Can everybody just calm down for a second?
Here I am, trying to enjoy my final week of vacation, and I have people calling me, texting me, and tweeting me, all because Stephen Ross promoted Mike Tannenbaum to VP of Football Operations.
Seriously, the way people are talking—and I'm including the South Florida media in this as well— you might as well forgo the entire 2015 season already.
What did Aaron Rodgers say earlier this season? Oh yeah:
R-E-L-A-X.
Everybody just relax for a minute. Please. For the sake of my own sanity, please, just step back from the ledge and rethink this for a bit.
First of all, let's get one thing straight— I have no problem with Mike Tannenbaum. I think he's a football minded guy who had some successful years with the Jets, had some spot on draft picks (Revis, Mangold), and made some mistakes along the way (who hasn't). Having another smart football guy in the room will not cripple the Miami Dolphins, folks.
And now, let's get a second thing straight.. This isn't surprising. It's just not. I told you last summer that Stephen Ross brought Tannenbaum in as an advisor. I told you last summer that I sat not thirty feet away from the guy at lunch one day in the team's training facility.
So let's stop acting like Ross' promotion of Tannenbaum is completely out of left field, okay?
What is puzzling to me, however, is the new chain of command at Dolphins headquarters.
In it's simplest form, it looks like this:
Head coach Joe Philbin reports straight to Stephen Ross, and has full control over who plays, and who coaches.
GM Dennis Hickey now reports to Tannenbaum, but still has full control and final say with personnel decisions, meaning he controls who they draft and who they sign.
CEO Tom Garfinkel remains the team's president and will run the business side of things.
Tannenbaum, now the VP of Football Operations, reports to Ross, and has the responsibility of tying all of these moving pieces together into one nice, big, pretty bow.
Got it?
This is where I have a problem... It seems that GM Dennis Hickey is getting cut off at the kneecaps here, and I strongly disagree with that.
Hickey, in his first full year as a GM last season, had a strong draft. Don't think so? How many team's in this league can say they have two legitimate ROY candidates on their team right now?
Ja'Wuan James has been spectacular wherever you put him. Jarvis Landry led the team in receptions. Those two don't just grow on trees, folks. And they weren't just handed to Hickey, either. He had to scout them, find them, and take a chance on them.
For a first year GM, I thought Hickey did a wonderful job last May. He also didn't do too bad last March either, when he brought in Branden Albert, who would've been an All Pro this year had he not tore his ACL in November.
So no, I do not agree with the new chain of command. Hickey is said to still have full power and control over the personnel department, but he still reports to Mike Tannenbaum now. That just seems like it's going to be an issue, no?
But back to the beginning.. It's January 7, 2015. September is a looooooooooong ways away right now. Free agency is still to come. The draft is still to come. OTA's, minicamp, and training camp are still to come.
So let's stop with the whole 'the world is ending, the season is already over' act, okay?
The season is not over. The world is not ending. Before crucifying this organization, let's just let this thing play out a little more. Deal?
Okay, back to vacation. The offseason blog will begin in the coming weeks...
You know, barring any more apocalyptic events in South Florida.
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