A Failure of Leadership

[Dolfanalyst]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46575310/tagovailoa-calls-some-dolphins-player-meeting-attendance

What you're seeing here is a head coach who is derelict in his duty as a leader, having established a free for all country club culture in the locker room, where players can flout rules and give low effort with insufficient consequences.

Some of the players are trying to compensate for that by asserting their own leadership and holding players-only meetings and such, though they are limited in their ability in that regard because they have neither the power nor the authority to levy consequences for other players' actions (missing those meetings, showing up late, etc.).

The whole thing stems from a head coach who would likely be great in the capacity of an offensive coordinator, where he doesn't have the responsibility of leading and establishing the culture for an entire team, but who is woefully miscast in his current capacity as head coach.

Jason Taylor always said Nick Saban was his favorite coach because he cracked down on the lazy, low effort players that undermined Taylor's exceptional efforts.  Mike McDaniel is at the opposite end of that spectrum.

[Pappy13]

I see that take as being short sided. If you're showing up late to a player's only meeting when you are 1-4, you aren't committed to the success of the team period. Sure maybe more of a disciplinarian head coach might be able to reign that in a bit, but in my opinion he shouldn't need to, players should make it their job to be on time especially if things aren't going particularly well. What I see are a lot of players that are just playing for a paycheck and not much else. They are in it mostly for themselves, not for the team. They aren't dedicated to making the team successful, they are dedicated to making a living and doing the bare minimum to continue doing that. That's the difference between good teams and average teams and below in my opinion and that's reflected in the standings. Miami could very well be 4-2 right now except for a few plays here and there and by that I don't mean they SHOULD be 4-2, no I mean the difference between being 4-2 and 1-5 is slim and every single play matters, you need every single player doing everything they can at every moment to be the best they can possibly be and it doesn't seem like that's the case and that's why their record is 1-5 instead of 4-2 in my humble opinion. Some of those losses would be wins not because of those 1 or 2 plays where they didn't get the job done but because of all the other plays in the game where they could have gotten more and wouldn't be in a position to need those 1 or 2 plays to win the game. Miami isn't losing because they can't win with the head coach they have it's because several of the players are not committed to success, that's a failure of the players themselves.

[Pappy13]

Every team has those players -- it's the head coach's job to establish a culture in which their behavior in that regard is not tolerated.

No, not every team has those players. Most successful ones don't have those players in my humble opinion or if they do, they are the one sitting at the end of the bench. Success has a price, some aren't willing to pay that price.

[Dolfanalyst]

I see that take as being short sided. If you're showing up late to a player's only meeting when you are 1-4, you aren't committed to the success of the team period. Sure maybe more of a disciplinarian head coach might be able to reign that in a bit, but in my opinion he shouldn't need to, players should make it their job to be on time especially if things aren't going particularly well. What I see are a lot of players that are just playing for a paycheck and not much else. They are in it mostly for themselves, not for the team. They aren't dedicated to making the team successful, they are dedicated to making a living and doing the bare minimum to continue doing that. That's the difference between good teams and average teams and below in my opinion and that's reflected in the standings. Miami could very well be 4-2 right now except for a few plays here and there and that and I don't mean they SHOULD be 4-2, no I mean the difference between being 4-2 and 1-5 is slim and every single play matters, you need every single player doing everything they can at every moment to be the best they can possibly be and it doesn't seem like that's the case and that's why their record is 1-5 instead of 4-2 in my humble opinion. Some of the losses would be wins not because of those 1 or 2 play where they didn't get the job done but because of all the other plays in the game where they could have gotten more from players. Miami isn't losing because they can't win with the head coach they have it's because several of the players are not committed to success, that's a failure of the players themselves.

Every team has those players -- it's the head coach's job to establish a culture in which their behavior in that regard is not tolerated.

That's for two purposes:  1) winning, obviously, and 2) so that the players giving greater effort don't eventually throw in the towel themselves because their best efforts are being undermined by low-effort players whose behavior is tolerated.

[Dolfanalyst]

No, not every team has those players. Most successful ones don't have those players in my humble opinion or if they do, they are the one sitting at the end of the bench. Success has a price, some aren't willing to pay that price.

And who put them at the end of the bench?  The head coach.

If he's unwilling or unable to do that, the entire team culture changes, and not for the better.

[Pappy13]

And who put them at the end of the bench?  The head coach.

You need more than 22 players committed to winning to do that.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this issue is strictly a Dolphins thing, I think most of the teams below .500 have either the same or similar problem. A lot of players are in it for a paycheck these days. The number of players truly committed to being the best is becoming scarce in the NFL.

[Downunder Dolphan]

I kind of get that Tua may be trying to take a little of the heat off of McDaniel, but it certainly doesn't help when an ex-Dolphin calls him out for not living up the standards he's preaching. Sure, this guy may have only been on the practice squad for a very short amount of time, but it's still not a great look.

Former Dolphins WR calls out Tua Tagovailoa for leadership comments after loss to Chargers

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/former-dolphins-wr-calls-out-tua-tagovailoa-for-leadership-comments-after-loss-to-chargers/

"This dude…the starting QB…was late to the first team meeting during my 3 seconds on the Dolphins and everything was all cool in there,"

[Downunder Dolphan]

Pretty damning stuff from Armando Salguero.

Miami Dolphins Lack Leadership From Ownership, To General Manager, To Coach, To Tua Tagovailoa

https://www.outkick.com/sports/miami-dolphins-lack-leadership-from-ownership-general-manager-coach-tua-tagovailoa

The Miami Dolphins lack talent, don't make enough plays, and obviously aren't winning. But the biggest area where they fall woefully short is leadership – because it is lacking in this organization, from ownership, to coaching, to the general manager and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

[Sibster]

Pretty damning stuff from Armando Salguero.

Miami Dolphins Lack Leadership From Ownership, To General Manager, To Coach, To Tua Tagovailoa

https://www.outkick.com/sports/miami-dolphins-lack-leadership-from-ownership-general-manager-coach-tua-tagovailoa

The Miami Dolphins lack talent, don't make enough plays, and obviously aren't winning. But the biggest area where they fall woefully short is leadership – because it is lacking in this organization, from ownership, to coaching, to the general manager and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

ho
I've said this in another thread.   Ross created a party atmosphere with the orange carpet, Club Liv, minority owners with celebrity status, allowing a casino naming rights to the stadium, adding a bunch of bars, etc...   He's done very little to try to get rid of that atmosphere and both the players and coaches are taking advantage.

[Pappy13]

Pretty damning stuff from Armando Salguero.

https://www.outkick.com/sports/miami-dolphins-lack-leadership-from-ownership-general-manager-coach-tua-tagovailoa

There's a LOT of axe grinding in here from Salguero. While I don't completely disagree with everything that was said, he's basically taken every single complaint registered against the Dolphins for the last 5 years and summed them all up in 1 article. C'mon. Where was this article a couple years ago when Miami was on a roll? This amounts to basically kicking a team when they are down.

When you are losing everything looks worse and winning cures all ills. The truth is somewhere in between.

[Sibster]

There's a LOT of axe grinding in here from Salguero. While I don't completely disagree with everything that was said, he's basically taken every single complaint registered against the Dolphins for the last 5 years and summed them all up in 1 post. C'mon. Where was this article a couple years ago when Miami was on a roll? This amounts to basically kicking a team when they are down.

When you are losing everything looks worse and winning cures all ills. The truth is somewhere in between.

Mando is voicing what a lot of fans feel.   Ross is not a competent owner.   He treats the team like it's happy hour at the bar as opposed to doing what it takes to win games.  It's been this way ever since he became the owner in 2009.   In his sixteen years of ownership, this team has been to the playoffs only three times and not won any divisional titles.  Let that sink in.

[Pappy13]

Mando is voicing what a lot of fans feel.   Ross is not a competent owner.   He treats the team like it's happy hour at the bar as opposed to doing what it takes to win games.  It's been this way ever since he became the owner in 2009.   In his sixteen years of ownership, this team has been to the playoffs only three times and not won any divisional titles.  Let that sink in.

Yeah, I know Mando is voicing a lot of what Dolphins fans feel. That's my problem with this article. Is Mando just a Dolphins fan or is he a journalist? This wasn't written to identify the problems that Miami has, it was written to get a lot of clicks. I'm not impressed.

[Sibster]

Yeah, I know Mando is voicing a lot of what Dolphins fans feel. That's my problem with this article. Is Mando just a Dolphins fan or is he a journalist? This wasn't written to identify the problems that Miami has, it was written to get a lot of clicks. I'm not impressed.

He's both a fan and a journalist.   He's been a beat writer for years.   And right now, he's voicing what a lot of Dolphins fans think... major changes are needed and ownership is a great place to start.

[Pappy13]

He's both a fan and a journalist.   He's been a beat writer for years.   And right now, he's voicing what a lot of Dolphins fans think... major changes are needed and ownership is a great place to start.

I'm curious to know what Mando's plan is to change the ownership of the Dolphins. If he felt Tua was the wrong QB to take in the draft, I don't remember seeing that article. If he felt that McDaniel was the wrong coach for the Dolphins when he was hired, I don't remember seeing that article either. I can't even remember an article criticizing Ross for keeping Grier on after Flores left.

Now he knows all these guys lack leadership? Because the Dolphins are 1-5? I guess they all lost their leadership abilities they had when they were 11-4 in '23. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

You need more than 22 players committed to winning to do that.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this issue is strictly a Dolphins thing, I think most of the teams below .500 have either the same or similar problem. A lot of players are in it for a paycheck these days. The number of players truly committed to being the best is becoming scarce in the NFL.

Disagree.  But the last time a FA whose number one goal was to win a ring signed with Mia #13 was still throwing the pig skin.  

There are players who choose Buffalo, KC, Pit, or Philadelphia because they feel it gives them the better shot at a SB.  But they aren't even considering Miami.  

I have seen listed on this site all the reasons why it should be easier for the Dolphins to recruit FA over a team like the Bills -- lower taxes, better weather, better night life, beaches.  Etc.  But here is the problem with that -- a player that is picking where he wants to play based on which city has more strip clubs or where he can make the most money instead of which team gives him the best chance to win a superbowl isn't exactly the type of player you want to be recruiting.