SCOTT JACOBS

A once proud and iconic NFL franchise, the Miami Dolphins continue to slip further between the cracks.

The latest sob story: losing veteran head coach Jeff Fisher to the lowly St. Louis Rams, not because of more money, but because the Dolphins refused to cede lackluster GM Jeff Ireland’s power. So Fisher took his stache to the Archway were he inherits a handful of young building blocks, the biggest and most important being Sam Bradford.  But this isn’t about the Rams and whether Fisher was the right guy to bring them back to relevance.  This is about the sad sack Dolphins, glittering in mediocrity, stuck in a dead position of too good for their own good, but not nearly good enough.

Miami began the season 0-7 and in one of those whacky, it rocks to suck kinds of ways, it appeared that a royal pissing away of their season would land them the #1 pick and Andrew Luck.  Many believed that by netting the top pick, Miami would also snag a top coach. The Dolphins finished the season 6-10, a nice finish for a team that started in freefall, but an untimely one, given how one terrible season could have began to cure some of their ills.

Instead the Dolphins are stuck with either the 8th or 9th pick (locked in a coin toss battle with the Carolina Panthers, who despite the same record as Miami, have their coach, their QB, and appear to be on the up and up). And now, with owner Stephen Ross blowing yet another big name coaching search, the Dolphins are left to chose from a handful of young and hungry assistant coaches and coordinators, which as history would tell, means they’re total mysteries.

Dolphins player might’ve been in Miami or who knows maybe playing some golf in Gran Canaria, enjoying their golf breaks when they heard about the predictable news.  Who knows. But this dysfunctional franchise which somehow managed to make even Nick Saban a failure and then dragged lame-duck coach Tony Sparano through the mud before finally relieving him of his duties 3 games before a brutal season was set to end, is now bordering on laughingstock status in the NFL.

The Dolphins are the oldest professional sports franchise in South Florida, but they’re quickly becoming the saddest.  The Miami Marlins have a new look, a new stadium, and even an owner in Jeffrey Loria who actually opened up his wallet this offseason to pry big name free agents, Heath Bell, Mark Buehrle, and Jose Reyes to Miami.  The Heat are pro sports’ most fascinating soap opera and still favorites to win the NBA title.  Even the lowly Florida Panthers, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2000 (a sweep to the Devils), are leading their division, despite their recent struggles.

The Dolphins don’t have a QB, their franchise tackle an injury question mark, their top WR a constant source of chaos, and their RB still yet to prove if he can indeed last a full 16 game schedule as the feature back — despite his 1000 yard season.

They have, what some would call, big problems.

Fisher is just the latest.  And until Ross hands over control to football people and backs the heck out of the way, Miami’s money will be meaningless.  The Dolphins will continue to meander around the bottom of the AFC East as fan support continues to dwindle. Ross will gain the same reputation as Suns owner, Robert Sarver, someone who came in and screwed it all up.

There is still time to fix the problems that ill the same franchise that once went 17-0 in 1972.  There is still time to bring in a QB that can be a steady, calming rock of the team, like Dan Marino was for 17 years.  They can still land a coach who can be there for a decade.  But they need to get their crap in gear.

They have a good defense, but they still need a QB.  They need to fix their line.  They need a second quality WR.  They need to score on a consistent basis.  These are but a few of the issues Miami has going forward.  They still play in South Florida, a very desirable locale, and they have an owner willing to spend.  You have to think that once he figures out how to avoid this annual dog and pony show with prospective coaches that Miami will find itself back on the right track.

But how much of a hit has Miami’s reputation taken, with their whining and backstabbing ways?  How do people around the NFL see the Dolphins now?

Are the Dolphins willing to break the bank for a guy like RGIII? Or do they see someone like Matt Flynn — great sample size, still ultimately unproven — as the answer to their QB woes?  it worked for Houston with Matt Schaub, not so much for Arizona with Kevin Kolb.

We shall see. It will be an interesting offseason in Dolphin-land.  Already has.  Tony Sparano has already joined the Jets. Jason Taylor has retired. Miami has a lot of work to do and a lot of doubters to disprove.

From 1978-2001 the Dolphins made the Playoffs 16 times. That’s 16 times in 23 years by my math.

Since then, once (2008) since 2001.

Dolphins fans were used to winning.  Now, they’re stuck with the stench of what has become a perennial loser.

Photo: Getty

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