It is a fact in sports and it is a fact in sports radio. The customers make their decisions based on how they feel about the talent. The boss, be it a coach or a programmer, is there not to screw things up.
Philadelphians decide what to listen to on their way to work based on how they feel about Angelo Cataldi and John Kincade respectively. The names Rod Lakin and Chuck Damico probably never enter their minds.
We got a good reminder of how much talent matters this week when the Miami Dolphins fired Brian Flores. On the surface, it didn’t make sense. Flores’s team won seven of their last eight. Sure, they missed the playoffs, but the Dolphins started 1-7. Clearly the team had turned some kind of corner, right?
Some speculated that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross had googly eyes for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, and that is the only reason this move was made. Jeff Darlington of ESPN reported that not only was the team not targeting Harbaugh, but that the team really didn’t have a problem with what Flores had or hadn’t done in terms of wins and losses. He was losing his job because his relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was in shambles.
Now, we can argue all day long over whether or not the Dolphins can ever win meaningful games with Tua under center. It is a valid question.
The answer is almost certainly no though if his coach keeps stunting his growth by not committing to him as the starter and openly flirting with quarterbacks not on his roster. The latter reportedly soured Flores’s relationship with GM Chris Grier too.
Progress isn’t the ultimate goal of a team or a station. If your success isn’t undeniable and you have alienated the people above and below you, you’re days are numbered.
Commitments and contracts mean something. GMs pick the people they think can help them win and make a commitment to them. As a programmer or coach, it is your job to set them up for success.
You may not love every single Lego you’ve been handed, but it is your job to put the pieces together to make them look like the Baby Yoda.
Breaking commitments comes with a cost. It can mean money to buy out the remaining years on a contract or it can mean draft capital you have to give up to acquire the guy you think can do a better job. Either way, if you are the person saying you no longer have faith in the guy the GM has selected, you have to make a convincing case that: 1. the GM made a mistake and 2. it is worth spending the money to fix it.
It’s easy to see why Flores lost Grier’s confidence, right?
“Middle management” is a term often thrown around as an insult. I don’t think that is fair exactly. Program directors and coaches are, in essence, middle management. There is a staff that answers to them and looks to them for guidance and they have bosses they have to answer to for the performance of their staff.
That isn’t a bad thing and it isn’t rare or absurd that they have someone who we have to make look good. Firing or replacing someone doesn’t look good, so if your boss isn’t 100% on board you have a decision to make.
You can keep pushing. Of course, you run the risk of exhausing the people both above and below you. If that happens, you may find yourself on the chopping block just like Brian Flores.
The other choice is to make philosphical changes and improve the systems around the person you have questions about. Is the problem the people or do the people just not fit the way you have always done things? Maybe the reason someone on your staff is falling short of your expectations is that you aren’t giving them the best chance to succeed.
Did Brian Flores get screwed? I don’t know. I can see the argument that he deserved more time based on his record and the way the Dolphins closed the 2021 season, but he ruined his relationships with the people above and below him. How can any organization justify keeping someone like that?
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
