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Dennis Hickey looks out upon the practice field these days and sees a football team he has helped put together. It is only his first year, his first training camp, as general manager of the Dolphins. But be sure of this: If these Dolphins are going to make a quantum leap this season, the draft picks Hickey selected and the free agents he helped sign are going to have a lot to do with it.
This is a fun time of year for Hickey, an important time.
“An exciting time,” he says.
Exciting because he can stand there on any steamy morning and watch the pieces come together. He can survey the field and focus on that No. 1 pick who is now starting at right tackle or that No. 2 pick who is raising so many eyebrows with his great hands and nifty moves. But there’s so much more to it than just those marquee draft picks. Hickey looks at all of the first-year players, whether they were drafted or undrafted, in the same manner.
“As I told the first-year players on their first day, ‘you are here now, it doesn’t matter how you got here,’” Hickey said. “The draft. Free agency. Undrafted. It no longer matters. This is their opportunity and it’s up to them to do something with that opportunity.
“We’re working toward the best 53 and everyone gets an equal shot.”
So Hickey walks up and down the sideline, notepad in hand, eyes fixed on so many different things. He meets each day with Coach Joe Philbin and they talk personnel. (“It’s so important that we always communicate,” Hickey said.) While what Hickey sees out there every day will certainly remain the nucleus of the 2014 Dolphins, there is still tweaking to do.
Got to keep working. Got to keep trying to get better. Got to have all those names at your fingertips in case someone like Mike Pouncey goes down.
“We are always looking to upgrade,” Hickey said. “Even before Mike Pouncey went down, we were tracking Darin Colledge through the offseason. We monitored him so we were ready if needed. Can a player make us a little bit better? Can we improve the 90th guy on the roster? We are always looking.”
Hickey is sitting behind his desk now in his corner office on the second floor of the training complex, talking on a quiet early afternoon. You just have to watch him, listen to his words, to know how much he loves this job, how much he embraces his various roles.
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