So it should come as no surprise that the Massachusetts native likes the Bills and Patriots to compete for the AFC East title, even with Tom Brady now in a wheelchair. According to NFL Nation blogger Tim Graham, Smerlas has already grown weary of the media falling over itself to anoint the Jets "the new team to beat." Evidently, he's not as impressed about what Brett Favre means for New York as, say, Peter King.
"The Jets are frauds," Smerlas said from his office in Marlboro, Mass. "They barely beat Miami, a team that absolutely sucks. I've watched tape of [the Dolphins], and they're in trouble. The Jets had a hard time with them.
"Brett Favre is going off the cuff in the huddle. Favre, that pass he threw [a 22-yard desperation lob to Chansi Stuckey] was a punt. It turned into a touchdown, and they win by six points."
Wait, the Dolphins are in trouble? I mean, more trouble than going 1-15 a year ago? I don't expect them to make the playoffs, but Chad Pennington, Jake Long, and a healthy Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown are certainly upgrades over the crew general manager Randy Mueller cobbled together last season.
On Monday, Michael David Smith wrote about Joey Porter dressing down his head coach, Cam Cameron, in front of the entire team. Oddly, Cameron took it, in front of the entire team, and a week later, he was out of a job.
The Miami Herald's Armando Salguero writes that the entire franchise is a mess, from top to bottom. Which really isn't all that surprising given their record. One choice nuggets:
[T]he problem with the episode on the plane is that it seemed clear to everyone watching that coach Cam Cameron didn't really want to jump into the fray as it was happening. He seemed unsure. And that lost him much respect among players who, among themselves, started whispering that he "was not in control and looked scared," according to one player.
A day later, Cameron meets with Traylor, Traylor lets his emotions get the best of him, Cameron suspends him, and the veterans on the team are outraged. This, in part, led to Porter ripping Cameron a new one as everybody looked on (jaws agape, no doubt).
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.
Despite his insistence that his job was safe, the Brian Billick era in Baltimore is over. The team fired their head coach Monday, FOXSports.com has learned, capping an extremely disappointing season. ...
Billick was hired as an offensive guru but during his tenure it was his defenses that won for the Ravens, especially their Super Bowl title. Over time Billick was unable to get his QBs to star and his offenses stalled year in and year out.
Earlier this year he proclaimed that he had been given the vote of confidence from Biscottit but that was never confirmed and was obviously not true.
Obviously, now the question is who will be the Ravens' new head coach. I'm sure it'll be a long, exhaustive search, but there may be no better candidate than current defensive coordinator Rex Ryan.
You have to wonder what Billick's future holds (well, other than the golf). I mean, he was hired nine years ago because of his ability to put together an offensive game plan and work with young quarterbacks. Neither talent surfaced in Baltimore.
It wouldn't be surprising if he takes a coordinating gig, maybe following the Mike Martz career path. In fact, I could see Matt Millen hiring Billick to resuscitate the Lions' offense (as soon as Martz gets canned, of course).
New Dolphins executive Bill Parcells wasted little time in re-shaping the front office to his liking, firing general manager Randy Mueller Monday morning, less than 18 hours after the end of the regular season. The Miami Herald reports:
Parcells entered Mueller's office Monday morning and advised him that he had been dismissed. Mueller has since left the Dolphin's training facility. The rest of the staff -- including Mueller's personnel department -- has so far been retained.
It makes sense for Parcells to keep the rest of the personnel department for the time being. These guys have been spending all year assembling information about draft choices and free agents, and it would be foolish for Parcells to ax all of them before at least picking their brains.
Next up is a meeting between Parcells and head coach Cam Cameron, whose first season in Miami may also be his last. The two are expected to meet tomorrow, and although it probably gives Cameron at least a little hope that he wasn't fired as quickly as Mueller, it's hard to imagine Parcells keeping him around.
New Dolphins boss Bill Parcells has named one person he hopes will stay in Miami in 2008: Defensive end Jason Taylor, whom Parcells endorsed during his final appearance as an ESPN analyst.
But head coach Cam Cameron and general manager Randy Mueller got no such vote of confidence from the Tuna on Monday night. Parcells would speak only in generalities about what kind of coach he likes, and he also had little insight into the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, which the Dolphins own.
Best guess: Both Cameron and Mueller get fired in early January.
Now that Bill Parcells is running things in Miami, could Scott Pioli join the Dolphins as well? Pioli is the VP of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots and one of the most highly regarded front office people in the NFL. He has been one of the main reasons the Pats front office is the envy of the rest of the NFL.
He's also married to Parcells' daughter.
Dallas Pioli is Scott's wife and Bill's daughter. While Pioli is most recognized as a Bill Belichick guy (they've been together almost exclusively since 1992), Pioli and Parcells have worked together when both were with the New York Jets from 1997-2000.
The job could be available. Parcells probably will dump current GM Randy Mueller at some point and Pioli would be a great addition.
Still, it's easy to ask why general manager Randy Mueller would let wideout Wes Welkerwalk, or why Ted Ginn was the team's first-round pick when there were other needs (and if they had kept Welker, they wouldn't even need Ginn).
Then there's the whole Trent Green fiasco, and the biggest free-agent bust ... well, maybe anywhere: linebacker Joey Porter. The Dolphins signed him to a five-year, $32-million deal this off-season, and so far he's gotten into a Vegas scrum, had knee surgery, and registered one sack in seven games. But don't worry, Dolphins fans, he probably won't get cut:
Earlier this week, some members of the '72 Dolphins escaped from the old folks home to rip the current outfit for being one of the worst professional teams ever assembled. The front office wasn't immune either. Former head coach Jimmy Johnson wondered how the hell the Dolphins could lose Wes Welker.
"Not tendering Wes Welker to at least get a No. 1 pick in return? They [give up] one of the best punters in the league [ Donnie Jones] for a seventh-rounder.
Well, the Boston Globe's Mike Reiss has the answer. He talked to Vann McElroy (obviously his porn name), Welker's agent, about how his client ended up in New England. When free agency began, the Pats and Vikings were both very interested in Welker's services, but only New England matched a big initial offer McElroy put together. After that, everything else kind of fell into place.
For McElroy, though, none of this would've happened if the Dolphins' front office had slapped Welker, a restricted free agent, with the highest tender.
Better late than never, I suppose. After starting the season 0-7. owner Wayne Huizenga has decreed that there will be an internal analysis of the team when Miami returns from another likely loss, this time to the Giants ... in another country.
Huizenga said he would not endorse head coach Cam Cameron or general manager Randy Mueller, but he did say neither would be blamed for decisions they didn't make. Mueller's been in Miami a year longer than Cameron, but he was just collecting a paycheck when Nick Saban was the head coach. Saban made a lot of the personnel decisions, and then, when he saw the iceberg, jumped ship and headed back to the college game.
According to the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero, the "analysis" could take a while. Which means Cameron's job is probably safe for 2007. But even if he gets canned, then what? Don Shula/Jimmy Johnson/Dave Wannstedt? (Yikes) ain't walkin' through that door. Cameron's job is probably safe for now, but I wouldn't exactly call this a ringing endorsement:
'Is Cam a mistake?'' Huizenga asked rhetorically. ``I don't think so, but it's too soon to tell. I don't think you can blame everything that's happening now on Cam.''
And at 0-7, Cameron deserves to be questioned. It's just that Huizenga was the guy doing the hiring. Here's a crazy thought: maybe Huizenga's part of the problem.
On Monday, 
New Dolphins executive 
New Dolphins boss 
Now that 
There's plenty of finger pointin' to go around in Miami. The 
Better late than never, I suppose. After starting the season 0-7. owner Wayne Huizenga has decreed that there will be an internal analysis of the team when Miami returns from another likely loss, this time to the Giants ... in another country. 
