Now what?
Or, to look at it from a different angle, given that the Miami Dolphins did the opposite:
Now what?
Brian Flores stepped down as coach. General manager Chris Greer remains. This is the opposite change in behavior that would have to come from any sound and rational view of football – if it were really football.
Which was not quite.
“Collaboration and communication,” said owner Steve Ross, were the reasons for Flores’ sacking.
Translation: It was again about the relationship within this team. Remember when Grier took over and said, “Now the dysfunction stops?”
It didn’t stop. It continues. Ross doubled up on Grier and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, not Flores. A source told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Flores did not work with them. He also somehow disrespected Ross, which led to his being fired.
This is in line with Flores’ well-developed portfolio, which has problems with working with people. In three years he has changed three offensive coordinators and four offensive line coaches. That’s why he started at 1-7 last year, why this season was a flop – in short, the long list of people he fired in three years doesn’t have much compassion for his departure.
He has also been 19-14 as a coach for the past two years with unstable lineups. His teams played hard, so he reached out to the important players.
If Flores had his own personal flaws to work on, then Grier had football aspirations. Do we really need to rummage through his long list of talent decisions, starting with missing drafts and wasting free agents?
Are you trying to build a successful soccer team or have fun singing around the campfire?
The last three years of Grier, who led the renovation, can be boiled down to one decision:
Tagovailoa over Justin Herbert.
This decision alone leads to the dismissal of the CEO. The main reason for the massive overhaul, for which they had to sacrifice three seasons, was to obtain an elite quarterback.
Did Tua show anything to be Human?
“I really trust Tua,” Ross said. “I think the next head coach will work with him. I think he will grow up. ”
So why did Ross get permission to speak with Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson on the trade deadline? Why consider swapping for a player with 22 sexual harassment charges against him if you like Tua so much?
This organization is schizophrenic right at the top. Ross does one thing and now says another. He is ready to give up Tua for the sake of Watson. He now fires Flores in part because of his relationship with Grier and Tua.
Two Sundays ago, during the half-time between Flores and Tua, there was a high-profile duel when the Dolphins were dismantled by Tennessee. Big deal, huh? The football coach and his defender are shouting. Unless it went far beyond that, it was every Sunday between Bill Parcells and Phil Simms, sometimes with Dan Marino and Don Shula.
Ross didn’t close Watson’s door on Monday either.
“What he does with the quarterback will depend on the head coach,” he said when asked about Watson. “It will depend on the next head coach and the direction he wants to take.”
No, no, a thousand times not. Such a decision related to such charges comes from the owner. Do you want someone with these kinds of problems to become the face of your franchise? Yes or no. In or out.
Ross also had this option: Clean House. Decide it’s time for a completely new regime. Flores has a hard time getting along with people. Greer doesn’t know how to build a team. That would be a viable idea, not his usual binary way of making decisions: a) stay and b) leave.
Look at what Ross has done since he came to power in 2009: General Manager Jeff Ireland remains and Coach Tony Sparano leaves; Coach Joe Philbin stays and Ireland leaves; VP of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum and Greer remain, while Philbin leaves; Grier stays, and Adam Haze and Tannenbaum leave; Gris stays and Flores leaves.
Ross loves the marriage of forced matches between GM and coaches. How it works?
The next coach will likely not be Michigan’s Jim Harbo. Ross, Michigan’s biggest supporter, jogged in Harbo ten years ago and said he would not do it again. Does he put Michigan ahead of the Dolphins? Fair question considering Harbo is rumored to be moving into a professional job.
Ross says he has no idea about the next coach. Jim Caldwell would be another one to look out for. He was hired early in the Flores era before going out the door, reportedly for health reasons.
The team owner doubled down on Grier again. He left a guy who had been dealing with personnel issues for years. There is something good, something bad – this is how you get mediocre seasons.
Ross really wants to win. But does he know what it takes to win? Does he understand what is holding this team back?
It’s fair to ask this too: Has Ross recruited someone you can support and say was great to his team?
Browse these names: Philbin. Tannenbaum. Gas. Greer. Add to that Don Aponte and Dennis Hickey in the front office, given that they run it differently. Did anyone succeed?
Flores was his best employee.
And now he’s gone.
Again, Flores wasn’t perfect. Just ask the coaches he has coolly fired over the past few years. Just look at the mistakes he made when hiring or firing his employees. This is again the main problem this season.
No NFL team should have a striker, where the flowchart reads like a roundabout. Flores even declined to say who called at the start of the season. It turned out to be Charlie Fry, Tua’s former personal trainer who was previously the offensive coordinator in Central Michigan. No wonder he didn’t want to talk.
When this experiment failed, he turned to George Godsey, who seemed to correct the grievance as best he could. It was functional given the incompatibility of the parts.
Problematic line of attack. There are no runners. Wide receivers who, as their careers show, have suffered greatly. And who put together this list?
The same GM that will assemble it next year.
Who survived eight regime changes in the front office.
Who has not seen victory in the playoffs at the time with the Dolphins.
Greer stays behind. Flores leaves.
I’ll take full responsibility, ”Ross said. “I am the owner of the team. If that doesn’t work, it’s up to me. This is why we are making changes. ”
He had the choice to completely clean the house. This would have been a move since Flores was disrespectful to the owner. Instead, the coach leaves and the grandmaster stays behind. The Dolphins, from a football point of view, did the opposite.
