There was a time when you heard Miami sports and knew they were talking about the Miami Dolphins. A team that once took pride in everything from what the uniform stood for to what it meant to be a part of their history.
When Don Shula retired, it was the end of a long, storied history that was "undefeatedly great." Things naturally change, so when Jimmy Johnson took over, he changed the logo and built a tough-minded team that was in his image. They didn't win the Super Bowl, but the pieces were in place for Dave Wannstedt to take over.
His eventual failures began a long, dark slide that has lasted more than 20 years. Recently, Grier called out one of his own draft picks, which was uncharacteristic of the general manager and could be a sign that his frustration has finally reached its peak.
Throughout those years, the Dolphins struggled to find an identity, but that was more a case of the Dolphins failing to find quality head coaches who could establish one. For all the good Wayne Huizenga tried to do, he let his belief that a strong coach like Nick Saban and a strong EVP like Bill Parcells would turn it around. It didn't, but not for trying.
Stephen Ross wants to win—there is no question about his desire to win—but he has a problem that he can't get over. He is tired of being embarrassed by his own mistakes. His last attempt to find a GM had to have stung.
Turned down by several prospective executives, Ross had to settle on the one guy willing to take the job, Dennis Hickey. When it was time to let Hickey go, he went with the safest in-house guy he had, Chris Grier.
It made sense back then, but the problem was that Grier had been with the Dolphins since the early 2000s. He was here for the final year of Wannstedt, and he was here as the Dolphins' legendary success rate succumbed to time and bad decisions.
Grier, with the Dolphins, only knew how to lose. His entire career climbing the ranks for the Dolphins was in the middle of horribly bad systems and seasons of missed opportunities.
When Grier was hired, it was a continuation of the same things the Dolphins had been putting on the field—bad teams, bad coaching, bad decisions, well, bad everything. There was a losing mentality, a losing culture; there was more excitement for players in South Beach, where they could forget about the garbage they were putting on the field.
Chris Grier can't build a winning culture for the Miami Dolphins because he doesn't know what a winning culture is
Ross gave Grier every penny he needed to succeed. Every nickel and dime in the millions to let Grier build a franchise that could win and change the culture to a team that wanted to win more than hanging out in strip clubs and casinos. Something South Florida could be proud of. He tried, but he failed.
It's hard to expect anyone to achieve something that has been lost for more than two decades when that person was part of the problem. It's not necessarily Grier's fault if we are being honest. He was the only person Ross could turn to in order to avoid another messy and embarrassing chase for someone to run his team.
Grier was ready to take over the team; he put in his time, but he still has yet to get out of his way because everything he learned from all his years with the Dolphins was how to lose.
Chris Grier's biggest mistake was not learning from the past he was a part of. Instead of realizing everything they had done wrong for 20 seasons, he repeated the same mistakes. Now, 10 years later, they are still where they started, they have no culture, they have no leadership, and they have no plans or direction to change any of it.