The word "Rigamarole" isn't used quite as often anymore, but that is what Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin channeled when he recently talked about the Miami Dolphins and the situation with Tyreek Hill while he was in South Beach.
It's not a secret that Mike McDaniel's inability to hold his players accountable, regardless of their name and salary cap figure, was a huge problem that spiraled out of control. Irvin believes that Hill may have played a much bigger role in the Dolphins' offseason changes that included McDaniel losing his job.
Irvin was on his podcast, The White House, when he began talking about the Dolphins' rebuild. A direction that he likes seeing so far. To Irvin, however, Hill was a problem.
"Tyreek Hill was running the whole organization; he was running everything."
Michael Irvin blames Miami Dolphins handling of Tyreek Hill as the catalyst for their collapse
It's hard not to argue with Irvin on this point. Hill was able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. There has been a lot of speculation, former player comments, and unnamed players reporting that there was no discipline, no accountability, and a different standard for other players. This was all in the two months after McDaniel was let go.
The Dolphins' overhaul this year makes the 2019 roster implosion look like a firecracker in the Washington, D.C., mall during the 4th of July fireworks. Chris Grier lost his job last season, McDaniel was fired a week after the season ended, and only a day after Jon-Eric Sullivan was hired as the general manager.
Even owner Stephen Ross was taking a backseat and giving up power to his son-in-law, Danny Sillman. Add in the trade of Jaylen Waddle, the release of Tua Tagovailoa, and a roster that was gutted to some degree at almost every position, and this is historical for the franchise.
Hill was lightning in a bottle from the day he arrived and started talking about Tagovailoa being a more accurate quarterback than Patrick Mahomes. His off-field problems, which included several cases in which the police were involved, were never addressed publicly by the team in any way.
Irvin claimed that the players controlled the Dolphins, and that too is a correct statement. Jalen Ramsey butted heads with McDaniel, so he was traded. Other players wanted nothing to do with how the team was being run and didn't look back when they hit free agency.
It's the job of Hafley and Sullivan to fix it all, and Hafley doesn't sound like the previous coach; he is holding his players accountable, evidenced by the benching of Ollie Gordon during the first preseason game after an unsportsmanlike penalty and pulling Austin Jackson out of practice against the Giants for throwing a punch.
Things are definitely different in Miami now.
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