Tony’s team taking shape

By Joe Mayes  |   Wednesday, June 18, 2008  |  Comments( 13 )

Miami Dolphins
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With the offseason headlines in South Florida dominated by the Jason Taylor hubbub (or is it a falderal?) and the questions surrounding this year’s signal-caller (John McHenne?), there hasn’t been much attention being paid to a quiet construction project taking place. Bill Parcells may have been the architect of the new structure in Miami and Jeff Ireland the civil engineer responsible for making the vision come to life, but head coach Tony Sparano is proving to be the quiet, masterful craftsman putting his own imprint on the new-look Dolphins.

At this point, Parcells’ work is mostly done. He’s looked at last year’s on-field product and made decisions about which parts stay, which ones go, and which are still needed. Ireland is now getting the contracts in place and keeping an eye out for the type of player on whom the franchise has set its sights. But it’s Sparano who’s making a team out of the talent on the roster.

Veterans who know the difference between chicken salad and chicken s…andwiches sing Sparano’s praises. Eleventh-year defensive tackle Vonnie Holliday in particular likes what he’s seeing from the team's new sideline boss.

“He wants to know you as a person and that's important,” Holliday said. “It's not a facade. He wants guys who can play ball, are good guys and not a problem.”

And Holliday’s comment about “problem” guys is telling. Though all smiles at most of the press events so far, Sparano isn’t afraid to stand firm in his beliefs. And the players have noticed.

Holliday continues, “I think you can see that in terms of some of the guys he’s gotten rid of around here.”

In addition to creating a new atmosphere in Miami, Sparano has also taken the Dolphins back to basics, with conditioning and a philosophy of executing the basics as the means by which the team will return to glory.

Sparano’s “keep it simple, stupid’ philosophy is boiling the game down to its essence for a team on the rebound.

“We’re giving them the ability to play in the scheme,” Sparano said. “It’s not so complicated that they have to think of a bunch of things when they’re out there and maybe there are not 10 different checks when they get to the line of scrimmage.”

Six-year veteran Andre Goodman talks about being rejuvenated under the new regime and Yeremiah Bell points to the coaching staff’s passion and holding the players accountable as making this offseason different from the others he’s seen.

“This staff is letting you know what you do wrong, letting us know what we can do to win and what we can do to lose…definitely more accountability," said Bell.

So while Parcells may get all the headlines, make no mistake about whose team this will be on the field. Parcells knows the level of authority a head coach has to have in order for a team to be successful and will continue to take a more behind-the-scenes role with the Dolphins. What’s happening on the field during the offseason workouts shows that he believes he’s got the right man in Sparano.

And Sparano’s not afraid to swing the big hammer to get the job done.
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About Joe Mayes

Joe Mayes is an award-winning writer with credits ranging from national sports columns to local newspapers and commercial and technical writing. Joe is the host of "The Morning Wrap," a morning drive-time sports talk radio show on WTKE-FM in Northwest Florida.
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