ckparrothead
Premium Member
Hey guys I just wanted to show ya somethin funny with Pro Football Talk's Rumor Mill. When hearing about the Marino move, PFT first wrote THIS in their rumor mill...
Now I've been following PFT for many years and I hate to see them get a story so wrong especially when its about Miami. So I didn't stand for this. I've spoken with Mike Florio in the past about several subjects including the design of their rumor mill and stuff so I shot over this email...
And whadya know, almost in DIRECT RESPONSE to my email, the Rumor Mill reported an update on the whole Marino hiring...and here it is.
Did anyone else catch those last couple of lines??? They hear that Norv Turner won't be retained!!!! I think that would be a big mistake.
Incidentally I hope this just shows you guys that yeah, if you think someone's made a mistake in what they wrote just go ahead and email them back pointing it out but be calm and logical. You could see an about-face done basically in your honor.
DOLPHINS HIRE MARINO
Buoyed by the tremendous success that the last broadcaster-turned-executive has enjoyed in three seasons with Detroit, the Dolphins have decided to hand the reins of its football operations to quarterback Dan Marino, who has precisely as much experience working in an NFL front office as we do.
The move is downright laughable, and it's even more of a joke than if they'd given the job to Paul Warfield, the former Dolphins receiver who at least has some (not many, but some) objective credentials for the gig.
Don't get us wrong -- Marino's a good guy and he was a great quarterback. But the guy has never had a real job in his life, and running a football team is far more akin to having a real job than anything Marino ever had done.
We're hoping to post some reactions from folks more qualified than us to speak to this development. Stay tuned.
Now I've been following PFT for many years and I hate to see them get a story so wrong especially when its about Miami. So I didn't stand for this. I've spoken with Mike Florio in the past about several subjects including the design of their rumor mill and stuff so I shot over this email...
Mike,
Just so you know before you go further with the whole laughability of Marino's hiring with the Dolphins, lets just get the story straight here. Marino is not the GM. He doesn't have personnel authority at all, in fact.
Rick Spielman won the 7 candidate sweepstakes for the GM position. He once reported to Dave Wannstedt on personnel matters, now he reports to NOBODY on personnel matters and has final say.
I just find it all funny because the reason Dan was hired for this essentially figurehead position, is to throw everyone's scent off the fact that Spielman now controls personnel where before Wannstedt did. As you guys have stated in the past, Spielman is very qualified and had Miami hired someone like Randy Mueller, he probably would have been hired by Detroit immediately. In the end, as you guys have reported, the Dolphins wanted someone with experience at both sides of being a GM, the draft AND free agency. In the end, the only candidates that had said experience (aside from Modrak who backed out), were Mueller and Spielman. As you guys reported, Mueller is a big headed ego trip who got fired from two GM positions because of his ego. So that left Spielman. But just hiring Spielman as GM would have set off a FIRESTORM of criticism in Miami because of how unpopular Dave Wannstedt is. I mean think about it, the move would have seemed a token "cosmetic" change and Miami fans would have blasted the owner for it.
Instead, everyone is focusing on Dan Marino, focusing the criticism or praise on him, while Spielman slips in under the radar. I haven't heard his name mentioned on ESPN once, not once. They pretend that Miami interviewed 7 people, then hired Dan out of the blue.
The truth of the matter is the front office received criticism FROM YOU and others, about the fact that Eddie Jones and Wayne Huizenga were not "football guys" and were in charge of the whole GM search and you continually made fun of how it was being dragged out. So now, they've brought in THE "football guy" to be part of the inner circle with Eddie Jones and Wayne Huizenga. He will be the one that has power of hiring or firing both GMs and Head Coaches. But first Eddie Jones, who has been contemplating and threatening retirement for YEARS, will teach Dan Marino his end of the business, and once Dan has that down, Jones will probably retire and then websites like yours could never again criticize the Dolphins for having non-"football guys" running the show.
I would think you guys would be happy. This is basically a vindication of a number of things you've said in your own Rumor Mills. Try to be a little intelligent here and realize that "constantly criticizing miami" is not really a consistent position given what you've already reported in the past. You guys criticized the fact that Jones and Huizenga were non-football guys and in charge of the hiring/firing process, so now Marino is in charge. You should be happy. You guys criticized just about every candidate Miami presented for GM, except Rick Spielman, and now Spielman gets the job and you STILL criticize? Come on.
Chris Kouffman
And whadya know, almost in DIRECT RESPONSE to my email, the Rumor Mill reported an update on the whole Marino hiring...and here it is.
MORE DETAILS ON MIAMI'S NEW FRONT OFFICE
We'll admit that we were a bit harsh on Monday when we questioned the sanity and sobriety of the folks who put Dan Marino in charge of the football operations in Miami. After gathering more information regarding the stunning move, however, we're ready to reverse course and give the organization a thumb's up for the overall restructuring of the front office.
The new format places Marino in charge of the football operations, with both Rick Spielman and coach Dave Wannstedt reporting to Marino. Spielman has been promoted to G.M., and he'll be responsible for all personnel decisions.
Though there are rumblings that Marino will serve as the tiebreaker between Wannstedt and Spielman when it comes to picking, dumping, and/or drafting players, we're hearing that Spielman will indeed have final say when it comes to personnel. The goal, however, will be to create an environment in which Spielman, Wannstedt, and Marino work together to identify Wannstedt's needs on the roster -- and to fill them appropriately.
One of our readers opined in an e-mail message that the appointment of Marino might have been intended to obfuscate the fact that Spielman now holds the juice when it comes to personnel, even though he's on the same rung of the ladder as Wannstedt, who previously stood one step higher than Spielman.
We doubt that owner Wayne Huizenga's plan was so elaborate, given the revelation that Marino has been pushing for some type of a front-office gig for a while. We also hear that Marino has been doing his homework of late, spending time at the facility and gathering information on the workings of the front office.
So, in hindsight, it looks like Huizenga hasn't handed the power to another Matt Millen (and that's a very good thing). Coupled with the strong public face that Marino puts on the franchise and his ability to help recruit a generation or so of free agents who grew up watching him fire bullets all over the field, the end result gives the Dolphins a framework for long-term success.
But there still will be some short-term tweaking. We're hearing that offensive coordinator Norv Turner likely won't be retained. We've heard nothing at this point about potential replacements.
Did anyone else catch those last couple of lines??? They hear that Norv Turner won't be retained!!!! I think that would be a big mistake.
Incidentally I hope this just shows you guys that yeah, if you think someone's made a mistake in what they wrote just go ahead and email them back pointing it out but be calm and logical. You could see an about-face done basically in your honor.