Is Stephen Ross more in love with Michigan than the Miami Dolphins?
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are looking for a new head coach and this will be the 4th head coach Stephen Ross has hired since owning the team but it isn’t his first passion.
Stephen Ross hired Brian Flores, Adam Gase, and Joe Philbin, but he is also credited with giving Tony Sparano an extension after a bad marriage and worse run after someone prettier. The question is that while we watch him yet again chase around coaches, two things come to mind. Why is he so enamored with first time head coaches and why does he love Michigan so much?
You would think that the owner of an NFL football team would do anything to make sure that team wins. When it comes to spending, Ross has an open checkbook for whoever is in charge of using it. This goes for both the football side and the business side of the Miami Dolphins. It also goes to anything Michigan, his Alma Mater.
My intention isn’t to be a scathing fan who is mad that the owner hasn’t turned the team around. This is a legitimate question I have about the perception of this owner and Jim Harbaugh.
In 2010, Ross flew across the country to hire Jim Harbaugh, a former Michigan man himself. He failed. It was an ultimate embarrassment that was chalked up to an inexperienced owner but now, this year, he has that chance and isn’t taking it.
Reports have been pretty consistent around the NFL circles this off-season that Ross will feed whatever money he has to into the Michigan athletics program and more specifically Jim Harbaugh to keep him at Michigan. In his “I fired Brian Flores” press conference, he laughed off questions about Harbaugh and said that he wouldn’t be the guy that took Harbaugh from Michigan. Why?
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The only answer that would make “real” sense is that Ross doesn’t see Harbaugh as an NFL quality head coach. That “real” answer, however, is probably pretty far from the truth. Ross loves owning the Miami Dolphins but does he “love” the Miami Dolphins?
I’m not saying that Jim Harbaugh is the right coach for the Dolphins. I’m very much on the fence with that but also firmly believe one thing specifically, if Stephen Ross wants that man to be his coach, he needs to make him his coach.
What bothers me is that Harbaugh’s name comes up in NFL circles as a candidate for a vacant HC job. To date, he hasn’t entertained a return to the NFL. Ross apparently thinks he will at some point, hence the money he is willing to throw at him to stay at Michigan and again, why does he not want him in Miami?
This is a big problem for me. It eats at me to some degree. As a fan of the Dolphins long before Ross became the owner, I have poured time, money, emotions, and more money than I care to ever admit, but the owner of the team is more willing to throw his money at a guy to stay away from the Dolphins. And it isn’t because he is bad, it’s because the owner doesn’t want to lose him from the college he attended. Where is the priority here?
As many of you are aware of and regularly point out to the millionth degree, I support Ross. Always have for the most part. I’m far less critical of what he has done because in reality I know that I have two choices, support the team or don’t support them. My opinion isn’t going to change Ross’ mind any more than anyone else. This just doesn’t make sense to me.
To me it would be akin to owning a business, say a restaurant and the best chef in town might just make my restaurant the best in the city, but I don’t want to take him away from what used to be my favorite restaurant. What is the point?
If Ross doesn’t think that Harbaugh will be a good NFL head coach, then that would make sense but if he is more concerned about Michigan losing theirs, then it is time for Ross to sell the team to someone who may be far more invested in this team instead of a different one.