FanPost

Stop Blaming Adam Gase, and Other Short Stories

Greetings fellow Phinsiders, hope you're all doing well after a long weekend of eating leftovers, avoiding brawls at your local shopping mall in an effort to purchase the last sub $500 55" HDTV, and especially after watching yet another Dolphins loss yesterday. Amidst the current five game losing streak there have been varying degrees of "fire Adam Gase" talk on the boards. Given the team's lack of discipline, to include Bobby McCain's ejection yesterday and last week's penalty-fest vs the Bucs, some of the outcry is understandable. But none of that really matters. Really, it doesn't matter if the coach is Adam Gase, Joe Philbin, Don Shula, Bill Belichick, or whichever coach you choose to name.

I think it's pretty clear that no coach could win with the current roster. To borrow from political commentator James Carville's oft-parodied line "It's the economy, stupid", the root cause of Miami's woes is simple: It's the talent, stupid. I don't think any of you are actually stupid (no, not even you Sutton), but as I think about Miami's roster it seems so clear. My logic is simple: 1) you build a roster through the draft, and 2) the best talent is found in the first few rounds. I've looked back at Miami's draft history back to 2010, rounds 1-3, as these should be the bulk of the players Miami should be starting on a weekly basis with the idea that at least SOME of them would be making significant contributions to team success. Instead, I see more busts than a Vegas blackjack table on payday, and still other players wearing different uniforms. Miami has had 25 overall picks in the first three rounds going back to 2010. Of those 25, only 14 are still on the roster and of those 14, four are on injured reserve (Koa Misi, Ryan Tannehill, JuWuan James, Raekwon McMillan). Meanwhile, Daniel Thomas, Jonathan Martin, Michael Egnew, the entire 2013 draft, and Billy Turner are undisputed busts; DeVante Parker and Jordan Phillips are wandering near bust territory. Ultimately , only about 10 of the 25 high-round picks since 2010 are solid contributors on the roster, including those currently on IR, a draft "success" rate of 40% at best.

This is an issue that transcends Adam Gase, Joe Philbin, Jeff Ireland, Mike Tannenbaum (or, as some of you have affectionately named him, "T-Bomb"), and so many coaches/GMs. Take a look at Miami's entire draft history: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/draft.htm - Younger Phinsiders will see some of these names and say "I've never heard of most of these guys" while older Phinsiders will say something like "Oh yeah, I remember these guys, they stunk. Why would we ever pick them?". As Jon Bon Jovi once sang, "It's all the same, only the names have changed". I think the truth is Miami has historically drafted poorly. Looking at those names it's a wonder Miami ever went to the playoffs, let alone competed for a Super Bowl.

So how did this happen? I'm not certain, but I do have a theory. Don Shula understood that team success hinged on running the ball/stopping the run. He built a team with that identity and went to three consecutive Super Bowls, winning two of them. That was 40+ years ago. Miami lost that identity once Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick left for the ill-fated World Football League, and became more of a passing team with Bob Griese, then later Dan Marino. Since Shula/Marino retired, Miami has had no real identity. Think about it. Besides "bad" what is this team? Besides "bad", what has this team been since 2000? It's been a hodgepodge of HCs/GMs spackling a roster together with high-priced/underperforming free agents and draft busts because there's no real identity/plan in place. Hard to reach your destination without a map. One coach wants to run (Sparano), the next coach wants to throw (Philbin). Each philosophy requires different players. Now Adam Gase is trying to win games with the remnants of Philbin's roster.

Miami looks to be around 5-11 this year and favorable draft position in 2018. Will Miami keep Adam Gase? I don't know. Should they keep him? I don't think it matters. Until the front office can decide on a clear identity for the franchise, hiring a coach seems pointless since there appears to be no rhyme/reason in their "building" of a roster. Anyway, I think that's about it. Besides, it's "Cyber Monday", I have to go spend money I don't actually have. Thanks for reading, flame on.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Phinsider's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of The Phinsider writers or editors.