What is positive about hiring Tony Sparano 1. Sparano brings HC experience to the team, on the side of the ball that clearly needs more leadership . 2. Sparano comes from Parcells coaching tree. Parcells hired him as HC. 3. Sparano knows how to use the run to set up the pass. That's how he got big production from Chad in 2008 4. Sparano knows the division and has won big games against div rivals (Jets & Pats) 5. Willing to implement innovations like wildcat (remember Ronnie Brown vs Jets in 2009) 6. Humble enough to understand that he has to prove himself as a OC again 7. Coach in waiting if Rex self-destructs?
seriously Sparano IN and Schittenheimer, Ellard and Callahan out, probably Cavanaugh too Maybe Haley joins the team next A HUGE UPGRADE
-Believes in a strong power running game, which coincides w/ Rex's offensive philosophy and will give offense an identity -Has experience with young QB's- Romo, Henne -Has experience in AFC east -Has experience with diva WR's- Brandon Marshall who maybe even worse than Holmes
Forget the playcalling for a minute. We should really be looking at these two things first: 1. Teaching. Is Tony Sparano a good teacher? Does he get the players to improve? 2. Scheming. Does Tony Sparano put his players in a position to succeed? We have his tenure with the Fins and Cowboys as the main data points. Teaching: His main experience in Dallas was 2006-2007 when he became the playcaller. He replaced a veteran (Bledsoe) with an unknown QB (Romo) and got the offense to be absolutely prolific under Romo. This was with malcontents Glenn and Owens as wide receivers (both did roughly the same as their stats the year before). Some of Romo's development has to be credited to Sparano here. Also in Dallas, especially during the 2006 season, he got the most out of his two running backs Julius Jones and Marion Barber. They both had great years as Jones had his only season over 1000 yards and Barber had an astounding 14 touchdowns. Jones and Barber had the best years of their careers under Sparano and neither has come close to their production since 2006-2007. So overall improvements to: QB, RB, OL Same from: WR, TE In Miami, he coached from 2008 to 2011. 2008-2010 Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combined to have some really great years at RB. 2008, Chad Pennington had one of the best years in his career. 2009-2010 Chad Henne did ok. At least he didn't regress. 2011 had both Brown and Williams leave, Henne and Long get injured and Moore did pretty well considering the circumstances. Considering he took over a 1-15 team, he did pretty well. Marshall never had the same success as he did in Denver. Ginn never lived up to the hype. Fasano did better than he did in Dallas. So overall improvements to: QB, RB, OL, TE Worse on: WR We can see a clear picture of where his strengths are. RBs improve a lot under him. OL, QB improve moderately. TEs improve slightly. WRs do the same or worse. Scheming: He's really good at putting his players in a position to succeed, particularly running backs. Barber and Jones had career years with him in Dallas and have not done anything since. He brought the Wildcat to the NFL because he had two very good running backs in Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and wanted to utilize both. He has a good sense of what his QB and RBs can do. There was one game against the Jets a couple years where he used 4 RBs in the wildcat (basically no WRs) and beat us. He's fine using the unconventional and thinks outside the box often. --------------------------------- His track record is pretty clear. He's going to get a ton out of Shonn Greene. He's going to use McKnight and LT if he signs. If Powell has any talent, he'll be used. WR's will likely stay the same or regress.
1. Actually, Romo's development goes to Todd Haley, not Sparano. This is why I want to see Jets scoop up Haley - if he can work the no-name prospect into a pro-bowler, imagine what he can do with a legitimate 1st round kid. If things go well as we all wish, all the Manning talk will be a thing of a joke by the end of next season. 2. Also, you need to keep in mind that, in terms of yard per carry, Miami under Sparano's watch never ranked out of top 5. He believes in power running, and makes very good use of big TEs. Some of the stuff we all have been crying for, as a matter of fact. 3. It is the last reason (WRs and QBs not faring too well) that Jets must scoop up Haley.
You can't deny that Pennington had a career year with Miami in 2008. Or that Matt Moore did pretty well under the circumstances this year. Also, Haley wasn't with the Cowboys in 2007. Sparano was. I would say Sparano at least get some of the credit for Romo's development. I'm also a little bit worried about Haley as Leinart regressed terribly. It is interesting, though that he'd be coaching his third USC QB if he got the job (Leinart, Cassel, Sanchez). Haley's big contribution is to WR's it seems. I think he would be an excellent hire for that reason alone.
He got them to their only playoff birth in like 12 years. It's clear he wasn't that good a defensive coach, but on offense (other than at WR), he actually wasn't that bad.
At least they ran well. That's not sugarcoating, is it? No. I am not denying any of that either. Sparano knows how to make use of the play makers he has at his hand, unlike you-know-who. That alone brings small amount of optimism for me. Dolphins fans say Sparano's offense settled for FGs too many times - but obviously they haven't watched Schottenheimer game. And you are correct - Haley was with the Cards by 2007, so what you say definitely has some merit as well - that I admit. Still,you must also admit that the year they worked together (2006) Romo started looking like a real QB. That credit should go to Haley, especially if you consider how Sparano was unable to deal with Henne. Lastly, help on WR side, along with the help on QB side would be a good enough of a reason to warrant Haley hire, especially since Ellard was let go as well.
I won't. He was a horrible head coach. But, in one sense, he changed the game when he clobbered the Patriots by introducing the wildcat to the NFL. Innovation is pretty cool.
'Dolphins career'. Let's not confuse being a head coach with being a coordinator. In Dallas, he and Haley were able to make Romo look like he had elite potential. I'm only in with this for real if it's a package deal. Sparano and Haley.
Nice post RAH. I think one thing u mentioned that needs to be highlighted is the motivation behind the wildcat. It was a scheme he came up with DURING the season based on personnel. This shows him to be the anti-schitty Instead of constantly trying to force his players into"his"scheme, he adjusted his scheme on the fly to compliment his players. This fact alone gives me hope that the o's performance will improve under his lead.
Yea, it should help particularly in the running game. I can see packages where Greene, McKnight and Conner are on the field at the same time.
Ftr it is "complement", but how well did he do that this year? I acknowledge the fish played better than at the start at various points later in the season, but Sparano "complemented" his team so well he lost his job. Sorry, that does not inspire confidence. But... he may work out. Dont expect me to hold my breath, though.
Just so you guys know, it wasn't sparano that came up with the wildcat. It was David Lee. Sparano knew something had to change and wanted him to come up with something and thats what David Lee did. So give credit to Sparano for knowing something had to change, and also taking the risk of using it. But it wasn't Sparano that came up with it, he just decided to use it. And honestly, if we had been stuffed for no gain the first time we used it there's a good chance we would've never used it again. Based on my experience of watching him coach the dolphins, I really don't think he did a good job. Did a poor job developing Henne (turned him into a robot), didn't use our tight ends for anything but blocking, and never built a cohesive offensive line, so if I were you guys I wouldn't be too excited. But I understand you guys trying to be optimistic and giving it a chance.
