What now for Steve Ross? Years ago, after his loud swing and miss for chasing then-Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, the Miami Dolphins owner was nationally criticized for undercutting his coach at the time, Tony Sparano.
Later, after the waters calmed, Ross said, “No one said I didn’t go after the right guy.”
He’s chased other right guys. Sean Payton. Tom Brady. He just hasn’t land them in equally loud manners. Does he have another chase for the elusive right guy in him?
Ross’ swings and misses have come to define his Dolphins ownership, and it’s not just Harbaugh coming to town Sunday with the Los Angeles Chargers that says so.
Quarterback Justin Herbert arrives, too.
Harbaugh and Herbert symbolize the football decisions that could have been. They aren’t perfect. Herbert has just started of late to turn his warning-track power into home runs. But they’re imperfectly better than any the Dolphins decisions at general manager, coach and quarterback under Ross.
Ross has tried. He’s spent. He’s supported. Give him his due, too. He’s the nation’s best sports owner from a civic and social standpoint, considering he’s financed the stadium upgrades and maintenance, kept a major tennis tournament in South Florida and brought a Formula One race to town and ensured the Dolphins reach out to the community in a rare manner.
The Dolphins are great in every area except the one fans care about. It leads to the question of what Ross will do, at 85, with big decisions at general manager, coach and quarterback again approaching.
Will he oversee these decisions himself? Hand the team as has been expected at some point to his daughter, Jennifer, and son-in-law, Daniel Sillman, a successful, sports businessman who has studied the Dolphins inner workings in recent years.
Ross could sell the team, too. Ken Griffin, the transplanted billionaire from Chicago, has taken two stabs at buying a share of the Dolphins with the idea he’d eventually own the majority. Neither deal was done. There’s no reason to think Griffin still doesn’t want in.
Franchise sales are as complicated as the men making them. Former Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga, for instance, called Ross after the Dolphins won their sole game in 2007 against Baltimore. Even though they’d already agreed on a sales price, Huizenga felt so good after that win he moved the goalposts.
“The price went up $70 million,” he told Ross. (When Ross later met then-Baltimore coach Brian Billick, the new Dolphins owner greeted him with, “You cost me $70 million.”)
The job of a sports owner comes with no manual or parallel in business. Huizenga hired the football names everyone wanted in Jimmy Johnson, Nick Saban and Bill Parcells. He didn’t win big.
Ross’ football hires have gone nowhere. His coaching hires: Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel. His general-manager hires: Dennis Hickey, Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier.
That’s led to quarterback investments in Ryan Tannehill and Tua Tagovailoa, who had parallel and mostly average numbers through six years to symbolize average teams. Not awful. Never great.
Harbaugh was Ross’ first idea for a coach in 2010. He went on to go to the Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers and won a national title with Ross’ other team, Michigan.
Ross pledged the Dolphins wouldn’t attempt to hire Harbaugh from Michigan in 2022. Maybe Harbaugh told him not to try. But Harbaugh has a defined way football should be played, and he took it to the Chargers in immediately investing in two, franchise offensive tackles.
Both tackles are out this game with injury, as are two other offensive linemen and the Chargers’ top two running backs. That suggests the Dolphins defense won’t be run over Sunday like in recent weeks. Maybe.
Sunday isn’t a referendum on the distant draft where the Dolphins took Tagovailoa over Herbert. That was decided long ago by Tagovailoa’s injury concerns and average play.
Ross went with a Dolphins contingent that included Grier and team president Tom Garfinkel to watch Tua play at Alabama in 2019. Did they fall so far in love with him they missed more durable, more athletic options like Herbert and Jordan Love?
It’s been one swing and miss after another for Ross on football decisions. He needs one to work out coming up in the manner of all his business decisions. General manager. Coach. Quarterback. They’re all on the table again.
The first decision might preclude all those: Does he want to keep the team?