The other day, I wrote an entry entitled “Brian Urlacher Doesn’t Get It”. Well, Urlacher’s got nothing on Dophins owner Steve Ross.
Here is what Ross had to say about the botched attempt to hire Jim Harbaugh as head coach while retaining Tony Sparano (via ESPN):
“Ross, who took over the Dolphins two years ago, said he had never interviewed a coach before and was naive to think he could keep his meeting with Harbaugh secret.
“‘I should have probably let Tony know,’ Ross said. ‘I never thought it would be national news. I realized after having read the papers the anguish I had put Tony through. It’s probably a mistake on my part not thinking that when you do something like this, it’s public.”
Let’s set aside Ross’ naivete. He really thinks that the reason to tell Sparano was because the word might get out? Not because, I don’t know, because its part of being a stand up employer of people in an honest, stand up organization? A stand up guy?
Dave Hyde and Mike Berardino at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel confirm in this video what most of us already figured:
Jeff Ireland was put in an uncomfortable spot when Ross decided to go ahead and interview Harbaugh without firing Sparano first. He undoubtedly tried in vain to tell Ross that he was doing the wrong thing:
Ross’ message is that the whole thing would have been OK as long as he could have kept it all a secret and worked behind Sparano’s back. My message is, “Who would want to work for a guy you can’t trust?” Is it any wonder that Harbaugh turned him down?
Take a look at the expression on Sparano’s face during the press conference and tell me he isn’t going to leave as soon as possible if he ever achieves the needed success to have a choice. Tell me who would blame him.