Henning gets the call in Miami

By J.D. Robinson  |   Tuesday, February 05, 2008  |  Comments( 2 )

Miami Dolphins
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Dan Henning was not Miami's first choice to be its new offensive coordinator, but all that matters is that he now is, and Bill Parcells has bet something on the belief that he can nurture and develop John Beck and Ted Ginn Jr., among others.

The hiring will probably bring a mixture of yawns and sighs from the Miami faithful, who perhaps were wishing GM Jeff Ireland and head coach Tony Sparano would bring in someone young and vibrant.

Instead, though, they'll get the 65 year-old Henning, who began patrolling NFL sidelines before Don Shula had won a Super Bowl.

A glimpse over his recent attempts indicates that while perhaps an aesthetically uninspiring hire, Henning has shown that he can turn around a lagging offensive unit.

A team that perhaps the Dolphins are emulating at this time, the early to mid-2000s Carolina Panthers employed Henning as their offensive coordinator, making the hire after their own 1-15 season in 2001. For the first four seasons in Henning's tenure with the Panthers, the team scored more points than the year before, raising from an abysmal 258 points in his initial campaign to a final tally of 391 in a Carolina's 2005 11-5 campaign. Carolina's 2004 effort of 355 points is encouraging when remembering that Henning lost over 2,400 yards in total offense from the year before thanks to injuries to running back Stephen Davis and wide receiver Steve Smith. That season, Henning squeezed as much as he could from Nick Goings, who led the Panthers with a paltry 821 rushing yards, and a weak receiving corps.

Henning's offenses largely didn't disintegrate in the postseason either, scoring 23 or more points in five out of seven playoff games, including a 29-point outburst in Super Bowl XXXVIII that nearly sent the Vince Lombardi trophy to Charlotte.

When Henning was let go by the Panthers at the end of the 2006 season, his dismissal was cheered by those who felt Henning had erred by too much conservative play calling, a common refrain that fans pin on coordinators when everything starts to go wrong.

However, odds are good that Henning, with the right personnel, will do well with the Dolphins. After all, Parcells-led teams have proven successful at hiring assistant coaches.
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