Here's what Daniel Sillman taking over the Dolphins operation means

When the Miami Dolphins were running their most sensible off-season of the Steve Ross Era, it wasn’t Boss Ross spearheading the plan.

It was his son-in-law, Daniel Sillman.

Oh, Ross was the team owner, and so involved in every decision. But Sillman pushed for Troy Aikman as an advisor, a move for a fresh outsider’s thoughts at the top. Sillman pushed to hire the best football mind they could find, which brought General Manager Jon Erik-Sullivan to re-organize and run the football operation.

Sillman also pushed for Sullivan to hire his own coach on the same timeline. That led to Ross awkwardly interrupting then-coach Mike McDaniel’s meeting with tight end Darren Waller a few days after it should have happened in the first week of the off-season. He then fired McDaniel. That opened the door for Sullivan to come in and hire Jeff Hafley as coach.

“It’s his show,’’ a Dolphins source said of Sillman.

It’s officially his show now. If you thought this football regime ushered in the next era with its redone front office and roster, it’s taken on an added dimension now.

Sillman took over as President and CEO of the Dolphins, showing the sometimes clunky succession plan might have a good ending. Yeah, clunky. Remember limited partner Bruce Beal’s plan to get Tom Brady (and Sean Payton) that led to the tampering charge against the Dolphins?

Sillman taking over also means big change at the top. Tom Garfinkel, the previous president and CEO, has stepped down, “after a transformational 13-year tenure,’’ the Dolphins said in a statement on Tuesday.\

Garfinkel left a big mark while making Ross big money with his decisions (and no doubt made himself big money, too). He was great for South Florida sports. He brought the Miami Open tennis tournament to Hard Rock Stadium. Garfinkel also brought even bigger money maker in F1 (which he’ll remain a part of).

Look, Garfinkel knew money. No doubt. When the Dolphins were having grass problems on the field, he convinced Ross to buy a sod company in the middle of the state. Cha-ching.

“That’s been a cash cow,’’ a Dolphins source said.

Now, for the other side, the side everyone in this organization was part of all these years. Garfinkel never ran the football side, but his suggestion to Ross helped push the tank job in 2019. He had a voice the personnel decisions at the top, too. Not that it was his fault, but none of that worked out well – just like nothing on the football field has worked out well under Ross’s 18-year tenure.

Enter Sillman. He has a diverse sports background. He started a sports agency while a Michigan student and represented the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green and Philadelphia Eagles’ Brandon Graham.

He also as a student cold-called a Michigan alum named Steve Ross. That led to them meeting, Ross befriending him and – well, the story ended good enough that Sillman married Ross’s daughter, Kimberly.

Kimberly and Jennifer, Ross’s two daughters, are the succession plan now - with Sillman running it.

Sillman has sports management background. He, along chairman Charlie Stillitano, helped Ross’s enterprise, Relevant Entertainment, bring European soccer teams to American venues for exhibitions. But maybe five years ago I was talking to a Dolphins employee who said Sillman was studying the innards of the organization.

How things work. What people do. Where to improve. All the internal wiring someone needs to learn to capably run the show someday.

“He’s serious and he’s smart,’’ the employee told me.

Sillman kept at it, too. Now everyone on the football side – Sullivan, Hafley, salary-cap maven Branden Shore – will report to Sillman.

Where does it go?

Who knows?

All you know is the Dolphins off-season decisions made sense for once in, lo, these many years. And Sillman ran the show. That’s a start.