Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland doesn’t have many friends these days among Dolphin fans, agents and current and former players. He has faced a barrage of criticism from various fronts over the past month, from his supposed inability to land a quarterback to his inactivity in free agency to his perceived lack of interpersonal skills that have ticked off a few people.
But Ireland still has plenty of allies in the scouting/management community, and they’re starting to come to his defense.
Former Redskins and Texans GM Charley Casserly certainly empathizes with Ireland’s current plight. Casserly was obliterated by local and national media when he opted to draft Mario Williams No. 1 overall in 2006 instead of the superstar pick (Reggie Bush) or the local hero (Vince Young). Ireland, too, has made unpopular decisions in recent weeks – trading Brandon Marshall and not signing Matt Flynn or any impact free agents.
“I have a lot of respect for him, because it’s not easy,” Casserly said by phone this week. “You’re getting bombarded day after day, and there’s nothing you can do about it because you’re not playing any games yet. But I think he’s doing the right thing, and I think if given the time that he’ll be fine.”
Many Dolphins fans view Ireland as a Bill Parcells disciple whose theories on roster-building – targeting big bodies and focusing on defense and the running back – are out-dated. But Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Ireland’s boss from 2001-07, said by phone Thursday that Ireland is hardly a “Parcells guy.”
Ireland’s mentors are really Jim Parmer, a longtime Bears scout who is Ireland’s grandfather, and Carl Peterson, the former Chiefs president who gave Ireland his first football job and is currently one of Stephen Ross‘ top advisors.
“He was here before Bill, so it’s not like he’s a Bill Parcells guy,” Jones said. “He really is a Dallas Cowboy guy, by way of Carl Peterson and Kansas City. Then when Bill got here (in 2003), he saw how good he was to work with and how proficient he is at organizing and scouting players.”
Jones raved about Ireland’s work ethic, and said that after talking to Ireland at the owners’ meetings last week in Palm Beach, he’s confident Ireland can handle the criticism.
“He said he and his wife knows this goes with the territory, and the reason why I kind of accept that with him is because he knows I catch a lot of criticism too,” Jones said. “He exudes character, and he’s got the internal strength to handle that and he won’t miss a step in building the Dolphins.”
Former Cowboys personnel executive Gil Brandt, who worked alongside Tom Landry for nearly three decades, said he’s proud of the way Ireland has stuck to his convictions in his player evaluations and hasn’t succumbed to fan pressures.
“What Jeff is trying to do, and I think it’s the right way to do it, is he’s trying to build a team that’s going to be there for more than one season,” Brandt said by phone this week. “And in doing that, you make some decisions that aren’t fan-happy.”
“But if Jeff sticks to his convictions, he’ll be right about 90-plus percent of the time, because I think the guy has a good grasp of what you need to do to be successful.”
Casserly said Ireland and the Dolphins were simply unlucky this year in their pursuit of a quarterback.
“They were in a tough spot this year,” he said. “They couldn’t trade for (Robert) Griffin, and Flynn ultimately may not be the answer at quarterback. The (Peyton) Manning thing wasn’t going to work for a number of reasons, and none of them were their fault.”
“Jeff is good, and he’ll make plenty of good decisions along the way. They just haven’t had the cards fall for them at quarterback compared to some other teams. At least they’ve got two guys (Matt Moore, David Garrard) they can line up with.”
Said Brandt: “I think the quarterback that they got (Garrard) is pretty good. Now, is he healthy? I don’t know.”
Jones had high praise for Ross, calling him “such an asset to the league” because of the fresh ideas he brought to the meeting rooms last week at the NFL owners meetings and the unique way he approaches his team’s attendance problems. Ross broke NFL protocol last year when he interviewed Jim Harbaugh before firing Tony Sparano, but Jones said he respects Ross for not being traditional in his approach.
“I do think the challenges he’s facing, I’m envious in that he’s facing them unfettered,” Jones said. “He’s not as aware, or not as sensitized to the boundaries of, ‘Well this is the way we’ve done it,’ or, ‘We do it this way.’ So he brings ideas and perspectives to the table that we need in the NFL.”
“At the league meetings, he comes in with really sound fan-friendly instincts, and knows and understands the competition and how challenging it is to win. But he also wants to do it in a way that is uniquely what the Miami Dolphins are about, and I know he’s a great sports fan.”
“He’s totally motivated at making the NFL everything it can be – growing the pie, growing the interest. That combination of commitment, as well as the energy and talent he’s got, if I could draw a profile of an NFL owner, it would be Steve Ross.”
