Miami Dolphins have been consistent for 17 years at not having accountability

The Miami Dolphins get to sit back and watch the Patriots in yet another Super Bowl. It only stands to further deepen the disappointment of a franchise who can’t get things right.

For 17 years the Dolphins have tried to build a winner but they haven’t been able to. They have found pieces to the puzzle then realized that those pieces didn’t fit. Threw those same pieces in a box belonging to another puzzle and watched as they flourished. Yet for all these years the Dolphins have had two playoff appearances and no wins.

All of those free agents and big contracts have amounted to nothing. The Dolphins tried to find those players on the market and failed. They tried to find solutions in the draft and they failed. They decided to keep their in-house talent and overpaid. As a result they failed.

Head coaching changes, assistant coaching changes, positional coaching changes, coordinator changes, executive changes, hell even a couple of logo and stadium name changes. And every time they failed. So how do they fix it? First they have to realize what the problem is and the problem is looking at them in the mirror.

Miami is a team that goes through the motions. They believe they can do their best by doing the least or overpaying for average players. Through 17 seasons of New England domination one thing has been consistent and only one thing. The Dolphins lack direction.

There are simply too many people calling the shots and it doesn’t work. Dave Wannstedt couldn’t do it by himself and he and Rick Spielman couldn’t do it together. Nick Saban may have been able to do it himself but he quit before really trying. Forget Cam Cameron and Randy Mueller.

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The “culture change” was supposed to come when Bill Parcells came to Miami but it didn’t. Instead of Parcells calling the shots, it was he and Jeff Ireland trying to work together with Tony Sparano. A three-headed monster that blamed each other for their failures. No singular person to take accountability.

When Parcells left it was an Ireland, Sparano, Dawn Aponte struggle, then insert Joe Philbin. Then insert Dennis Hickey who had no real power, and then came Mike Tannenbaum. Tannebaum is supposed to be the final say but even he doesn’t take accountability. Instead it is a shared failure between Tannenbaum, Philbin, and Hickey and now Tannenbaum, Chris Grier, and Adam Gase.

In other words it’s a continuous wheel that goes round and round. How can the players learn to be accountable when those in charge of them can not?

Miami has no direction because the leadership has no direction. Too many hands are stirring the pot. In most cases around the NFL the general manager holds all the cards. In some cases it is the head coach. Name another team who has a three-headed executive branch that calls the shots together? It’s hard enough for a coach and G.M. to get on the same page let alone another executive in the mix.

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This translates to poor performances on the field. Poor or lack of leadership by the players and in the locker room. It breeds blaming and again circles back on the wheel to lack of accountability.

Without someone not just saying “I’m accountable” but actually being accountable there is no definitive direction for a team to take. For the Dolphins it has been a 17 year drought. Under Jimmy Johnson the Dolphins failed to reach the Super Bowl but there was never a question as to who was in charge. Who is in charge of these Dolphins? Gase? Grier? Tannenbaum?

This is where things must change before anything gets done on the field. To understand this more look no further than four hours North on I-95. What changed with Jacksonville? A perennial top five drafting team who came within mere minutes of upsetting the New England Patriots and going to the Super Bowl. Tom Coughlin changed.

Coughlin brought accountability to the team. He directs. He holds those below him accountable for what they do and as a result they hold those below them accountable. It trickles down to the players and this year, they found success. Maybe even success that can be sustained.

Miami doesn’t have that. They lack the singular person that everyone else has to answer to. Until that changes, Miami isn’t going to become an annual contender. This is not intended to be negative but instead a look at one area that needs to be fixed before the rest of the team can be fixed. Gase is head strong and Miami should see that. Give him more flexibility and power if that is what it takes. Win and lose with one person being accountable for it all. Whomever that is, it needs to happen because the trio of decision makers isn’t working.