Reviewing the biggest takeaways from the Dolphins introducing Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan

WQAM-AM / AM 560 Sports WQAM

23 hours ago

Listening to cuts from Stephen Ross, Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley at today’s introductory press conference.

Transcript

00:00Let's hear some of the press conference sound from today.

00:04This is Stephen Ross at the beginning.

00:06I told you it started with Stephen Ross.

00:08He was not exactly captivating, but here were some of his opening remarks.

00:13So the frustrations I know that you've all had reading the newspapers, which I don't

00:19read anymore because it just emphasizes to me the frustration that I have.

00:25So I really looked at this to really be a new beginning.

00:31We've done it and getting ready for that, you know, you can see what was happening during

00:36the season.

00:38We started early and really so that we could be very thorough in our search and trying to

00:44find the right people to lead this organization.

00:48I'd like to, first of all, thank the people that really worked, you know, tirelessly in

00:54talking, thinking, working together.

00:59I'd like to thank.

01:01He's very headed up.

01:03No wonder he loved Mike McDaniel.

01:04Benny Sillman, Brandon Shore, Dan Marino, and Troy Aikman.

01:12All right.

01:13I had seen people during the press conference.

01:16I watched it on YouTube off of a Roku stick.

01:20So it was the YouTube app on my TV, though.

01:23And there were no sound issues at all.

01:25And I had a lot of people telling me that their sound was jumping in and out, which now I

01:30hear that from.

01:31So I didn't get that when I listened to the press conference.

01:33But a lot of people were complaining that the sound was strange.

01:37And that is.

01:38But even that, like, why does he have to talk?

01:42He's not.

01:42We see he's not good at it.

01:43And some.

01:44So maybe.

01:45Well, I mean, he owns the team.

01:46So if he says, I am going to speak the opening salvo.

01:50OK.

01:51Well, no.

01:51Somebody that he respects comes up to him, Hulk, and says, no.

01:55Hey, let's just take it easy.

01:56We'll bring out Tom Garfinkel.

01:59No.

01:59He can speak.

02:00I know Tom.

02:01Let Tom do that.

02:02We don't want to hear from Tom Garfinkel.

02:04We want to hear from Stephen Ross.

02:05Because he owns the damn franchise.

02:08You just don't get it.

02:09Don't do what you're not good at.

02:10Here is John Eric Sullivan.

02:13This is your new general manager.

02:15Sully or Jay talking about building through the draft or free agency, the two tracks that

02:23you could take.

02:24It will be a draft and develop philosophy.

02:26I've already spoken on that in previous interviews.

02:30But we will draft, develop, and retain our own.

02:33There are things that come with that.

02:34Number one is culture.

02:36When you raise your own, people are invested.

02:39They're bought in.

02:41There's a financial component to it.

02:43With rookie contracts, it keeps you in a healthy cap situation.

02:49But the most important thing is the culture piece of it.

02:53Free agency, we will be very intentional and deliberate how we move about that.

02:57We will definitely utilize it when we get into a healthy cap situation, and we can.

03:03We'll be disciplined.

03:04We'll be intentional.

03:05And we will chase difference makers that add value to the field immediately, but also add

03:11value to our locker room in terms of the kind of culture that we want to build.

03:15All right.

03:16I'm interested.

03:17They keep using the word culture and identity.

03:19I do think run hand in hand.

03:22Matt LaFleur is off the same tree, the Kyle Shanahan tree that Mike McDaniel is from, and

03:26that Kevin O'Connell.

03:28They're all the same.

03:29They come from that same coaching tree.

03:31What's the identity of this team going to be?

03:33Because Green Bay wasn't no ass kickers.

03:36Right.

03:36They were a sound team.

03:38They played hard.

03:39They drafted.

03:40They got Jordan Love and hit the quarterback.

03:42But when they keep talking about this culture, I think Miami with the Heat, we think culture

03:47is a certain thing.

03:49I'm interested to see what that culture is now with the Duffins.

03:51Right.

03:51Culture is winning.

03:53And when you're winning, you've got magically culture.

03:57That's it.

03:57Now we're questioning the culture after the big three.

04:00Oh, that culture doesn't work.

04:02No, I think Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh will work.

04:05But I do think, aside from the Heat, I do think there is a certain truth to having to

04:11build a culture.

04:12I think one of my biggest criticisms of the Dolphins was that there was no identity.

04:16Call it whatever you want.

04:17Culture identity.

04:18There was no identity.

04:19And I think that you're going to hear from Sully in a few minutes here what they want

04:23to do, why Halfley was the right guy, because they're aligned in the vision of what the team

04:29needs to look like.

04:30And I do think maybe it's overused, the talking point of culture.

04:34But there is a truth to it.

04:36Look at the best teams in the NFL, and you can point to everybody being aligned and what

04:41the team is, like the identity of the team.

04:44And it is the opposite.

04:45The Dolphins have been the opposite the last few seasons of what he's saying there.

04:49The Dolphins have been interested in getting mercenaries, Jalen Ramsey, Tyreek Hill, anybody

04:53who wants to come here.

04:54He's saying, no, when you're from the jump, you have a vested interest in where it's going.

05:02And I get it, and it sounds great.

05:05But there's a lot that has to go right for that to work, which is you have to hit on

05:08the draft picks, and then you've got to be able to retain the draft picks.

05:12And McDaniel's culture, part of it was, I'm very player friendly.

05:16Like, don't worry about, you know, a military style down here, no dictatorship, and not that

05:22they want to run a dictatorship, but you could tell they're getting out in front of that being

05:26the stigma around the league about the Dolphins.

05:30Here's a...

05:31It's funny, and I know it's football, I mean, it's offensive push right now.

05:37These last four teams playing this weekend, three of the top five defenses in the league

05:42are playing.

05:43Right.

05:43He's a defensive guy.

05:44I know it's not sexy and all that stuff, but you have to be able to play.

05:48The Broncos, they're a defensive lead.

05:51The Pats are defensive lead.

05:52I know Drake May was playing well, and that's why they're here.

05:55The Rams, defensive lead, even with Matt Stafford and McVeigh.

05:58Like, that's what he wants to be, but are we going to get a Dan Campbell, or are we going

06:02to get a Mike McDaniel?

06:06Everybody, let's love each other and go to ice cream shops.

06:09I don't want ice cream shops.

06:11Well, here is John Eric Sullivan, the GM, saying that Jeff Halfley is going to make this

06:15team tough.

06:17His emotional maturity, his ability to get through the bad times and keep people on the ship

06:22when everybody else wants to jump is something that stood out to me.

06:26He is a master of the game.

06:27Obviously, defense is his trade, but he's got a deep knowledge of special teams and

06:32offense.

06:34And I think more importantly, the toughness and the kind of attitude and competitive atmosphere

06:43that he will bring to this football team will speak for itself as we move down the road.

06:49All right.

06:49Here's another cut from John Eric Sullivan saying, we'll hoist that trophy starting from

06:58the bottom.

06:58In my short time here with ownership and the leadership, I can sense a burning desire to

07:08win, do things the right way.

07:11I said it before and I'll say it again.

07:13And I don't take it lightly that I've been put in this position and every day that I walk through

07:19those doors, I, along with the other great people in this building, will make sure that

07:23we do everything possible to bring you and your family, Stephen, the winner that you deserve.

07:29Goal is simple.

07:30It's a standard of excellence.

07:32We're chasing championships.

07:34It's as simple as that.

07:37This is a tough business.

07:39It is not a complicated business, in my opinion.

07:43Things that we do day in and day out, little things will get us where we want to go.

07:50Together, we will implement a proven process.

07:53We'll build something special.

07:55We'll build something that is sustainable over time.

07:57It's not going to be an easy road, but I think the journey is well worth going on.

08:04We will do it together and we will achieve together.

08:08We get to the end of this thing and we hoist that trophy.

08:11Realize that we started at the bottom.

08:15We fought our way to the top and it'll be one of the more special moments of all of our lives.

08:19I have no doubt that we will get there.

08:22I got a couple observations.

08:24One, I don't even know how you get a microphone to do that kind of sound.

08:28I literally don't even understand how that can happen to audio.

08:32I don't know.

08:33Again, the stream I watched did not have that issue at all, but I know a lot of people were complaining about it.

08:39Mine was like that the entire time.

08:40I don't even know how that happens, as an aside.

08:43Secondly, I did find it a little bit odd there.

08:46He was almost talking as if he was trying to get people to buy into something that was atypical, like going to war.

08:57Because he was like, this isn't the easiest thing, but it's something that we want to do.

09:03And it's like, well, no, this is just a typical football season.

09:07You don't have to buy into going out there.

09:10I don't know.

09:11I found that to be a weird, I'm not trying to just pick it apart.

09:16I just happened to find that particular, the way he described that as if they were embarking on something that hadn't been done before.

09:24Like I could hear Magellan saying that to his crew because they were going somewhere that had never been gone before.

09:32That struck me as a little odd.

09:34Like this is, I mean, literally for how many Super Bowls have there been?

09:3960.

09:39Like this has been done year after year after year.

09:42Okay.

09:43To that point, the last time the Dolphins won a playoff game was what?

09:4725, 26 years ago.

09:48But what he's asking them to sign up for is not anything that hasn't been asked to be signed up for over those 25.

09:54It's something that hasn't been done down here in 30 something years.

09:58Playing football and trying to put together a winning roster is not out of the ordinary.

10:03He keeps using the word tough, which I like because if we're honest with ourselves, when the last time that you could say a Dolphins team was tough, physical, violent, aggressive?

10:13When Dan Campbell had the interim.

10:16Jarvis Landry was catching 12 balls for 14 yards.

10:20That was the only person.

10:21The other thing that was funny in the previous quote that we kind of just glossed over, it starts with him saying,

10:27Halfley shows emotional maturity.

10:29And then fast forward 20 minutes, Halfley's crying at the podium.

10:33I don't like your tears.

10:34Skip the final John Eric Sullivan.

10:37I think I've heard enough of him.

10:38And let's move on.

10:39This is Stephen Ross.

10:40No, no, no.

10:41I'm rooting for Sully in a big way.

10:43But I just, I think I got the feeling and it's already 341.

10:46And I want to make sure that we hear from the head coach more than the general manager.

10:50This is Stephen Ross talking about Jeff Halfley, who's the new head coach.

10:54And then we'll actually listen to some Halfley cuts.

10:57Here's Stephen Ross.

10:57Then we had to go out and find a, the coach, you know, and I knew, I thought maybe he was really be partial to, you know, the Green Bay Packers.

11:10But we really totally thorough and he was totally objective.

11:13And, and after interviewing, talking to people, there were all real, really great candidates.

11:20I think the enthusiasm, the knowledge, the background.

11:30Jeff stood out amongst them all.

11:34So we were really fortunate that he was available.

11:37We made our decision early.

11:38As you know, there are many openings this year, probably more than ever before.

11:43And I'm very happy to be standing today knowing we got who we wanted.

11:48All right.

11:49They got who they wanted.

11:50I've never heard someone who hired someone say we didn't get who we wanted.

11:55Man, we'd have messed up.

11:56That would have been, I knew that we should have kept McDaniel, but here we are.

12:01And across the bridge in front of us.

12:04All right.

12:04Here he is.

12:04Jeff Halfley, brand new Dolphins head coach saying we are going to have accountability.

12:09We're going to be tough, all the, all that stuff.

12:13Because you get that connection.

12:14And then we want to talk about accountability.

12:16Then we have accountability and accountability is love.

12:18And it's an extreme level of accountability.

12:21And when we build a standard and it starts to become real, the player will start to hold

12:25themselves accountable, but that's going to start with me.

12:29And the final thing that I'm going to talk to him about every single day is toughness.

12:32That's physically, that's mentally, that's everything that we do.

12:38And it's a toughness that thrives on competition.

12:40And it's a toughness that reflects the people and the spirit of the city of Miami.

12:45And that's what I'm most excited about.

12:48And as we piece this thing together, it's going to be, it's going to take time and there's

12:52going to be a lot of hard work, but then it's going to be built the right way.

12:55Like the foundation that was laid for me when I was coaching division three football

12:59and I learned how to do things the right way.

13:01And that's how we're going to do it here with a staff that's going to buy in and with

13:06a group of men that are getting, that are going to give everything that they got.

13:10And I can look you guys in the eye and tell you, I cannot wait to get started.

13:15And now really to my thank yous, Mr. Ross and your family, thank you for believing in

13:19me.

13:20I do not take that lightly and I will do everything I can for you and your family.

13:24I like what he said there.

13:27He sounded like a head coach, sounded like a leader of men.

13:31I do have one little nitpicky thing though.

13:34And I know people are on the chats telling me to stop nitpicking.

13:37I have a visceral reaction to people that say thank instead of thank.

13:43And he said, I'll get to my thank yous in a second.

13:46And it just drives me bananas.

13:49People who say thanks instead of thanks.

13:51He can't get a team together when he thinks.

13:53Right?

13:54Thanks.

13:55He said thank you.

13:56I don't think I've ever heard somebody say that.

13:57He just said it.

13:59I'll get to my thank yous.

14:00No, people say that.

14:02I say thank you.

14:03I say thank you.

14:05But it's country, so it doesn't, it's not thank.

14:07Well, what is it?

14:09That's what you're saying.

14:11What did he say?

14:14You know, like T-H-E-Y is they.

14:16Some people say thank you.

14:20No, I mean, I got you.

14:21I just, it's never like stood out to me and I've never heard anybody say that.

14:24Did he not sound just like Sean McVay to y'all?

14:26Yes.

14:27Yep.

14:27I mean, I had to go back and look.

14:29If you were just, if I said, guess the head coach in the NFL and people obviously don't

14:35know this guy yet.

14:36Yeah.

14:3799 out of a hundred football fans would say that's Sean McVay.

14:41San Francisco 49ers, 16 to 18 with Kyle Shanahan and them boys.

14:46He, he, he, he's a part of this same tree.

14:48He was, he knows McVay.

14:49More base in his voice though.

14:50More, a little more base in his voice.

14:51He's an, the excitement's there, you know, never, never had, never had coached before.

14:55So we're trying to, we're trying to hit the next Liam Cohen is what we're trying to do.

14:59Well, here he is saying, I am very proud to be the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

15:04I am truly humbled to stand here and be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

15:10And I take a lot of pride and responsibility in that.

15:13And over the last really 48 hours, I've had a lot of time to reflect on that and on my

15:19journey and really where I came from and how I got here.

15:23And the biggest thing that kept hitting me was people.

15:26It's the players, it's the coaches and it's the families.

15:31And as I really go through it, it's all those lessons that I learned in all the places that

15:36I've been.

15:38All right.

15:39Um, he's happy to be here.

15:44I'm happy to have him.

15:46I don't like his little haircut.

15:48This is the start of a brand new era for the Miami Dolphins.

15:53Yep.

15:54The Jeff Halfley, John Eric Sullivan era.

15:59And it could be great.

16:00It could be great.

16:01I hope it's great.

16:02I hope it's great as well.

16:04I hope it's great.

16:05I think it will be.

16:06Do you?

16:07No, but I, no, I, I, I'm, I'm very much willing as, as just a Dolphins fan who has gone through

16:16it my entire life to see this through.

16:18Genuinely.

16:19I want to see it through.

16:20Well, this is what you've been asking for.

16:22Correct.

16:23You wanted this a season ago.

16:25Yeah.

16:25So, and what do you want?

16:28What is success?

16:30Cause a championship, like he said, we want to hoist the trophy.

16:34If that's literally five years off the way years old, no three years in the NFL.

16:39I think you get three years to turn an organization around.

16:43It doesn't mean you have to win a Superbowl in three years, but if, if in the next three

16:46years, you're not at the very least competing to beat the Patriots or the bills in the division,

16:51and you're not a playoff team and you're still losing to those two teams and all the other best teams, then you, you, you re-evaluate everything.