Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Tin Bits - Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Check back throughout the day as I update frequently. (new 'bits' appear at bottom of page).

  • Ricky Williams talks about his 2004 retirement here
  •  Al Groh talks about his future here.
  • With Pasqualoni, George Edwards, and Jim Reid gone from the Dolphins defense, a new coordinator will likely be named immediately (as in the next 48 hours).  They have contacted former Giants DC Bill Sheridan but it is believed by the Miami Herald to be interviewing for the linebacker coach position.  Personally, I don't think that makes much sense - surely they would hire a coordinator first, and that new DC would have some say as to who his assistants were.  
  •  There are those of you who want defensive back coach, Todd Bowles, to join Pasqualoni in the unemployment office, but keep in mind that Bowles was interviewed TWICE last year for Head Coach vacancies, and came in second in the race for the prize of the Detroit Lions.  He is also the Assistant Head Coach of the Dolphins, meaning he's Sparano's right hand man, and probably his most trusted member of the defensive coaching staff.  And he has been praised by the Dolphins players for two years for his coaching style.  I know he's a lot more upbeat/confident than Pass The Baloney ever was, and his energy could be contagious.  He may not be a fan favorite because of the Dolphins' secondary issues, but he clearly has the best 'inside' shot at the D.C. job, and making him Coordinator would mean a new secondary coach would have to be brought in.  Also, players tend to be happier when someone is promoted from within because they don't like a lot of big changes.
  • The Dolphins also said farewell to senior vice president, Bryan Wiedmeier, who spent 29 seasons with the team.  Wiedmeier decided to become the Browns' executive vice president of business operations.  Weidmeier is probably the man most responsible for the Dolphins' community presence, as a frequent organizer of charity events, youth camps, etc.  He joins the new operations team with the Browns, a team we will face in 2010.
  • The Dolphins have signed a new offensive lineman. G Dimitri Tsoumpas is another player the Dolphins have found in Canada.  The 6'4", 310 lb right guard for the Calgary Stampeders  played college ball at Weber State with fellow Dolphin, linebacker JD Folsom. The Dolphins currently have 70 players on the roster.

46 comments:

  1. Todd Bowles did a good job over the last years. This season he had two rookie corners starting along with two Strong Safeties (and no Free Safety), so I would blame our coverage struggles more on personnel and gameplanning (DC Pasqualoni) than on Bowles. I hope he remains at his position as DB coach, as it would be beneficial to our your corners to have some stability in their coaching.
    I still hope they can somehow lure Romeo Crennel away from signing with the Chiefs...

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  2. I think the Crennel deal is pretty much done - it was reported as in the
    works over 48 hours ago.
    I agree with your thoughts on Bowles. Of course, if he would push Jason
    Allen on to the field, instead of Nate Jones, then his squad may have had a
    much better record.
    No matter who gets the DC job, expect a lot more efficient use of the blitz.

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  3. The problem with Bowles is he has NO experience as a DC. Hell his only coaching giggs have been as secondary coach for dallas 2005-08 and seconadary coach/assistant HC with us. That's is not the pedigree I'm looking for. We need an experienced DC. Groh, Crennel, or someone else with a ton of experience. We don't need another project. We have too many of those now.( Sporano)

     I have a feeling that Parcells has someone in mind and it's no-one that we are mentioning.

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  4. Why doesn't Parcells call up Meshawn and ask his advise?  LOL ROFLMAO!!!  Sorry to carry this over from the SS blog, but I just thought his comment so funny I needed to share.  I can just see it now.  Bill: Hey Key, let me ask you a question,  do you think Pat White is angry we drafted him?  Every time I'm on the practice field he seems to be TRYING to hit me with the damb ball.  Oh, and who do you think I should pick as DC?" yeah right!

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  5. Oh yeah Tin, McClain officially announced he's enetering the draft :) Time to re-work that draft list...LOL

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  6. Rock,
    I saw those stories, what a bunch of S^%T. Keyshawn is an idiot, I can't even listen to him when he's on ESPN, or the NFL network. (which ever it is) To think ANYONE would listen to his opinion makes me laugh. The guy was an AVG (at best) WR with a 70 IQ, and somehow he is an expert?

    What a joke. Good for a laugh though.

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  7. From now on, whenever Mikey writes some stupid ass artical I'm just gonna post "So Mikey, what would Keyshawn advise?" LOL  It will get as old as Home's shit reallllll fast.

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  8. FF13, some would argue the assistant head coach title is exactly what does
    make him qualified for a coordinator position. Surely if he's qualified for
    a shot at head coach, he's qualified as a coordinator.
    Personally I'd like to think they'd contacted some people before firing
    Pasqualoni, because that's how it usually works, but the fact that Groh said
    he hadn't been contacted and that Crennel had seemingly accepted a position
    with the Chiefs the same day was surprising. This is what leads me to
    believe they're thinking of promoting from within. But you may be right, a
    complete unknown could emerge, or the Herald could be wrong and the former
    Giants coach is going for the DC job.

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  9. Rockphin, I doubt Parcells is asking too many 'advice' questions but I'd bet
    he does ask KJ what his opinions are on certain players or on the team in
    general. Parcells has never been shy about listening to opinions of those
    he trusts and he does have a good relationship with KJ.
    But you're right about Mike's article sort of distorting the type of
    relationship they have.

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  10. Tin, KJ and parcells have an acquaintance relationship. KJ said himself they haven't talked in years. So BP is not seeking his advice and never will. If there was a player KJ was very familiar with BP MAY give him a call, but that has yet to happen.

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  11. I still doubt very much Parcells asks any kind of opinion from Me-shawn on players or anything else when it comes to player evaluation, etc.  You don't ask your proctologist about the in-soles of your shoes!!

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  12. Rock,
     Yeah asking KJ for advice on a player, I doubt it. He is too far removed from the game to have any real input, if he ever did.

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  13. FF13,
    I had McClain on there all along but I have made some tweaks with other guys
    like Carlos Dunlap, etc entering. It's going to be a very crowded first 2
    rounds this year.

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  14. Tin,
    Zimmer just signed an extension with the Bengals. So I'd say either Groh or Crennel will be our next DC. I'd rather have Crennel. If it's not one of these two, who else might it be?

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  15. FF13, he said in the article they hadn't talked in about a month. KJ also
    attended at least two Dolphins practices last year and said then he was
    asked by BP what he thought of the team. There is clear evidence that the
    two do have a friendship. KJ is one of the the few WRs Parcells has ever
    shown any affection for.

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  16. Leave the proctologist out of it!

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  17. My $ would be on a Bowles promotion.  Crennel as DC would be an ego clash.  Bowles is the up and coming and those are the guys we go after. 

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  18. FF13, I think Tin has a point.  I don't think the guys in charge would make the move of firing PP if they didn't have a very good idea, or at least a short list of people to replace him.  I think we will hear who that replacement is within the next two days or so. 

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  19. They WILL still have to do the Dog & Pony show for the Runey Rule. (well, unless Romeo or Bowels is selected!) LOL

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  20. I seem to remember a few Assistant HC, The one who was here with Saban, comes to mind, who are given that title for reasons other than experience. I think Bowles is too inexperienced to be the DC. Parcells doesn't want someone he has to give on the job training to. If Bowles is promoted, I think it signals Parcells is here to stay. I mean why go with an inknown , when you could put a bonafide DC in the position?

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  21. What do the coaches actually do at the senior bowl?  Won't the coaches need some time to prepare?  Didn't the Dolphins have the same opportunity a couple of years ago? (under Satan or CC?) I think it was under CC and then they all got fired when BP came in?  Did we coach the game that year?

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  22. My money is on either Bowles or Groh. Zimmer was never in the running -
    he's a 4-3 guy that got run out by Parcells, so I never understood why his
    name was mentioned here.
    I'd bet you anything they've already hired someone and the media hasn't
    gotten a hold of it yet. Because of the need for speed, I think Bowles over
    Groh, because Groh hadn't been contacted as late as yesterday afternoon.
    However, he would easily ditch Georgia Tech in favor of the Dolphins, IMO

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  23. Rock,
    I have no doubt they have a plan of attack. I'm just trying to figure it out. They haven't contacted Groh, Zimmer signs an extension, and Crennel seems to b headed to the Chiefs. That leaves Bowles or someone we don't know about. If they promote Bowles, I think it is a mistake. He is an unknown and would have to learn on the job. He has only4 years of ANY coaching experience. The one good thing that may come out of Bowles being promoted, is i think it signalsd BP will be here for awhile. Who knows Bowles may be a D genius, but then again when was the last time a D genius just popped up out of nowhere? I can't think of one, all good D coaches honed there craft for years.

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  24. It is very hands on - they don't sit around, they run drill after drill in
    an NFL-style practice which is usually more up tempo than they are used to.
    They basically take the college players and try to teach them NFL
    fundamentals. The Bengals did it last year and had an excellent draft. It
    gave them an opportunity to get close to certain players ahead of the
    combine.

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  25. Tin,
     I un derstand they have a relationship. I just doubt BP is aking KJ( the idiot) for any real advice.

    I see the Convo going something like this:

    BP : " KJ so what do u think of the team?"

    KJ: " Well Bill u need Me-Shawn to get you WR corps up to snuff."

    BP: " Oh....  Thanks KJ I'll get back to u on  that."

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  26. Tin,
    Major Wright just entered early as well. He could be a nice 3-4 round pickup. The other S from UF, Black, is supposed to be entering early as well. As you said this could be one of the deepest drafts ever. We need it.

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  27. am I right? Did we have to pass on the senior bowl a couple of years ago because BP fired all the coaches just beforehand?

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  28. This is why I said he's not asking KJ for advice (we are in agreement there)
    but I do believe he listens to opinions of those around him. Whether he uses
    it is another thing entirely but he does like to know what others think of
    him.

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  29. Rock, I don't see how the Rooney rule works.  Hey-no-chance-at-the-job-having-black-fellow, come in here and be used to satisfy a rule. Then get the hell out of here, cause our real candidate will be here shortly. I am all for giving people a chance, but this is not the way to do it.

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  30. Rock,
     I remember that as well, it was CC, and we didn't get to coach the game, if I remember correctly.

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  31. They choose the coaching staff by going from draft order from number one all
    the way down, asking one AFC team and one NFC team and it's up to the teams
    to say yes please or no thanks. Since the Dolphins were 0-16 in 2007, they
    would have been first choice in the 2008 senior bowl.
    You are right that the firing caused the Dolphins to lose eligibility and
    the Raiders took over. The last time the Dolphins coached in the game was
    1987.

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  32. Well I guess they did pretty good picking players WITHOUT the benefit of coaching at the bowl anyway.  It'll be nice to get what ever advantage we can this year. 

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  33. The one thing I noticed in the senior week last year was that the Bengals
    coaches were very impressive. We don't really get to see these guys doing
    their job unless their team sucked the previous year and they make it to the
    senior bowl or onto Hard Knocks. That's why I'd like a full coaching staff
    to be in place before hand so that we could see what we've got. I'm
    particularly looking forward to seeing Coach Gulgielmo do his thing.

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  34. Tin,
    So how did we end up coaching it this year? There are at least 4 other AFC teams with similar or worse records than us. I am not complaining, the opposite actually. i just can't understand why another team would turn down the oppurtunity to get up close and personal with these prospects. Oh well, advantage us.Especially with the depth in this draft, this will work to our benefit.

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  35. Actually there are 6 AFC ahead of us in the draft. I understand the Bills, they lost their entire staff, but the other teams should have jumped at the chance.

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  36. I think I just explained this, but the teams are not forced to coach, they
    can say yes or no.
    It's possible that with the depth, it actually had a reverse effect and
    teams felt they didn't need to bother taking that much time. Also, the lead
    up to the game is often vacation time, and it's possible they had scheduling
    issues. There could be all sorts of reasons. The one thing you can take
    from it is that by saying yes, the Dolphins ultimately thought all their
    coaches or most of them would be around for the game. It's very likely they
    didn't intend to go into this week without having 2/3 of their defensive
    staff on board. So they probably didn't make a decision on Pasqualoni until
    the last minute.

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  37. Well actually Oakland, Jacksonville, Cleveland and Kansas City all had
    coaching questionables heading into the off-season so it's not that hard to
    fathom. It's the same as the waiver wire, sometimes a really good player
    slips through the grasps of worse teams because the timing isn't right, the
    position isn't a need, etc.

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  38. Corrections/Comments:

    -It's Bill Sheridan, not Jim.
    -Hiring assistants before DCs is not something at all necessary. Nothing weird about it.
    -The Dolphins have 71 players, not 70. 62 active and nine upcoming FAs.

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  39. "-The Dolphins have 71 players, not 70. 62 active and nine upcoming FAs"
    Other than Tsoumpas, who am I missing on the roster? I counted it three
    times and still came up with 69.

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  40. Are all the NFL teams raiding the CFL ?  I know a few have looked in that direction, but it seems that the dolphins are really putting an effort forward to bring in players from up there.  You would think I would know about the team bringing in Canadian Players, but off hand I can't think of that many.

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  41. Haven't gone through your roster, but this roster is accurate:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Miami_Dolphins_roster

    62 under contract in 2010, 2 on reserve, and 9 upcoming FAs.

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  42. That roster on wiki is NOT accurate because it lists Brennan Marion at WR.

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  43. Just so you know ... Tsoumpas will last about 5 minutes working with NFL players. He like all Stampeder linemen seem to jump offside all the time or as its called here, Illegal procedure. A waste of a practice body.

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  44. Just a note to Fang, the team that has done the best at getting Canadian talent is the Indy Colts. They`ve had a pipeline for years and even have a scout here

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  45. Brennan Marion is still under contract with the team. He spent the season on injured reserve. If you don't believe me, check the NFLPA database.

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