IRELAND DOESN’T HAVE “FINAL SAY”?
Posted by Mike Florio on January 24, 2008, 9:14 a.m.
The Miami Dolphins were able to finagle their new G.M., Jeff Ireland, from the Cowboys because new V.P. of football operations Bill Parcells doesn’t have “final say” over personnel.
The Dolphins were careful to include language to that effect in Parcells’ contract, and likewise (we presume) included appropriate words and phrases in Ireland’s paperwork to vest him with the authority to determine who will and won’t
play football for the team.
The only problem? There’s an apparent disconnect between the writing and the reality.
On Wednesday, Ireland essentially admitted that he’s not running the show. He admitted it.
“The situation that we’re in is that Bill does oversee everything,” Ireland said. “But yet I am the G.M. and we have a head coach, so there is going to be a triangle of communication involved here.
Though Ireland doesn’t come out and say “I don’t have final say,” it’s strongly implied that he doesn’t. Especially when he says, “I can’t say that Bill will have final say on everything.”
It’s a startling revelation, made even more surprising by the fact that Parcells is the dean of the “keep your f–king mouth shut” approach to
pro football.
So if the Dolphins are going to apply Parcells’ patented “one voice” approach, the “one voice” probably shouldn’t be Ireland’s. Unless and until he learns how to use it.
It remains to be seen what the fallout will be. In theory, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could ask the league to investigate the situation, and to compel the Dolphins to compensate the Cowboys with draft picks if it’s determined that Ireland truly doesn’t have final say. But to make that claim Jones would have to implicitly acknowledge that he’d been hoodwinked by Parcells, and not everyone has an ego that permits such a concession.
Frankly, we’re a little troubled by the manner in which Parcells has done business since heading to Miami. Though the opinions expressed below aren’t necessarily the opinions of PFT, we think that the reader who sent in the following e-mail on Wednesday makes some important points:
“An average fan here who is curious about the underhanded tactics that Bill Parcells continues to get away with.
“Let’s be honest, Tony Sparano was offered the head coaching job in Miami before league rules permitted, is there any question about that? . . . Then there are the assistants, who turned down extensions from the Cowboys to ‘test the open waters’? Please. Can the league really believe that Sparano didn’t reach out and offer jobs to [Todd] Bowles, [Paul] Pasqualoni, and [Kacy] Rodgers BEFORE their contracts expired this Sunday? And did Sparano recruit these assistants while still employed by Jerry Jones, under the orders of Bill Parcells? Of course he did.
“Mrs. Doubtfire has a long history of these unscrupulous tactics and clear violations of league policies. How does he get away with it?”
Hey, that e-mail was worth the price of admission solely for the Mrs. Doubtfire reference. Priceless.
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Seriously though, thank you Jeff for helping us get back to a winning organization. Good luck in M-I-A-O.....
