The More it Changes, the More it Stays the Same

After watching this organization embarrass itself at the outset of the off-season, conducting a “clandestine” coaching search while banishing Tony Sparano to a figurative professional purgatory for several days, then insulting the fan-base’s collective intelligence with a preposterous press conference, you’d think the Dolphins would make it a point to change how they operate.

After all it was the current way of operating that landed the Dolphins at 7-9 for consecutive season, nearly cost Tony Sparano his job, has alienated a portion of the fan-base and has strained relations between the coach and GM. All indications were that things were going to be different, the powers that be said so. They wanted to install a dynamic offense and buck the archaic philosophy that had Miami running an offense circa 1989 in 2010.

That being said, it’s hard to reconcile those comments with the fact that the Dolphins are reportedly interviewing John Garrett, the Dallas Cowboys tight end coach, for their offensive coordinator opening. I apologize if it seems like I’m losing patience, but HOW IS THAT ANY DIFFERENT FROM THE PAST THREE YEARS?!

Since Bill Parcells and his little nit-wit protege Jeff Ireland showed up they’ve been pruning players and coaches off the Cowboys roster. However, aside from Anthony Fasano (and maybe Coach Sparano himself) not a single one of those moves has paid off.

Akin Ayodele was statistically one of the worst 3-4 middle linebackers in football his last year as a starter for the Fins. Ever heard of Deon Anderson? He spent the season on IR for the Fins. Bobby Carpenter? Yeah, don’t need to rehash that one. Paul Pasqualoni, Pat McQuistan, the list of bad acquisitions of former Cowboys goes on and on and on.

Hey here’s a tip, I know you’re familiar with these players because of the time a lot of our coaches and execs spent in Dallas, but the Cowboys were awful this year. At 6-10, they were actually more disappointing than the Dolphins. Typically, the guys that get cut on a bad team are not gems (unless it’s the Dolphins, JD Folsom, Rob Ninkovich, etc…).

It’s one thing when the Patriots cut a 7th rounder like Ted Larsen and he goes on to nail down a starting role in Tampa. They’re a good team, sometimes there aren’t places on a good team for talented players. Dallas is not a good team. So stop collecting their garbage! You would think after all the ridiculousness of the last few weeks, this team would move forward focused on finding the best possible coach for the role. What I did not expect was for this regime to turn around and, once again, go find someone in Dallas.

And least shocking it would be a tight end coach. Parcells favorite position. Not a QB coach, not someone who has been a coordinator before, Jason Garrett’s brother, the Dallas tight end coach. Does the nepotism know no bounds? Did Bill Parcells even leave?

Let me ask you something, is there anything about John Garrett that excites you? Does he have a proven track record? No. Does he have experience as an O/C? No. Has he ever worked with a hall of fame player? No, he was the QB coach for Jake Plummer a decade ago (1999-2000) but that isn’t really enough for me to feel good about.

No, if Miami hires John Garrett you’ll know exactly what to expect for the next year. The same old BS. This isn’t a dynamic hire. It’s not impressive, it’s just easy. Miami goes and finds some guy they’re familiar with off a 6-10 team and tries to put the proverbial lipstick on a pig by telling us how great he’s going to be.

I don’t buy it. Nothing has changed in Miami.