Mando: Fins Scouting Department

We've all feared this was true, hoped it wasn't true, but many believed it was true.

Armando knows this team, and he's not working for the Herald anymore. I believe THIS IS TRUE.

First move: Revamp the scouting/personnel dept.

There are guys -- some you've never heard of -- who have failed upward on that staff for 20-25 years.

https://twitter.com/ArmandoSalguero/status/1450511695349260291

This is the most substantial evidence to date that Chris Grier needs to go if this roster continues to fail. 20-25 years pretty much matches his Dolphins tenure exactly.

We all have continued to complain about scouting and drafting, and this one tweet sums up exactly what we've seen with our own eyes. Reaching for project players. Missing on need positions. Failing to draft blue-chip talent and choosing mediocre players instead. No playmakers. Guys that are always hurt.

I TOLD YOU!!! I TOLD YOU ALL ALONG!!!

I always liked Armando BTW. Something about him never using his non-whiteness as a crutch like You Know Who. Also, he's been right about this team as often as that other guy's been wrong.

Also, if you believe in coincidences the Brady-Belichick Era started right after Grier left the Pats--and right after he got to Miami the whole "winningest team in NFL history" thing went up in smoke too! As much as I bash and trash JJ, did you know he and Wanny managed to make the playoffs five straight seasons, which is as many as Shula ever did? But thanks to Grier this team has only been to the playoffs three times in the last 19 years Sometimes I'm convinced he's a Pats mole. Seriously.

white1 wrote:We've all feared this was true, hoped it wasn't true, but many believed it was true.

Armando knows this team, and he's not working for the Herald anymore.  I believe THIS IS TRUE.

First move: Revamp the scouting/personnel dept.

There are guys  -- some you've never heard of -- who have failed upward on that staff for 20-25 years.

https://twitter.com/ArmandoSalguero/status/1450511695349260291

This is the most substantial evidence to date that Chris Grier needs to go if this roster continues to fail.  20-25 years pretty much matches his Dolphins tenure exactly.

I certainly agree that the scouting department needs an overhaul, but Armando is, as usual, not telling the complete story.

Yes, two of the Dolphins personnel directors have been with the Dolphins forever...but most of the scouting staff is significantly newer. Here is a list of scouting-related personnel from the Dolphins website. I did quick Google searches to see when they joined the Dolphins in any capacity (some of these people have gotten promoted through the years).

Adam Engroff, Co-Director, Player Personnel, 1999
Anthony Hunt, Co-Director, Player Personnel, 1994
Matt Winston, Assistant Director, College Scouting, 2008
Ron Brockington, Senior National Scout, 2006
Chris Rossetti, Assistant Director, Pro Scouting, 2015
Chris Buford, College Scout, 2012
Chase Leshin, College Scout, before 2011
Lenny McGill, College Scout, 2015
JP McGowan, College Scout, 2014
Grant Wallace, College Scout, 2017
Minh Luu, Player Personnel Coordinator, 2018
Andy Howell, Pro Scout, 2017
J.P. Correia, Player Personnel Scout, 2018
Olivia Passy, Personnel Scout, 2020

Marvin Allen and Reggie McKenzie both joined the Dolphins in 2019.

Doesn't matter to me, the whole lot of them need to go based on the first round of the 2020 draft alone!

Even at the time I said the Iggy pick was awful. Just mind blowing that ANYBODY who scouts for a living could think he was EVER worth even REMOTELY a first rounder

DolFan 316 wrote:Doesn't matter to me

It matters to me when Armando continues to spew half-truths, and people believe him. There's plenty of things worthy of criticism with this Dolphins' team...no reason to bend the truth to get clicks.

IMO he's aiming the crosshairs at these two who are "Co-Director" at the very top:

Adam Engroff, Co-Director, Player Personnel, 1999
Anthony Hunt, Co-Director, Player Personnel, 1994

20-25 years matches their tenure.

As with most organizations.... if they are weak at the top, the people underneath just don't matter that much at all.

white1 wrote:IMO he's aiming the crosshairs at these two who are "Co-Director" at the very top:

Adam Engroff, Co-Director, Player Personnel, 1999
Anthony Hunt, Co-Director, Player Personnel, 1994

20-25 years matches their tenure.  

As with most organizations.... if they are weak at the top, the people underneath just don't matter that much at all.

Yep, but his tweet was worded in clickbait fashion...the implication was that the scouting staff is full of guys that have been with Miami for 20-25 years, and that isn't true at all.

Totally agree, though - great organizations start at the top.

Honestly, though, I'm not sure how much scouts or even personnel directors are involved in the final decisions of which players to select. My understanding is that they provide info, and maybe make recommendations and provide additional input as needed. What happens after that is mainly up to the GM and head coach, and anyone else that may be involved in the actual pick (like Tannenbaum when he was in charge).

JMP wrote:Honestly, though, I'm not sure how much scouts or even personnel directors are involved in the final decisions of which players to select.  My understanding is that they provide info, and maybe make recommendations and provide additional input as needed.  What happens after that is mainly up to the GM and head coach, and anyone else that may be involved in the actual pick (like Tannenbaum when he was in charge).

Then those guys have been providing a WHOLE lot of rotten draft info over the past 25 years. Not only have the drafts been bad, they've been bad in all the same ways that entire time. It hasn't mattered who the GMs or coaches are, which screams to me that the scouting department is the common denominator.

Either that or this team really is cursed and that makes every single new person who's hired go completely stupid until they leave and get their cognitive abilities back.

DolFan 316 wrote:

JMP wrote:Honestly, though, I'm not sure how much scouts or even personnel directors are involved in the final decisions of which players to select.  My understanding is that they provide info, and maybe make recommendations and provide additional input as needed.  What happens after that is mainly up to the GM and head coach, and anyone else that may be involved in the actual pick (like Tannenbaum when he was in charge).

Then those guys have been providing a WHOLE lot of rotten draft info over the past 25 years. Not only have the drafts been bad, they've been bad in all the same ways that entire time. It hasn't mattered who the GMs or coaches are, which screams to me that the scouting department is the common denominator.

Either that or this team really is cursed and that makes every single new person who's hired go completely stupid until they leave and get their cognitive abilities back.

Keep in mind, though, that the Dolphins coaching has been absolute crap for much of that 20-25 years. That certainly plays a role in the lack of player development. But basically, it's one big clusterfuck where everyone has been incompetent. That's why the next time, a FULL housecleaning is MANDATORY.

JMP wrote:Keep in mind, though, that the Dolphins coaching has been absolute crap for much of that 20-25 years.  That certainly plays a role in the lack of player development.  But basically, it's one big clusterfuck where everyone has been incompetent.  That's why the next time, a FULL housecleaning is MANDATORY.

FYI the word mandatory triggers and offends me like the n word for blacks and the f word for gays, but in this case I'll allow it

LOL My apologies!