The current state of the Miami Dolphins can almost exclusively be tied to Bill Parcells, but as hard as it is to fathom, things could have been a lot worse for fans.
Rex Ryan could have been the team's head coach.
The Tuna admitted to ESPN that he seriously considered hiring Ryan in 2008 when he took over as VP of football operations for Miami, which had just gone 1-15.
"I was very impressed with Rex when I met with him," Parcells said. "I could just sense that, 'Hey, this guy's going to have a chance.'"
Parcells said he would have hired Ryan on the spot if he hadn't worked so closely with Tony Sparano in Dallas.
That means Dolfans would have had to endure a barrage of trash talking, finger flipping and incessant foot rubbing directly after the worst season in franchise history. Would that have been so bad if the win total came along with it?
Fittingly, Ryan landed with the hated New York Jets and Miami got a no-name coach with the coaching ability to match. The rest is sad and not so ancient history.
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The Jets have been to the AFC Championship two consecutive seasons, while the Dolphins have missed the playoffs the past two years and become the laughing stock of the league when it comes to flirting with potential hires.
And as for Parcells, he has left Miami with a lot of his old buddies in high places to direct a mediocre product on the field.
Do over anyone?
