A COUP D’ÉTAT IN MIAMI

New Jersey – There was a changing of the guard in Miami today, with Dan Quinn’s former agent taking over the Dolphins’ football operation.

During the season, an NFL source told me that Mike Tannenbaum was in the Dolphins’ complex a lot this year.

I knew GM Dennis Hickey was in trouble.

There was clearly a coup in the works.

Former Jets VP Matt Higgins, who was one of Woody’s right hand men with the Jets, is now Stephen Ross’ right hand man with the Miami Dolphins.

The guy is an amazing corporate climber.

I give him credit, he knows how to play the game.

What his particular skillset is? I’m not entirely sure.

And I’m not being flippant. I really don’t know.

But he must be doing something right. He has risen to the top of two NFL organizations.

And he was clearly working on getting Mike Tannenbaum in there.

On August 8, 2014, Tannenbaum was hired by the Dolphins as a consultant – he was hired to supposedly work on innovation, analytics and sports science.

This was just the first step.

Today was the second step. Ross (and Higgins) made him their football chief.

If I’m Hickey, I get the heck of their. Tannenbaum is now his boss. Why? Does Tannenbaum have a better eye for talent than Hickey?

But you guys and gals know how the world works. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

Higgins was dead-set on getting Tannenbaum a power position with the Dolphins, and today that vision reached fruition.

The coup d’état is complete.

I feel bad for Hickey. He’s a decent man with much more scouting experience than Mike.

But unless the Dolphins made the playoffs, this was destined to happen.

So now it’s been announced that Tannenbaum isn’t going to rep Dan Quinn anymore. Somebody else from the agency will handle that account. Tannenbaum has been a coach agent over the last couple of years. A few of his notable clients are NBA coaches Steve Kerr and Dave Blatt.

Somebody leaked to Jason La Canfora that Doug Marrone’s interview with the Jets didn’t go well. I wonder if that came. La Canfora was one of the first to have the Tannenbaum to the Dolphins move today.

According to one source, the Jets consultant’s like Marrone,

So perhaps he didn’t float Woody’s boat.

Remember, Woody was blown away by Rex’s cult of personality.

That isn’t Marrone – he’s a serious football man. He’s not going to light up a room during an interview.

The problem when owners are picking coaches, is they often get caught up in the wrong things. Leon Hess thought Richie Kotite was a tough coach because he was very vocal at practice.

Kotite was tough in real life. He played in the NFL, and once sparred with Ali. But as a head coach, he was loud, but he wasn’t much a disciplinarian or leader.

So when owners make coaching decisions, they often focus on the cult of personality.

Jets fans can only hope that Woody truly listens to the consultants Charlie Casserly and Ron Wolf, and not get caught up in the wrong stuff, as owners are wont to do.

I’m sure Quinn is a terrific candidate. He’s certainly paid his dues. And you would think he wants the job. He went to Morristown High School, which is minutes from the Jets’ training complex in Florham Park. So he’d be coming home.

Morristown, the military capital of the Revelutionary War, is where a lot of Jets players and coaches live. It’s a wonderful town. Quinn has a lot of roots there.

January 6, 2014

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