It has been a decade since Bill Parcells has decided to step away from the Miami Dolphins as the Vice President of Player Personnel. Yet his influence seems to linger over the Miami Dolphins all these years later.
Everything that ties this team back to Bill Parcells at this point in time falls back to one man, general manager Chris Grier. When Parcells came to the Dolphins, he promoted Grier to ‘Director of Scouting’ after previously working with him and Bobby Grier (Chris’s father) in New England. It was 2010 when Parcells stepped away from the Dolphins and football altogether and now, a decade later, Grier is entering his second season of total control as the general manager of the Dolphins.
Grier’s watch as the unquestioned man in charge required him to steer Miami through a total rebuild of the Dolphins — a project that is very reminiscent of the 2008 Dolphins rebuild. Conducted by Bill Parcells.
So far it seems Grier has followed the same blue print in his own way. He hired a head coach he was familiar with from a system he was familiar with in Brian Flores. (Parcells hired Tony Sparano, who he worked with in Dallas). The similarities do not stop there, as Parcells believed in building a strong running attack and building his roster inside out.
It seems as though the Dolphins are focused on bringing a physical toughness to their team under Grier’s watch this season, hiring of offensive coordinator only amplifies that thought. In the past, Gailey was known for his physical run games and vertical attacks.
What can that tell us about the direction headed into the draft?
In 2008, the Dolphins drafted first overall and took offensive tackle Jake Long. Just before training camp, the Dolphins signed free agent quarterback Chad Pennington, who was drafted by Parcells with the New York Jets. Miami would post their best record in the last 15 seasons, finishing the year 11-5 while winning the AFC East — the last time a team not named “New England” has won the division.
That Dolphins team flourished thanks to the leadership that Pennington possessed. The former Jet was as accurate as they come, too. And now as Chris Grier looks to make his own worst to first turnaround, he’ll have a chance to make a run at a signal caller who checks all of those boxes, too. His name? Joe Burrow.
If Grier envisions Burrow the same way Parcells envisioned Pennington, there is a good chance the Dolphins attempt to trade up for him. They can surrender picks this year and still have the ammunition to come back up for an offensive tackle as well — fulfilling the Parcells philosophy of building the team inside out. Like it or not, the idea of getting a franchise quarterback and building the the offensive and defensive lines is pretty persistent with how teams win long-term. If Grier still embraces that Parcells mentality, then the Dolphins could very well take an aggressive approach with Joe Burrow.