Former Dolphins executive and 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Bill Parcells indicated Friday he isn’t speaking to Dolphins G.M. Jeff Ireland these days, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald reported.
According to the Herald, Parcells, who will be inducted into the Hall on Saturday, said Dolphins executive V.P. of football administration Dawn Aponte is “the only one that I speak to from time to time, and not very often.”
Ireland, whom Parcells hired as G.M. after working with him in Dallas, assumed control of the Dolphins’ football operations when Parcells stepped away from the role in 2010.
During a Hall of Fame-related conference call in July, Parcells didn’t refer to Ireland by name when asked about the general manager’s spending in free agency.
“I think they’re trying to definitely improve the team, and I’m sure that everybody that’s involved is in agreement with the course of action that they’re taking, so hopefully it will work out for them,” Parcells said.
At the time, Parcells also indicated he still talked to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and said he had a “high regard” for him.
“I like him very much,” Parcells said of Ross in July. “I talk to him from time to time, and I certainly wish him well.”
Parcells also said in July that his departure from Miami wasn’t good for the organization.
“I thought I was doing the right thing to let these guys go and take it on their own, but retrospectively, I don’t think it was the right thing, because I just saw things happen that I know — and I’m not taking about the on-the-field stuff; I’m just talking about the political aspect -- I saw things happen that I would have made every effort to try to avoid,” Parcells said.
Parcells didn’t mention any specific events he would have worked to keep the Dolphins from enduring, but the club’s failed pursuit of Jim Harbaugh after the 2010 season with Tony Sparano still under contract was widely regarded as an embarrassing chapter for the franchise.