Jeff Fisher: Dolphins Were Right Not to Give in to Fisher's Demands

After what seemed like (and was) a long while, former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher decided on Friday that he would accept the St. Louis Rams' vacant head coaching job.

Or, if you prefer to look at it from a certain perspective, Fisher chose not to be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

Naturally, the question you have to ask is this: Why not?

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was kind enough to explain the situation on Friday. Fisher reportedly turned down the Dolphins job because Ross wasn't willing to grant him personnel control, and Ross admitted that this was true, but also that Fisher seemed to be OK with it.

“We explained to [Fisher] that [Jeff Ireland] was the general manager, and a coach and a general manager have to form a partnership,” Ross said, according to the Miami Herald. “We believe [Fisher] had no problem with that. I don’t think the organizational issue was a real issue.

“We stressed from the beginning of our conversations with [Fisher] that we believe the team should be a collaboration of a coach and general manager. I thought [Fisher] was fine with that. I thought he was good with that. … We worked as hard as we possibly could to come to an understanding with [Fisher].”

In the days leading up to Fisher's hiring, there were various reports about his wishes to play a bigger role in the front office aspect of things. Jason La Canfora of the NFL Network reported that he was looking to become the executive vice president of whichever team he chose, in addition to being the head coach.

In Miami, that position would have given Fisher power over Ireland.

Judging from Ross' comments, that's where the Dolphins drew the line.

And they were right to draw it where they did. Fisher basically wanted to come in and take the franchise over. The Dolphins, it seems, are merely on the lookout for a new head coach, not a new organizational leader.

The trouble with Fisher is that he hasn't done enough in his career to prove that he deserves to be an organizational leader. He was the head coach of the Oilers/Titans for close to two decades, sure, but the franchise wasn't exactly a powerhouse under his watch. He led them to the playoffs six times, and did not win a Super Bowl.

The Dolphins could have handed the keys to the castle over to Fisher, but they didn't have any reason to believe that he could do Ireland's job better than Ireland himself.

Whether or not Ireland is all that great at his job is debatable, but Ross made it clear that he's a fan of Ireland's when he said Ireland is doing an "outstanding" job. 

You don't have to agree with him, but it's his team.

The good news for the Dolphins is that there are still plenty of head coaching candidates out there. They missed out on Fisher, but it won't be long before they have a new leader.

Whoever they choose, it's pretty much a given that he'll be nothing more than a head coach.