for a number of years. He was also a coach on the '98 Falcons Super Bowl team. This is not just some numbers guy they brought in. He has a good football background.

You forgot the most impressive part of his resume...He's a former FSU linebacker!!!!!! :)

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Again, Hayden, he is not some number cruncher. He worked as a scout, has coaching experience, etc. And yes, apparently he is a former linebacker. So it's not like we are just hiring some statistician and telling him to pick players.

I know that you thought highly of Licht as a candidate. Would you have any issues if he were hired?

I just have this vibe based purely on a gut feeling that Licht comes across as someone with whom there would be a collaborative relationship. Plus I like his strong player personnel background. Xanders comes across as slick. Again, this is just my gut reaction unsupported by any evidence.

No. Licht has some good stuff on his resume and he really took over the pro personnel side of the Cardinals this last offseason. Look at what they did -- it was masterful. If we hired him, I would be optimistic.

The guy who really would bother me is Ray Farmer. What has he ever got on his resume that is impressive? NOTHING. Why is he even a candidate here? 1. Minority, 2. Carl Peterson's boy. NFL sources are talking about how great he is, I wonder why? They'd love to see Miami stuck in the dregs for another 6 years.

 

[roy_miami]

I'd be thrilled with the hire. I think he's our best chance to turn this thing around, based on what I know.

The fact that Armando is already ripping him leads me to believe it's very likely.

I know little about him but the little I do know still screams he's a mad scientist that takes a very scientific approach to what he does, he's an innovator and he's very prepared, basically he has a lot in common with our head coach and new offensive coordinator. I think Ross is intrigued by the scientific approach (I am too) and Xanders is probably a lot like some of our draft forum gurus that use tons of stats to aid them (like a CK).

My predictions: Xanders will be the GM with final say on personnel and Farmer will be hired as a czar. Farmer is a good speaker and will be the face of the franchise. I expect the transparency to get ratcheted up a notch with Farmer doing a lot of public speaking, maybe even a weekly segment like what Philbin does.

 

[TheWalrus]

It doesn't bother me that Armando is really negative. He's just doing his job and let's face it, there are a lot of good reasons to be negative about the Dolphins.

But anyone who thinks he goes about his job in an 'objective' and 'professional' manner is nuts. DawnJoe? Are you kidding me? I realize the Herald is a total rag, but DawnJoe?


Hayden, Xanders worked as a scout for a number of years. He was also a coach on the '98 Falcons Super Bowl team. This is not just some numbers guy they brought in. He has a good football background.

You really believe three NFL people read his blog? His blog? Armando Salguero's blog? I don't, unless they're in the building and paid to read it and might have something to lose by this guy getting the job (over, say, Brian Gaine). And who were the "other two" people who wrote him? Pete and Delmer from O' Brother Where Art Thou? Unless he's going to specify it's that old reporter's trick where you offer criticism by starting with "some say", even if it's really the reporter who's the only person saying it. Like, "some say you're a huge asshole, perhaps the hugest of all the huge assholes who ever squeezed a turd. How do you respond to that?" It's a way of doing it that doesn't violate the "rules", per say. I have a journalism degree so I'm familiar with the routine.

Anyway, I don't doubt there are people out there not impressed with Xanders. But Mando lost whatever shred of integrity he had long ago and he lost whatever interest his reporting held when Jeff Ireland walked out the door. For years the only thing he has been good for is giving us little scraps off Jeff Ireland's table. We knew where they were coming from but no one else was getting them and that had value. He's just an empty, worthless husk now. I hope he gets blown out to sea.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

One last note on Xanders, and why I like him and why I think he has a very good chance of being our new GM:

We know that he's heavily into analytics... so is Joe Philbin. Joe's been using GPS capture analytics on team practices for a while now, among other things. I think that's one reason why Steve Ross likes him -- thinks of him as being forward thinking -- and if it's true that Joe is sitting in on the interviews (as Albert Breer I believe reported) then I could see that being a common bridge for them.

You really believe three NFL people read his blog? His blog? Armando Salguero's blog? I don't, unless they're in the building and paid to read it and might have something to lose by this guy getting the job (over, say, Brian Gaine). And who were the "other two" people who wrote him? Pete and Delmer from O' Brother Where Art Thou? Unless he's going to specify it's that old reporter's trick where you offer criticism by starting with "some say", even if it's really the reporter who's the only person saying it. Like, "some say you're a huge asshole, perhaps the hugest of all the huge assholes who ever squeezed a turd. How do you respond to that?" It's a way of doing it that doesn't violate the "rules", per say. I have a journalism degree so I'm familiar with the routine.

Anyway, I don't doubt there are people out there not impressed with Xanders. But Mando lost whatever shred of integrity he had long ago and he lost whatever interest his reporting held when Jeff Ireland walked out the door. For years the only thing he has been good for is giving us little scraps off Jeff Ireland's table. We knew where they were coming from but no one else was getting them and that had value. He's just an empty, worthless husk now. I hope he gets blown out to sea.

To be honest, I agree with you 100%. 100%. But I'm trying to be fair here. It's entirely possible that three NFL people emailed him to say "XANDERS SUCKS DUDE" based on a blog post of his. So rather than assume that he's full of **** (much like he was on 'CLINTON PORTIS' TACKLE BREAKING RUN'), I just wanted to point out that NFL sources, even when they actually exist, are often pushing a self-serving agenda. :)

 

[TheWalrus]

The guy who really would bother me is Ray Farmer. What has he ever got on his resume that is impressive? NOTHING. Why is he even a candidate here? 1. Minority, 2. Carl Peterson's boy. NFL sources are talking about how great he is, I wonder why? They'd love to see Miami stuck in the dregs for another 6 years.

Not true at all. He's very well respected around the league. Hearsay, for sure, but there is absolutely no reason to say the reason he's a candidate is because he's a minority. Do better than that, J. David.

 

[Xbrett82us]

here's a cool article about xanders. dude has drive, that's for sure.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/s...ge-dolphins-gm-candidate-brian-xanders/ncqkd/

 

[datruth55]

You forgot the most impressive part of his resume...He's a former FSU linebacker!!!!!! :)

That's a big negative IMO...lol.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Not true at all. He's very well respected around the league. Hearsay, for sure, but there is absolutely no reason to say the reason he's a candidate is because he's a minority. Do better than that, J. David.

You know, you're right. I thought Jim Caldwell was an obvious Rooney Rule interview, and then the Lions went and hired him.

The reason I thought of that was the comment of the Fritz Pollard Alliance advising him and others not to interview. And then Ross' immediately following statement to clarify the situation. It's obvious that Ross is conscious of that stuff.

Let's face it, he's Carl Peterson's boy.

 

[TheWalrus]

To be honest, I agree with you 100%. 100%. But I'm trying to be fair here. It's entirely possible that three NFL people emailed him to say "XANDERS SUCKS DUDE" based on a blog post of his. So rather than assume that he's full of **** (much like he was on 'CLINTON PORTIS' TACKLE BREAKING RUN'), I just wanted to point out that NFL sources, even when they actually exist, are often pushing a self-serving agenda. :)

I can think of no reason to believe that enough "NFL people" read his blog that three of them who don't like Xanders were motivated enough by their dislike to email him. I mean, the initial list of NFL people would have to be pretty large when you think about it, for the successive groups to get whittled down where you got three emails. We're supposed to take it on faith, I guess. I just don't have any.

If he got three emails then "NFL people" probably includes Jeff Ireland, someone in the building who has something to fear from Xanders and, say, a player who didn't get resigned by him. I just... there's no point in arguing about it, I guess. He's Mando. He does Mando things.

---------- Post added at 01:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 PM ----------

You know, you're right. I thought Jim Caldwell was an obvious Rooney Rule interview, and then the Lions went and hired him.

The reason I thought of that was the comment of the Fritz Pollard Alliance advising him and others not to interview. And then Ross' immediately following statement to clarify the situation. It's obvious that Ross is conscious of that stuff.

Let's face it, he's Carl Peterson's boy.

All the way. So is Lake Dawson. Peterson actually drafted Dawson in KC, I'm not sure how many people know that.

 

[navydaze]

I don't claim to know anything about this guy, but word is he was partly responsible for the drafting of a one "Tim Tebow". If thats the case my vote is for Licht

 

[ChambersWI]

You really believe three NFL people read his blog? His blog? Armando Salguero's blog? I don't, unless they're in the building and paid to read it and might have something to lose by this guy getting the job (over, say, Brian Gaine). And who were the "other two" people who wrote him? Pete and Delmer from O' Brother Where Art Thou? Unless he's going to specify it's that old reporter's trick where you offer criticism by starting with "some say", even if it's really the reporter who's the only person saying it. Like, "some say you're a huge asshole, perhaps the hugest of all the huge assholes who ever squeezed a turd. How do you respond to that?" It's a way of doing it that doesn't violate the "rules", per say. I have a journalism degree so I'm familiar with the routine.

Anyway, I don't doubt there are people out there not impressed with Xanders. But Mando lost whatever shred of integrity he had long ago and he lost whatever interest his reporting held when Jeff Ireland walked out the door. For years the only thing he has been good for is giving us little scraps off Jeff Ireland's table. We knew where they were coming from but no one else was getting them and that had value. He's just an empty, worthless husk now. I hope he gets blown out to sea.

well JLC and Florio use him as their source for Fins (while none of the guys are great since Darlington and Volin left, Mando is the one that flings the most crap) so at least 2 people do.

I don't understand the hatred for metrics. As long as you aren't using them as your only source of information they are very useful. Just like you can't strictly use the combine (Raiders).

And I think Farmer is a fine candidate based on what I know. Most qualified? Debatable, but that doesn't mean he's bad either. Sure he's a Carl Peterson guy, but I'm not going to hold that against him like I would a Bill Parcells guy (where all of them all try to act like Parcells and end up looking like ass clowns)

 

[Fin Fan in Cali]

Thanks for posting bro!

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

All the way. So is Lake Dawson. Peterson actually drafted Dawson in KC, I'm not sure how many people know that.

I'm skeptical of any Carl Peterson guy. Including this Ray Kuharich or whatever his name is. His name might as well be Zac Taylor.

As long as the job goes to the best candidate, I'm fine with whoever it happens to be. I'm just skeptical that Peterson isn't pimping his guys even when there are better people available.