BY JEFF DARLINGTON
jdarlington@MiamiHerald.com
What does this mean for Cam Cameron's future?
It would be easy to think everyone is in jeopardy. The coach. The general manager. The assistants. The scouts. Even the players. Yes, everyone. When a team turns over an immense amount of power to one person, change is inevitable. But let's make this clear: Parcells' arrival does not mean Cameron's departure is imminent. In fact, after a meeting between Cameron and Huizenga broke Wednesday evening, it actually appeared that Cameron might survive this deal. As for the rest of the Dolphins brass, including general manager Randy Mueller? We'll see. When Parcells does come on board, he'll likely want to hire his own general manager. As for a coach? Parcells still wants to be able to buy the groceries. He just doesn't want to cook the food. And nobody is willing to say just yet that Cameron won't be the guy in the kitchen.
Any chance Parcells might be the coach too?
Not going to happen. Parcells isn't interested in taking on a role as a coach or a general manager at this point in his career. But he still has an itch to be involved in the NFL. And in this new position, he can have full authority over all personnel decisions without being the guy making the calls on the sideline. For a man who likes power but also likes the idea of settling into a less hectic life in South Florida, that's a pretty good deal.
So if Parcells isn't going to be the general manager - and Randy Mueller's job might be in jeopardy - who is going to handle those duties?
That's where things could get interesting. There have been rumors floating around the Dolphins' facility about which one of Parcells' former employees will join him in Miami. Keep an eye on the movement of a lesser-known name currently with the Dallas Cowboys, Jeff Ireland. (He's the vice president of scouting in Dallas, and he was very tight with Parcells in Dallas.) But the craziest dream scenario? Get this. Scott Pioli, who is the highly regarded vice president of player personnel for the Patriots, is Parcells' son-in-law.
Is Bill Parcells here for the long haul?
Right. And Nick Saban isn't going to Alabama. We'll believe it when we see it. Parcells is notorious for retiring and returning and retiring and returning and backing out of deals and changing his mind and, well, you get the idea. When he left the Patriots in 1996, he said he had ''no desire to continue as an NFL coach.'' Eight days later, he became the Jets' head coach. And in 2000, when retiring from the Jets, he said, ''I've coached my last game.'' A few years later? He was coaching his first game with the Cowboys. That's not to say he isn't a football genius. And because he isn't likely to be subdued to the same brutal hours of an NFL head coach -- not to mention, he loves South Florida -- perhaps this marriage will last a little longer than the vows of Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman. But if Parcells inks his name on a four-year contract with the Dolphins, let's just hope Huizenga makes him use a Sharpie instead of a pencil.
What's with the nickname 'The Big Tuna?'
There's plenty of different stories about how he got the nickname, and although even Parcells doesn't seem overly certain, everyone agrees it at least derives from the StarKist mascot, Charlie the Tuna. ''I think it goes back to my first time with the Patriots,'' Parcells has been quoted as saying in various publications. 'There was an old commercial from StarKist with Charlie the StarKist tuna, so my players were trying to con me on something one time, and I said, `You must think I'm Charlie the Tuna,' you know, a sucker, and that's kind of how it started.''
Looks like the Big Tuna will now be swimming with the Dolphins.
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