Dolphins Hire Troy Aikman as Consultant for GM Search

What makes this hiring of Aikman interesting is that when Miami played the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football a few weeks back, Aikman was heavily criticizing Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel late in the game for his lack of urgency and play call selections when Miami was losing, and the clock was ticking away.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald is reporting that the Dolphins were in talks with Aikman before the Pittsburgh game about joining the organization in this role. 

There is no word on whether Aikman would be part of any head coach search should Miami part ways with Mike McDaniel.

In my opinion, this is a smart move by Ross, in that the way the Dolphins have done business in recent years has failed.

He needs to think outside the box and bring in a consultant, and in this case, Aikman, who is a Hall of Fame player who still interacts with all teams throughout the league with his role on Monday Night Football, is wise.

Aikam has interacted with all of the organizations over the years and is very tied into the league, has deep roots, and connections.

His insight during this process will be invaluable in hopefully helping Miami land a new general manager.

Chris Grier, for all his faults, was an NFL lifer with deep connections around the league, and with him no longer part of the organization, Miami is missing that voice and the ability to pick up the phone and call anyone in the league to get information and insight.

There has been talk, and I have been an advocate for, Miami hiring a football czar.

Someone above the GM and Head Coach, someone the GM and Head Coach report to; this czar is the eyes and ears of Stephen Ross, and he reports to Stephen Ross on all football matters.

This person wouldn’t be doing the heavy lifting, but he would be overseeing the heavy-lifting work and hiring the people who are doing it.

Whether it be a Joe Banner, Bruce Arians, Tony Dungy, or a respected former player, someone like Troy Aikman, who would want to be in that role.

While this short-term hiring of Aikman is not that, it is a step in the right direction for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated is reporting that Miami is ready to hit the ground early next week with general manager interviews, and they have been working on general manager candidates since the day they fired Chris Grier.

And with that said, I find it hard to believe that Miami is hiring Aikman, going all-in on this general manager search, only to keep Mike McDaniel as the head coach.

Maybe I’m wrong, but it doesn’t make logical sense to me.

Ross is starting this search with the understanding that he needs help and is open to having people more intelligent than him in this aspect of the NFL be a part of the process they are about to begin.

Could this open the door for Aikman to possibly leave the Monday Night Football booth and take on a larger, more full-time role with the Dolphins moving forward?

That is anyone’s guess, but I wouldn’t be shocked if that happened someday.

This isn’t Aikman’s first flirtation with the Dolphins organization.

Back in 2003, when Dave Wannstedt was the Dolphins’ head coach, he wanted Aikman to come out of retirement and be the Dolphins’ quarterback.

Aikman considered it but decided to remain retired for health reasons.

Miami cannot drop the ball on this general manager search they have coming up.

Miami hasn’t won a playoff game in 25 years; they have been consistently on the outside of the playoffs looking in, and their front office right now is void of any true football person.

Tom Garfinkel has a baseball background, Stephen Ross has a real estate background, and nobody on the scouting team or staff who was under Chris Grier has been a general manager on a full-time basis before.

And with five picks in the Top 100 coming up in this year’s draft, as well as a possible head coach search that may be taking place, finding the right general manager is a must.

The fact that the decision makers in Miami are bringing in outside help is a good step in the right direction.