Former Dolphins Think the Dolphins are no longer a Marquee Franchise

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald talked to some former players about the Dolphins Organization in the wake of Jeff Fisher taking the Rams job over the Dolphins, and well the response wasn't very good.

Manny Fernandez--“They’ll be hard-pressed to find a solid coach that won’t want that power. This is very discouraging.”


“It’s over for them being a marquee franchise,” Manny Fernandez, a standout on the Dolphins’ glory teams of the early 1970s, said Friday night. “The only thing marquee about them is South Beach. How many mistakes have they made? How many bad decisions? It just goes on and on. And it’s ridiculous not to give a coach final say over the personnel he’s responsible for winning with.”

Nick Buoniconti--“We’re viewed as an ordinary franchise,” Hall of Famer and former Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti said. “We have lost whatever luster we garnered during the great years and the [Dan] Marino years. There has been nothing for anybody to hang their hat on.”

And some media folk have some strong opinions as well. Rich Gannon had this to say... “If a quarterback plan isn’t in place, it wouldn’t matter if Vince Lombardi was coaching.”

Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin “isn’t a quarterback guy — he’s more of an offensive line guy. He’s not the play-caller,” Gannon said. “[Cincinnati offensive coordinator] Jay Gruden is outstanding, but he’s not leaving. [Carolina offensive coordinator] Rob Chudzinski is probably the next guy who’s left.” (and the Dolphins right now have no interest in talking to Chudzinski.)

When Peter King was asked if the Dolphins are still a marquee franchise his response was..“I guess they are,” King said. “But at some point, you have to win consistently to maintain that mantle, and they’re just not winning.”