Way back before he left Wisconsin for Arkansas, Bret Bielema was interviewing for the Miami Dolphins head coaching job and outlined a plan for them that would allow them to win a Super Bowl within five years, he claims. His plan involved drafting his former Badgers quarterback Russell Wilson in the second round. The Dolphins thought he was crazy, disagreed with him, so he withdrew from consideration for the job.
Now who looks crazy?
This Bielema anecdote was related by ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill in an article published Thursday about how the Seahawks capitalized by drafting players others passed on. Wilson, who was selected in the third round, is one of those players.
“They all looked at me like, ‘You can’t say that. That’s the difference between college and pro. He’s undersized. He can’t throw.’ I was like, ‘OK, all right,’ and I honestly, that day, kind of pulled myself out of it,” Bielema recalled.
The Dolphins balked at taking a 5-foot-10 quarterback like Wilson and instead drafted Ryan Tannehill at No. 8 overall. Tannehill has been arguably above average for Miami, but he certainly has not come close to enjoying the success Wilson has with Seattle.
The story is a good one for many reasons. One, it goes to show how lowly everyone had Wilson ranked. Heck, even if the Seahawks completely believed in Wilson, they would have drafted him earlier rather than leave it to chance that someone else would take him. Two, who knew that Bielema was that close to getting the Dolphins job? And three, the Dolphins, like many other teams, really whiffed on that one.
What’s also funny is that on draft day, we saw Jon Gruden loved that pick and hammered Mel Kiper Jr. for discriminating against shorter QBs.
Bielema, by the way, stayed at Wisconsin through 2012 and left for Arkansas. He has gone 10-15 in two seasons as head coach of the Razorbacks. If he had gotten the Dolphins job and drafted Wilson, maybe they would have been close to winning a Super Bowl. After all, Miami’s defense was pretty stout this season.
