Cameron Fired

I left this post for last because it is clearly the most important news of the day. After much speculation, Bill Parcells fired first-year head coach Cam Cameron today. This despite the support of mutual friend Bobby Knight.

Cameron really wasn't a good coach. I don't like to throw people under the bus until they get enough time to prove themselves though. Take a look at Randy Shannon. That team went 5-7 and was even worse than under Coker, but he deserves a few years with his own guys and his own system before we pass judgment.

Cam had to deal with mostly players from the Saban and Wannstedt eras. In fairness to his detractors, the guys he did bring in didn't do much. Ted Ginn's family failed us all. He has to be held accountable for those and other mistakes.

However, other coaches have started off just as bad and ended up doing just fine. The important thing in this case I think is not that Cameron's performance wasn't up to the standards the new front office wanted, but rather the unfamiliarity they had with the current head coach. Parcells wants his GM, his coach, his players. Cameron simply didn't fit into the equation. Under those circumstances, I'm fine with the dismissal. Good luck to Cam elsewhere.

As far as replacements go, Tony Sparano has been the talk of the town. It looks like he is the frontrunner. He is a Parcells guy, hard nosed and hard working. He demands respect. That sounds fine to me. I don't really place emphasis on coaching as much as I do on player personnel. Get me some players and I'll be happy.

Aside from Sparano, the Dolphins have already contacted recently fired Baltimore DC Rex Ryan, as well as Vikings DC Leslie Frazier. Several other candidates have been mentioned, but for the time being, nobody knows anything for sure. I don't think that Parcells will take much longer to find his man though. He has only limited access to Sparano during the playoffs, so I'm sure he will try to sway him to Miami quickly.

Hopefully this starts the true rebuilding process. Remember though, we were all convinced that we were on this track 3 years ago, and last year as well. Both times our big splashes ended up being duds as coaches. It's a tough road, especially when basically the entire staff got fired. I would have liked to see Hudson Houck stick around, but honestly he wasn't able to work his magic to the fullest down here.