The Dorsey Firing: Connecting the Dots

I think it is pretty obvious why John Dorsey was fired. All you have to do is look at the data points you know, extrapolate and project them forward to what you don’t know. So what are the data points?

The Chiefs drafted a first round quarterback in the first round for the first time in our lifetimes and surrendered massive draft capital to do so. This particular quarterback is currently useless and will require years of development while occupying a roster spot and cap space. These are the decisions that careers are made or broke over.

Chris Ballard was allowed to leave going to the Indianapolis.

Will Lewis, who was the director of pro scouting and was second in player evaluations duties, was eliminated. These two moves cleared any competition from the room going into Dorsey’s own contract renewal negotiation and would indicate Dorsey felt some insecurity going into that negotiation.

Jeremy Maclin was cut after an injury filled year in spite of the general expectation he would to bounce back and perform better this year and that happened two weeks after Andy Reid attended the guy’s wedding. I cannot imagine a head coach going to a wedding of a player he expects to cut soon or is even considering cutting soon.

Andy Reid had a contract renewal negotiation discussion with the owner, Clark Hunt, in private.

It is a common practice during job evaluations to discuss past performance evaluations of both parties and set goals for the future.

Dorsey was terminated immediately after Reid’s contract discussion with Clark Hunt.

Now the following conversation is speculation but I am 90% sure it happened like this:

Hunt: Boy that Maclin cut was tough. It must have been hard to pull the trigger on that decision.

Reid: I did not decide to cut Maclin.

Hunt: Wow. You took a big risk going into a contract negotiation to trade so much draft capital for a developmental quarterback.

Reid: I was not part of the decision to move up in the draft and to draft Mahomes.

Hunt: Dorsey did not consult you?

Reid: Yeah he consulted me and I said “No” I am satisfied with the quarterbacks on the roster now. Besides Bray and Mahomes have the same skill set and Bray is closer to playing. Giving up draft picks in the future is a bad idea. Occupying a roster spot and cap space for a player that is useless to me for years is a bad idea. And then he went ahead and drafted Mahomes anyway.

Reid: I do not want my future job evaluations tied to Mahomes development since I did not choose him.

Hunt: Ahem, (long pause) well that is unacceptable. Why bother having a Hall of Fame coach if he is not consulted on any (apparently) personnel decision. What I envisioned was a personnel decision making process that is collaborative, similar to the Golden State Warriors.

Reid: Let me make something clear. Dorse is a great guy and a fine talent evaluator and this is not a complaint. I enjoy working with him. I can win games with him making unilateral personnel decisions. I do not want to be a GM again. I just do not want to be evaluated on the basis of decisions I was not a part of.

Okay, there you have it. Mystery solved. Dorsey’s decision-making did not give deference to Reid.

Now let me make another speculation. I believe the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory gives a lot insight into interpersonal conflicts. One of the personality ranges is Sensory vs. Intuitive. Sensory personalities make decisions impulsively while Intuitives (misnamed I think) make decisions based upon understandings, in an intentional way and according to a plan. Dorsey is a Sensory and Reid is an Intuitive. Intuitive types and Sensory types cannot cooperate and get along because of fundamental differences in how they make decisions.

Hint to Clark Hunt on his next hire, consult Myers-Briggs but one word of warning, many Sensory Personalities pretend to be Intuitives (the reason for misnaming).