Pelissero: Stephen Ross needs to take all-or-nothing approach to Dolphins brass
Here is some unsolicited advice for Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross while he processes Sunday's lame loss to the New York Jets in London and the team's 1-3 record entering the bye week: For once, have the conviction to stand by the entirety of the football operation you've put together, otherwise fire everybody and start over after the season, if not sooner.
The Dolphins' issues existed before coach Joe Philbin arrived, and they'll remain as long as Ross treats football like the scales of justice, as if they can be balanced by removing something from one side and adding something to the other.
Philbin is 24-28 as head coach. His team remains one of the most frustrating in the NFL — playing up to its talent level one week, falling flat the next. It's hard to latch onto anything the Dolphins have done since 2012 to say a breakthrough is coming.
But think back on how the Dolphins have operated in that time, and go back even further to Ross' deal to gain majority ownership of the team in January 2009 — a span in which they're a combined 44-56 with zero winning seasons and zero playoff appearances.
The coach when Ross showed up was Tony Sparano, and the football boss was Bill Parcells, who felt Ross wouldn't secure his future and retired in September 2010. Parcells handed the reins to general manager and protégé Jeff Ireland at the start of a 7-9 campaign.
The Dolphins pursued (and were rebuffed by) Jim Harbaugh in the 2011 offseason but didn't fire Sparano until they were well on the way to a 6-10 finish later that year. Ireland survived that change while the Dolphins pursued Jeff Fisher but ended up with Philbin, the former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator.
They followed up a 7-9 season in 2012 with a free-agent spending spree under Ireland, who paid top dollar for receiver Mike Wallace and linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Phillip Wheeler. They went 8-8 in 2013 and parted ways with Ireland, who was replaced by Dennis Hickey.
But Philbin stayed.
Hickey and the coach survived another 8-8 finish in 2014. But the Dolphins hired Mike Tannenbaum, announcing in a media release that he and Philbin would report directly to Ross while Hickey was supervised by Tannenbaum.
Tannenbaum's first moves? Dumping Wallace, Wheeler and Ellerbe and going on his own binge, which included a $60 million guarantee for all-pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
String together enough changes, and there will always be someone else to blame, someone else's mistakes to fix, someone else's failures on which to base the low bar for progress.
Is it any wonder the Dolphins play like a loosely affiliated talent collective rather than a team? Is it any wonder Suh, who has been undeniably impactful but never known as a leader, looks vaguely disinterested as things go south? Is it any wonder quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who got his own contract extension in the offseason, looks out of sync with another overhauled receiving corps? Is it any wonder the Dolphins are facing all these questions, again, four weeks into a season that everyone viewed as make-or-break for Philbin before it started?
Ross is still learning as an NFL owner, but he's a very smart businessman. The Dolphins are again filling seats in a stadium that just got $350 million in upgrades. They have a proud history and solid brand. The franchise itself is in fine shape.
Trying to land a big-name coach is a logical, tantalizing next step. But that search would be tricky if it comes with the condition a new coach must work with Tannenbaum, Hickey, or whomever else might be lurking around the building.
Ross has been steadfast in supporting Philbin, a good man and a good coach who would have a chance to succeed under the right circumstances. He only recently hired Tannenbaum, who was already around in 2014 as a consultant.
One way or another, that needs to be the last jagged transition for a while. Either commit to this vision long enough that it has a chance to work, or re-envision everything.
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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero