The Dolphins are looking for a new G.M. And the team has announced that the process will begin on Friday.
Via the team’s official website, team CEO Tom Garfinkel said Wednesday at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon that interviews will commence in two days.
“In my conversations with [owner] Steve [Ross], I think first and foremost [what he’ll be looking for] is someone with a lot of experience evaluating talent, a proven track record of evaluating talent and a football person,” Garfinkel said. “That’s going to be the first criteria. Someone with a lot of intellect, a collaborative team player and someone who’s creative and open-minded.”
Via Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins intend to release publicly the names of the candidates who interview for the job. Per Armando Salguero of the Herald, Eagles V.P. of player personnel Tom Gamble had not heard from the team earlier in the day regarding a possible interview. Some have mentioned Gamble as the possible frontrunner for the job.
It’s still unclear whether the new G.M. will have the powers held by former G.M. Jeff Ireland, or whether Ross will hire someone to oversee all football operations and wield final say. During a Wednesday appearance on PFT Live, Salguero identified former Jets and Browns coach (and current 49ers offensive consultant) Eric Mangini as a candidate for the so-called “football czar” position.
Looming over the search process is the ongoing presence of coach Joe Philbin and V.P. of football administration Dawn Aponte. Salguero previously reported that Aponte shared Ireland’s criticism of the coaching staff with Philbin, poisoning the relationship between coach and G.M. In a follow-up article, Salguero takes a closer look at Aponte’s role -- and rise -- in the organization, from: (1) former V.P. of football operations Bill Parcells bringing Aponte to the team; to (2) Aponte opting to develop an alliance with coach Joe Philbin because of her discomfort being supervised by Ireland after Parcells left; to (3) Aponte making a power play with Ross in order to shift away from Ireland’s supervision; to (4) Ireland wanting to fire Aponte because of it; to (5) Ross promoting Aponte and doubling her salary; to (6) Aponte targeting Ireland -- and winning.
Whoever gets the job will have to find a way to co-exist with Aponte and Philbin, which may not be easy to do unless the new G.M. has authority over both of them. And that may necessitate a someone above all three of them, who’d be responsible for clunking heads together if necessary in order to ensure everyone plays nice.
Or Ross could simply press the reset button and start over, which could be the only way to remove the dysfunction from the team’s front office.