Bill Parcells, new Dolphins Czar of Football Operations and General Badassery, has gone about the business of remaking the front office. General manager Randy Mueller was fired and replaced with Jeff Ireland, and Cam Cameron and all but two assistant coaches were pink-slipped. And the Cowboys' offensive line coach, Tony Sparano, looks to be the frontrunner to replace Cameron.
But ultimately -- and this should come as a real shocker -- it's all about the players on the field. Sure, it's important to have a system in place for identifying, drafting and developing talent, but at some point, to paraphrase Herm Edwards, you have to play to win the games.
Cameron apologists like to point out that the first-year coach was put in an untenable position; the Dolphins were basically a shell of a team, gutted by that bastard, Nick Saban. That Cameron even took on the job was a testament to perseverance, nobility, so on and so forth.
But as the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero so pithily puts it: the Dolphins need better players much more than they needed better coaches.
Look at the Dolphins' starting lineup the final week of the season. No more than three players on offense -- Ted Ginn Jr., Vernon Carey and Samson Satele -- should be considered starting-caliber players, and that is probably being kind to rookies Ginn and Satele, who were still sorting out their games at the end of the season....Well, you can't really argue with that, I guess. But the Dolphins aren't looking to go to the Super Bowl in 2008; they'd be happy to win eight games. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Like him or not, Parcells has a knack for turning franchises around. But just not in one year. So, yeah, the Dolphins have a lot of holes. Let's see where things are in 12 months time.
Don't believe it? Quick, pick one of the following names who would start for today's Cowboys or Patriots: Marty Booker, Chris Liwienski, Rex Hadnot, L.J. Shelton, Jesse Chatman and Cleo Lemon.
