Ross at Dolphins camp Monday, meets with Sparano, Ireland

The meeting Tony Sparano and Jeff Ireland were to have with owner Stephen Ross began in earnest this afternoon.

Ross arrived at the Dolphins facility at 1 p.m. Monday and stayed for several hours -- outlasting some employees that left at the close of business, The Herald's Jeff Darlington is reporting.

I am reporting Ross met with Ireland first and Sparano afterward.

Ross was in the company of club Chief Executive Officer Mike Dee.

It is reasonable to believe the club owner is allowing Sparano to give his version of what happened with the Dolphins in 2010 and a plan for addressing everything that is wrong -- including whether he would fire or relieve any assistants and what his plan would be for addressing obvious definciencies on the team, including the quarterback position.

It has been known for weeks that Sparano's job is on the line. The season-ending three-game losing skid, including the 38-7 loss to New England in the season finale did not help matters for the incumbent coach. A 1-7 record at home is also an issue that Ross was unhappy about this season.

"It was a productive meeting," Ross told Darlington this evening while at Sun Life Stadium for the Orange Bowl game.

On Monday, Sparano met with the media and gave few details on what he planned to tell Ross, with few being defined as none.

“I’m not going to get into that," Sparano said. "That’s going to be between me and Mr. Ross and we’ll go through that. But, I’m not going to get into all or any of those things right now.”

Sparano was asked how he would convince Ross he is the right man to coach the team going forward -- even as potential candidates Jon Gruden and Jim Harbaugh were working at Sun Life Stadium tonight, one as an announcer for ABC, the other as the Stanford head coach leading his team during the Orange Bowl.

"I’m not going to get into my plan with Mr. Ross," Sparano said, meaning he wasn't going to share the plan with the media.

The fact the meeting with Sparano was likely happening one day after the season ended suggests Ross plans to move fairly quickly in making a decision about the coach.

 

Comments

[oscar canosa]

Jon, you seem to be fairly objective. Besides the coaching, do you think Miami has a good nucleus of players and are only two or three offensive players away from being a contender? Or no?

[ALoco]

I HOPE SPARANO WILL STAY AND DOES WHAT IS NEEDED TO BE DONE.

HOPE THE FORCES OF GOOD WILL DEFEAT THE FORCES OF EVIL AND HE STAYS AS THE FINS HC .

[DyingBreed]

I found the perfect late rd qb:

Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada
Height: 6-6. Weight: 215.
Projected 40 Time: 4.68.

The guy is amazing! He threw for 20tds and rushed for 20tds in 2010. A definite dual threat.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=183575

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q75c434E82g&NR=1

This guy could be the steal of the entire draft!

[R & R EXPRESS]

DB,

Wuzzup?

Any chance we can have a seance and ask Joe Robbie for some help?

[oscar canosa]

Jon, Jon, where are you?

[Oregon Dolphin fan]

My 1st inclination would be to use the 1st pick on the O-line. Some on here believe that the O-line can be retooled via FA.

If so then the Julio Jones could be a nice addition. Clearly missing on Dez was a major blunder IMO. BM and this offense desperately needs a deep threat.

[DyingBreed]

R & R EXPRESS,

Check out Colin Kaepernick on my post@ 10:29 PM. He could be the qb steal of the 2011 draft.

[Oregon Dolphin fan]

DB,

I like the Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada idea. You have to go tall with a QB in today's NFL. Hopefully his mechanics and footwork are good.

A good GM takes a flier late QB pick like a Colin Kaepernick, nearly every draft.

[Sandoval]

One would have to imagine that if he was definitely going to get fired... it would have already happened.

[R & R EXPRESS]

DB,

Yeah - let's pull the trigger and get him!

[DyingBreed]

Oregon,

With the right qb coach Kaepernick could be developed into the next Steve Young with his athleticism. This guy put up Cam Newton type numbers and many have never heard of him. He's basically the same type of QB as Newton.

He maybe college footballs best kept secret, at least on the east coast anyway. LOL........

[Jon]

Define close. Playoff contenders? Sure. They easily could of been 10-6 or better this year.I don't know if they are that close to a super bowl team though. If they played in the NFC they would be. But in the AFCthey have to go through Manning, Brady, Rothlesberger, and Flacco. You have to have a QB that can go toe to toe with them. Also think they need more play makers on defense, especially at the safty positions. I think they are a good 5-7 players away.

[DyingBreed]

Im liking Tyrod Taylor as a late rd pick too but his 6'1 height concerns me on the nfl level.

[Oregon Dolphin fan]

Kaep moves very well and turned the corner on an all American LB in the highlight reel. He throws a nice ball too. I like it.

But the major question is who is going to be the next HC, OC, QB coach. Major change has to happen.

[R & R EXPRESS]

Found this tidbit on Rotoworld.

According to beat writer Mike Berardino, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is expected to be at Monday night's Orange Bowl.
He'll have his eyes on Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, who like Ross is a Michigan alum. Harbaugh also has ties through the Bears to GM Jeff Ireland. A source also tells Berardino that the team is not expected to make a decision regarding the future of either Ireland or coach Tony Sparano until Tuesday at the earliest.

[wvdolphin433]

I like Sparano as a head coach; he just needs some help on the offense. We brought in Nolan for the defense, so let’s get him a good OC. Jeff Fisher is the only coach I’d rather have, if he comes available soon.

What has happened since we won the Conference two years ago (The Wildcat year)?

1. An emphasis has been put on defense the last two drafts/free agencies/coach.

2. Our defense has improved.

3. We lost Pennington to injury.

4. Our offensive picks, 2nd round or higher have been:
a. Long – Great Pick, he was the #1 pick safest pick for financial reasons.
b. P. White – Middle 2nd rounder, thought they had something in the wildcat. Fool’s gold, Wildcats a bust and so was my boy Pat.
c. C. Henne – late 2nd, thought they could mold him. Still might with proper coaching.
d. B. Marshall – two second rounder’s- Great pickup, but needs to quit dropping catchable pass. Com’on man!

5.Ronnie and Ricky have lost it: Ronnie trying to stay healthy, it’s a contract year. And Ricky fumbles, he’s getting old and/or mind somewhere else (retirement).

It’s time for offense! BUT, we need to take the best player worthy of a first round pick. PERIOD! Hopefully a QB will be there. But regardless of that 1st pick, we defiantly need to take some chances on some offensive speedy guys in the 3rd and 4th rounds, WR/RB/KR with size. No 5’8” or shorter. And we need to replace Channing. A Safety is still needed? Hopefully we can get a player or two out of free agency. But all of this is for nothing if we don’t find a good OC and QB coach.

[cowkilla]

Some of you guys think Henne would be good with an outgoing OC, structure the O around him...buzzer sound! It isn't going to work, he's the alex smith of the east coast. Sure Henne has some tools, bug arm, and good size but that's where it ends. Henne lacks crucial mental skills such as seeing the whole field, the speed of the NFL, and his decision making ability...he just doesn't have that stuff guys. That is the stuff that's either in you or not, it isnt coached. I have seen zero improvement and zero ability in those areas. Look at some other recent backups and rookie QB's this year and you can see that most..not all..but most have that drive that a Starting QB Must Have in today's NFL. Look I wish Henne was our guy, it would make things much easier going forward...it just isn't going to happen guys with Henne unfortunately. I'm on the fence still as to let him go completely or keep him as a backup..but as of now Fotzpatrick and others seem to have that "it" factor, and it clearly shows. I watched a ton of games this year with the Sunday Ticket...I've seen it.

[Oregon Dolphin fan]

I believe big QB's and WR's are the future in the NFL. However, a Zack Thomas or a undersized lineman can still be very effective.

The size and most importantly speed is why Julio Jones is intriguing to me.

[DyingBreed]

Im still not really happy with neither of our starting safeties. Bell has always struggled in coverage and at times whiffs on critical tackles in the crunch.

Clemmons despite having mercurial speed just doesnt even began to make enough plays that you would expect a guy with his kind of after burners to be capable of making. He maybe very fast but he isnt very instinctive.

[Jon]

Also, Dolphin stadium is a horrible home field. Miami doesn't have a true home field advantage like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, places like that. The stands are too far from the field and even if the place is sold out, 20,000 of the fans act like they are watching a movie or something. Its a problem. The owner does cost the team at least 1 game easy a year by not playing in the heat early on.

[CF]

Better fix that delivery if he is going to make it in the NFL...good project agreed, but not the answer to our curren woes.

We need to go ahead and risk a 1st Round Pick on someone and go with it. Only one I don't like to be honest is Cam Newton, I would rather have someone who is a pure thrower of the ball, like Mallett

[R & R EXPRESS]

Still couldn't hurt to have a seance and let Joe Robbie's ghost kick some a s s and get these people serious about his beloved Dolphins.

[Jon]

A late round QB I like is Ponder from FSU. He's not huge but is big enough (6-3ish), smart guy, athletic, and comes from a pro style system. He's probably a 3rd or 4th round guy.

[DyingBreed]

CF,

That's why I say if this guy gets a good qb coach he's going to be absolutely awesome. Even though there are raps about his delivery he's been very accurate despite whatever problems scouts are seeing.

[cowkilla]

Also draft wise...we need to forget how many off the field issues some of these guys have and take a darn chance. Dez would have been perfect, many others we passed on, makes me sick. Look at Tampa, they took some nice looking WR's, and Dez..besides that injury looks like a true NFL WR...Ross and Co. needs to pull the trigger this year. I'm sick of these so called "safe" picks

[cowkilla]

DB...a lot of so called pro analysts said the same thing about Tebow's delivery...I think in a handful of games he's played smarter and better than Henne... Agree or not?

[DyingBreed]

Jon,

Thing I dont like about Ponder is everytime I watched FSU games he was a little jeckle-hyde. He's never been extremely great but is very rare just god awful neither. He looks like a career backup at best on the nfl level.

[cowkilla]

Ponder kind of scares me too for the same reasons...

[DyingBreed]

absolutely cowkilla! I also believe even if you see a little hitch in a qb's delivery and it doesnt seem to effect his accuracy or lead to unusual amount of batted/tip balls. Leave the damn kid alone!

Sometimes these guys can mess with young qb's throwing mechanic so much it makes them feel so uncomfortable they get worse instead of better. If it aint broke dont fix it. LOL.........

[CF]

Ponder is about the same as Henne honestly, and Henne had a better College career I believe.

We all long for the wide open offense again, would love to see that again, I'm tired of the run run pass crap, WC WC pass crap

I'd rather lose 35-31 then lose the way we lost to the Lions, Bills and Bears, it's gut wrenching

[Jon]

Good points on Ponder, its really a crap shoot trying to find a qb after the 2nd round. Outside of Brady and Shaub, they pretty much are all back ups at that point lol

[h8dpats]

Test

[DyingBreed]

Jon,

What I like about Kaepernick is his size(6'6 215), has an absolute cannon arm, and has the speed and athletism to make plays with his feet when nothing's available downfiedl or evading the rush.

IMO, Kaepernick is one of those rare mid to late rd qb's that may have enough upside to become a starter in the nfl if handled correctly.

[DyingBreed]

I would even rather try and start Kaepernick as a rookie than Henne right now. The biggest challenge would be getting him up to speed on the playbook.

Until fully digesting the entire playbook this kid can still make plays with his quick and nimble feet. I dont think this kid takes nearly as many sacks as Henne would. Guy really does have a fairly accurate cannon of an arm too.

This is the exact type of dynamic ability qb I would like to see us have. LOL...........

[Oregon Dolphin fan]

Cowkilla,

I understand there are plenty of people on this blog who hate Henne and blame him for all that is wrong in Dolphinland.

I just am not in that camp. I see a completely incompetent HC, OC and in all likelihood incompetent QB coach to boot.

Coaching and scheme is everything.

A guy earlier in this blog mentioned that Belicheat could beat the Dolphins with his team one week then take the Dolphins players and beat the Pats the next week and I believe that too.

There are plenty of example's like Brees who looked terrible for three years then turned.
Besides there are no really better options in FA or who are worth trading for IMO.

No deep threat, no vertical passing attempts, bad O-line play, a predictable prevent offense and a choke artist head coach who may as well be a eunuch for all the aggressiveness he shows in his approach is plenty enough in my mind to give a young QB another chance in a different system.

[DyingBreed]

Get a kid like Kaepernick up to speed and he can place an awful lot of pressure on nfl defenses. I see tons of upside with him.

[DyingBreed]

No matter how you chalk it up our entire 2011 draft needs to be spent on the offensive side of the ball! LOL...........

[DyingBreed]

I dont care if we had to take an olineman 1st rd. But the rest of the entire draft need to be spent on speed(te,rb,wr). We need speed on offense like a nymph needs dick!

[CF]

I think Ross is going to hijack Harbaugh tonight and try and hire him since he is from Michigan

"Jim, pleae come coach my team, I'm a Michigan boy just like you, maybe you can fix my Michigan QB and we have a great LT from Michigan too"

If it doesnt work Sporano looks like he is staying

[Darryl Dunphy]

Dying Breed..How many Nevada games did you watch? I ask this because they weren't on many times. The 1 game that was televised was the Boise Game and Kaepernick was fairly pedestrian in that game(as far as passing, Boise couldn't stop the run). I won't judge any quarterback on 1 game. But how much have you really seen of him?

[CF]

Hey, where is the guy that said Luck wasn't looking very good, if he went to sleep early he missed what everyone is talking about.

That throw he made getting chased on his goal line on 3rd down was unreal, beautiful throw and only in a place his guy could catch it

[DyingBreed]

DD,

Whaddaya mean? My nickname's Nevada Bob. LOL..........

[DyingBreed]

I like what Im seeing from Harbaugh's offensive system. Look's light years better then Henning's. But hell, watching 200 year old paint peel from the wall is more exciting than Henning's offense! LOL................

[Xerxes Black]

Who hired the coordinators and assistant coaches? Who decided to get Henne instead of drafting Ryan? Who decided to waste a second round pick on Pat White? Who approved the game plan for the Dolphins? Who did not object to and changed the stupid plays that Henning was calling? Where does the buck stop?

[finzer13]

It sounds as though Ross is going to prove to the world that he is just as dumb as the rest of the coaching staff. What a shame this once great franchise is now like a giant log floating in the toilet. But I have a solution for you Mr. Ross. Before the season starts, I would suggest you hire some painters to paint fake fans in the seats at sun life. But you better get going now, because there is a lot of empty seats to paint before next season.

[Darryl Dunphy]

Dying...I'm not being a D!ck I was just curious because I've only seen the guy play once.

[Jimmy Jam]

wvdolphan - Ricky had only two fumbles this year according to Gannon on Sunday. BM dropped only four passes that were his fault. The rest were due to Henne overthrowing, underthrowing, or throwing behind him.

I think Ronnie has really lost something but Ricky is still a solid #2 back. OL has to be the main focus (other than QB, obviously).

they need a starting LG and RG (they might have one in Carey if they move him, but then they'd need an RT). Incognito looked decent at C but they could use some help there too. Past that, who knows who they'll get at QB? Add speed at WR, a good TE and an RB. On D, upgrade at S (Jones is a SS anyway) and get these young CBs working with a QB - Hey! There's a job Henne can do well - throw practice INTs to our CBs so they can learn to catch.

[finzer13]

@DyingBreed....I also like Kaepernick, but his mechanics are awful. He has a crazy release and it is also a slow release. Don't get me wrong, he has tons of potential, but with Lee as our QB coach, he would be a wasted pick. He is definatly a developmental QB. Not starting caliber. And I am addimently dead set against Mallett. He is a larger version of Henne. He is even from Michigan. Enough of the robots.

[DyingBreed]

DD,

Actually I havent seen any of Nevada's game but his stats were decent in each game he played this season. Check them out here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=183575

[bobbyd12]

CF, I'm at the game and MO Luck didn't look good in 1st half and yes, he needs work to do. First off, there was a number of throws where the receiver had to go to the ground to catch the ball because it was thrown low. Numerous throws over the middle behind the receiver. Nice touch passes when the receiver was running down the field. Bad low throw at his goal line batted down for safety. One INT, two shoulda been INTs. If you wanna blow the guy fine, but Luck isn't stepping in and saving Carolina next year, cause that's where he is going, if he comes out.

[Craig M]

Bobby,

You still Andrew Luck is only going to be average? I thought he had a really good game. Little bit of a slow start to the game but I thought he game on well in the second half. He looks to have it all to me, including poise, accuracy, arm strength and leadership. But maybe more importantly I think he's got 'it'. I think we're going to hear a lot about this guy right up until the draft and I think this guy is going to be a star in the NFL.

I know this is a crazy idea but does anybody think Jim Harbaugh would make a good OC in the NFL? I know it doesn't make sense...I know someone is going to offer him a head coaching gig....I'm just wondering, is there any way he would pass on a head coaching job to come and be an OC with us? I know it's a crazy thought but I can dream,right?

[bobbyd12]

The only reason I went to this Orange Bowl game was to watch Luck. Does he have the size and abilities YES. Does he have nice touch passes YES. Is he ready to step in and make an impact with a NFL Team NO. Throws too many balls low and behind his receivers. Looks awkward under pressure. Has work to do.

[Darryl Dunphy]

That was an impressive performance. Lucks stock is probably as high as it will ever get. Did you notice his footwork? Unbelievable. Luck reminds me of a bigger Drew Brees with a stronger arm. You got to see the whole package. 3 step drops ball out.5 step drop play action ball fake on the money. This is difference between Luck and guys like Mallet, Newton, or Locker.

[Craig M]

Bobby,

Just read your most recent post now. I missed a lot of the first half (sorry guys had to cheer on the Canadians versus US in Junior World Hockey) but I saw most of the first half and I thought Luck looked great! I think he's going to do well in the pros. He's got a confidence about him that I think players will feed off of.

[Craig M]

Darryl,

In my opinion there is not comparison between Luck and Mallet, Newton and Locker. To me there's a big drop off and that's why I'm dead set against us taking a QB in the first round.

Bobby, while I agree that Luck isn't there yet and there will be some struggles, I' confident in time he will work this out. I think we are looking at the next great QB in the NFL. I'm sold!

[bobbyd12]

Craig M. Never said Luck would be average, there is just some things I saw watching him tonight that makes me believe he needs to improve on. Will he be a great NFL QB, who the hell knows. Won't get away with some of the things he did tonight in the NFL. It's going to take Luck a few years to get there. That's all I'm saying

[Oregon Dolphin fan]

Luck will be long off the board when the Dolphins draft. Other than inviting him Miami to assess his abilities may as well forget about him as a viable draft pick.

[Darryl Dunphy]

Bobbyd12..Man your nitpicking. He was accurate. There were 3-4 throws that could have been thrown in better spots. But there isnt't a QB on the planet that is on the money everytime. What you probably couldn't see was his amazing footwork. Did you notice his play action skills? How about getting rid of the ball quickly? Or all of the different throws he made out of different formations. Did you notice how well he looked off the safties? This guy is the whole package. If you are just judging him by throws alone you missed out on the good stuff.

[BLACKCEROTE]

ricky williams just put sprano .. henne ..,marshall under the bus and we still gonna keep sprano..

[Craig M]

I'm really surprised to hear you say that Bobby. I think he's going to make an impact with the Panthers next year and I expect him to do something similar to what Bradford did this year.