Jeff Ireland: Where do we stand now?

[Dave Gray]

I could see the Dolphins making a move to fire him, had the season tanked after the Martin/Incognito thing.  As is, we pretty much salvaged it and made a playoff run (whether we get in or not, we're playing a meaningful game in week 17 which many didn't think possible.)

This offensive line issue seems to be the biggest problem and it's hard to pin that on Ireland, since they're all hurt and .

Had we needed a new beginning and you wanted to clean house, it made sense, but now -- it's seems like you have the building blocks.

Do you think his job is safe now?

[CF DolFan]

I think his job is safe but I don't think it should be.  His best pickups this year have been 2 guys off of practice teams.  We aren't getting much out of our draft picks and one we even moved up to take 3rd. That's #3 in the draft!!!!  Kiko Alonso was taken behind him from Oregon and could have helped us more.

Ireland has been here a while and has yet to draft a Sam Madison, Jason or Zach. Oh by the way ... everyone brings up Dez but what about the way Ireland dumped on Zach and then Jason? I go all the way back to when they released Zach and he wanted to address media to say thanks to the fans and team. Ireland said "no, he's not a Dolphins any more."

The guys is an ass and one who doesn't have a body of work to support staying. 

Edited to add ... I just read this in an article and it made me angry at Ireland.

But the Dolphins still barely played rookie Dion Jordan. He played just 15 defensive snaps, mostly coming when Vernon needed a rest on a long drive. PFF believes Jordan — the No. 3 overall pick in the draft — is barely hanging on to his nickel pass rusher role. -

See more at: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thedailydolphin/2013/12/23/linebackers-ellerbe-wheeler-struggle-along-with-usually-solid-wake-in-dolphins-loss-to-bills/#sthash.ogI9ZXKc.dpuf

[MikeO]

His future in Miami probably hinges on the outcome of next weeks game.

[Dave Gray]

His future in Miami probably hinges on the outcome of next weeks game.

Maybe.  I think it will be interesting if we beat the Jets, but still don't make the playoffs.  What then?

[Landshark]

Maybe.  I think it will be interesting if we beat the Jets, but still don't make the playoffs.  What then?

That's a toss up but if they lose next week, I say usher him out the door.  Spending all that money and only improving by one win is totally unacceptable and would certainly justify a firing

[Dave Gray]

I just think it's dumb to fire someone based on how one game plays out.

If you think he's not getting the job done, fine -- let him go based on that.  But winning this one game doesn't mean he's been better or worse because of it.


I see improvement this year with Ireland.  He's learning and I think that some of his more recent decisions have looked pretty good.  I would keep him another year.

[MikeO]

I just think it's dumb to fire someone based on how one game plays out.

If you think he's not getting the job done, fine -- let him go based on that.  But winning this one game doesn't mean he's been better or worse because of it.


I see improvement this year with Ireland.  He's learning and I think that some of his more recent decisions have looked pretty good.  I would keep him another year.

I sorta agree and I give Jeff a pass for the "Parcells years" because to me at least, its very obvious he was the GM in name only. Parcells was calling the shots. And I am not one of these "Ireland can do no right" people who bash every little thing he does. Buf if Miami with its playoff destiny in the balance loses to Thad Lewis and Geno Smith to end the year...someone has to take the fall. And  it ain't gonna be Philbin, we know Ross loves him and even during the Martin-Incognito saga Ross was defending Philbin every chance he got! Ireland's name never came out of Ross's mouth once. Ireland fought for and got "final say" in all roster moves put in his contract. Well, with that comes responsibility. And if the Fins lose to the Jets I think he's done in Miami

[Spider-Dan]

I just think it's dumb to fire someone based on how one game plays out.

But it's not "one game."  It's the culmination of many games and many issues.

If the Dolphins make the playoffs, then I think it might save the job of a man who would otherwise deserve to be fired.

[masterfins]

Spending all that money and only improving by one win is totally unacceptable and would certainly justify a firing

Huh, all what money??  All teams play with the same cap, and Miami has a huge amount of cap space available in 2014.  If anything he could have spent a bunch of money keeping Long and Bush, and this team would have been MUCH better.  Would it have been the right thing to do?  We will never know because it didn't happen.  However, one could argue that those two players would have provided some much needed leadership (incognito thing wouldn't have happened), and Bush although he would have missed some time due to injuries, would have outperformed Miller & Thomas.

That said I see no good reason to oust Ireland, Miami played as good or better than we all expected at the start of the season.

[MikeO]

Huh, all what money??  All teams play with the same cap, and Miami has a huge amount of cap space available in 2014.  If anything he could have spent a bunch of money keeping Long and Bush, and this team would have been MUCH better.  Would it have been the right thing to do?  We will never know because it didn't happen.  However, one could argue that those two players would have provided some much needed leadership (incognito thing wouldn't have happened), and Bush although he would have missed some time due to injuries, would have outperformed Miller & Thomas.

^^THIS! I hate the notion that some people think that Miami spent a boat load of money last offseason. They didn't!!! They let go of a bunch of older guys who had or wanted big contracts and were injury prone (Long, Bush, Dansby, Burnett...etc) and replaced them with younger guys who fit their system better. Last offseason Miami had $20 mill in cap space. This year they have $20 mill or so in cap space and possibly $30+ mill when all is said and done. Where was all of this money that was spent last year? Seriously. He gave Hartline a modest extension, nothing crazy. He signed Brandon Gibson to a modest contract. The Mike Wallace deal when you break it down is 3 years $37 mill...that's it. It looks huge when you factor in the "non-guaranteed" money but look deeper at it and its not as crazy as it seems. Ireland had TE Jared Cook signed and almost sealed, Rams came in late...instead of overpaying he let Cook walk. And gave Keller a 1 year deal for modest money, nothing crazy. Ellerbee in my opinion is worth what he got no complaints there. He extended Jones and Misi now before they hit the open market and could have held us up for ransom. And they really got modest deals too, nothing insane when you look at the numbers.  I think the "Wheeler-Hate" has gone too far, he isnt' as bad as some think. Did Jeff overpay...yes. But for christ sakes if Wheeler is the only guy he overpaid for then it's not the end of the world. And it's not like it's such a terrible deal it ties up our cap in a bad way and prevents us from doing other things.

I know this is tough for some fans to understand.....the realistic goal heading into this season wasn't to win the super bowl this year. That's why Jeff DIDN'T go for broke and spend every last dollar he could. He let some carry over to next year. This is a work in process. So this notion he spent so much money, he didn't. He let 4 guys with big contracts leave...and replaced them with about 4 other guys .

If Ross wants to fire Jeff at this point I don't care. Drafting players has a lot of luck involved in it I have come to realize over the years There is no "sure fire/can't miss" GM who hits all the time or most of the time. I will give the devil his due and since Parcells has left Ireland has been VERY responsible with the salary cap. That isn't up for debate. He has gotten us in great salary cap shape. But if ross wants him gone, I don't care. GM's can only do so much and they get far too much blame sometimes (as well as far too much credit)

[Diehard_Dolfan]

My only issues are he should have pulled the lever on the Albert trade and I still think TY Hilton would have been a better fit than Wallace.  Other than that I don't really have any problem with keeping him or letting him go.  I'd rather we get rid of Sherman (if he doesn't retire) he sucks!

[Spider-Dan]

Seems like the Ireland era has resulted in a lot of bad offensive coordinators, doesn't it?  Henning was a genius, then he was an idiot.  Sherman had a great season, now he's an anchor.

Perhaps these gentlemen are attempting to make chicken salad?

[masterfins]

My only issues are he should have pulled the lever on the Albert trade and I still think TY Hilton would have been a better fit than Wallace. 

I just caught bits of a discussion on the Albert deal the other day, think it was ESPN.  They said it was almost a done deal, Albert had agreed to the money amount, I think it fell through over KC and a lost draft pick or something.  I think if Martin had stayed at RT, and McKinnie had been brought in to start the season it would have been a decent O-line this year (easy to say in retrospect), and the whole Incognito thing might never have happened.

[CF DolFan]

My only issues are he should have pulled the lever on the Albert trade and I still think TY Hilton would have been a better fit than Wallace.  Other than that I don't really have any problem with keeping him or letting him go.  I'd rather we get rid of Sherman (if he doesn't retire) he sucks!

Dansby and Burnett ...  Ireland went for "younger and faster". That wasn't about money and at this point certainly wasn't a good move.

[MikeO]

Dansby and Burnett ...  Ireland went for "younger and faster". That wasn't about money and at this point certainly wasn't a good move.

It was totally about money. And Dansby earlier this year gave an interview where he said when he was in Miami he played 30lbs overweight the entire time  and was never in "game shape". He said he got fat and lazy. His "wake up call" was when he got released. That's when he lost the weight and became more serious again. Those are HIS WORDS. Can't blame the GM and Head Coach for wanting a guy who is overweight and not taking things seriously gone