Dave Hyde: Has Steve Ross learned enough in losing to start winning?

Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Jan 25, 2026

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

It’s a shame Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross quit reading newspapers out of “frustration,” as he said this past week, over reading about his losing team. My business needs every available subscriber these days. Maybe we could send him coffee with the paper to start up again?

Ross could be selective in his chosen articles, too. He could, for example, just read entertaining advice columns like Miss Manners or Asking Eric. They’re terrific for knowing if gifts cards are necessary for second weddings or how to deal with a cranky co-worker.

There’s only one advice columnist who could give Ross more pertinent counsel, too.

Me.

Now, before you think if I’m overdoing it, that if I applaud myself any harder my hands will fall off, understand I know my role. I’m a sports writer. Let’s be real: I’m in it for an easy life and to type a good line here and there. But let’s be real honest, too: My decisions have been better than the Dolphins’ decisions in Ross’ 17 years as owner.

Ross isn’t the only one frustrated by newspaper stories about the Dolphins losing. Imagine having to write them for a career. Imagine having to type a Groundhog-Day obituary every year when the season is unofficially over — it came 12 days in at 0-3 this past season — while sportswriters in New England write books on their teams.

Couldn’t Ross study Patriots owner Robert Kraft? Maybe talk to him since they’re Palm Beach neighbors? Kraft wouldn’t reveal his secret sauce for being a six-time-Super-Bowl-winning football owner. But maybe some of his smarts would’ve rubbed off on Ross by osmosis, right?

That’s not some new idea. It’s not said just this week as the Dolphins announced their latest general manager and coach to raise the Titanic while Kraft’s rebuilt and recharged Patriots play in Sunday’s AFC championship game in Denver.

I began suggesting Ross to study Kraft way back when Bill Belichick and Tom Brady were winning their third or fourth or fifth Super Bowl. That was before suggesting the Dolphins draft quarterback Russell Wilson, which was before suggesting they draft Lamar Jackson, don’t make Chris Grier the general-manager-for-Life and don’t Tank-for-Tua (because smart franchises don’t tank and, if you’re not smart, don’t even try it).

And now I hear Ross wasn’t reading. Does that explain his blunders?

But wait. There was more advice. Like beware of drafting a small and oft-injured Tua Tagovailoa (especially over a big, strong-armed Justin Herbert). Don’t keep hiring leaders who can’t lead. Don’t allow a constant culture of comfort around the team.

Also, Ross needs to get to know some of the inside people who can tell you what’s actually happening starting with, oh, guys like the trainer or equipment manager. That’s Ownership 101.

You see, to win in the NFL, every team needs the following positions to be successful in the following order: 1) Owner; 2) Talent evaluator, usually the general manager; 3) Coach and quarterback (yes, together, if you look at how many coaches and quarterbacks walk together into the Hall of Fame).

The owner sets the direction of the franchise, which for so much of the past two Dolphins decades has been a walk through the wilderness. Maybe the Dolphins got it right this time. Ross and son-in-law Daniel Sillman finally picked the best talent evaluator available in general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. That’s the right idea.

Has Ross learned enough from his mistakes to do things right now?

Sullivan’s first problem isn’t the salary cap or finding a quarterback. It’s organizing the personnel department into a functioning entity rather than the mess that Ross allowed to fester under Grier’s past decade.

You wonder why the drafts were underachieving?

The front office was underachieving.

Here’s something else I’ve written for years: It takes talent to find talent. Do they now have talent in the front office?

Look, Ross is as good a civic owner as there is in American sports. Like Joe Robbie started, Ross pays for not just his stadium but its upkeep. You can count on your hand the number of owners who do that. Ross also has the Dolphins reach out into the community more than most teams and is the reason other big-time events are in town (tennis, Formula One racing, etc).

But winning? Here’s to the days when Ross can subscribe to the newspaper and actually read about the Dolphins winning. Here’s also to the days when the Dolphins have better ideas than an old sports writer.

____