Sports Buzz...Dolphins players share thoughts on Philbin, new system

There's a few things in these 2 paragraphs that make me stupid happy:

Davone Bess likes that Philbin is “laid back but demands a lot from the players. He’s cool. Good sense of humor, very intelligent. The guys respect him and he respects us. Everything is real structured, very detail oriented. Offensively, we focus a lot more time on the details of routes we’re running.”

Bess said the “best thing” about Philbin’s and coordinator Mike Sherman’s offense – which will be up-tempo a lot, no-huddle at times – is “everybody is interchangeable. The outside guys can play inside, inside can play outside. That’s what is going to make this offense more attacking. It’s a lot of open space, getting the ball out quickly and letting the players do what they do.”

Thanks for the info! A very enjoyable read. I'm still pretty worried about the safety position.

"Finascious D wrote:

There's a few things in these 2 paragraphs that make me stupid happy:

Oh, you mean innovation like the other, succesful teams do in the nfl?! Instead of staying in the 1980's and not evolving with the league? Like Bill Billichek who came from the Parcells tree and has went with the current of the stream instead of bucking against it for decades? Oh ok, good....that makes me happy then :lol:

FindD, that is exactly what Philbin eluded to when asked about a number one receiver, or an X or Z receiver and he responded that he never looked into that stuff because with his offense everyone plays everywhere. It is about time we use an attacking mentality (not long bomb attacking) on offense that creates mismatches based on what defenses are doing by lining up X and Z WRs in the slot, and slot guys outside - RBs and TEs lined up in the slot, or on the outside. I can't wait.

Regarding Philbin himself, you can just tell the guy demands respect, but not in an autocratic way. He does it by respecting other players and by reassuring them that they need to do what he says to get better. The fact that every player interviewed mentioned the attention to detail is refreshing to both us and them, and they realize that the intricacies of each position on both sides of the ball can make the difference on game day.

Sparano taught ball security to the point everyone on offense was timid, not how to get better at what they do. It stunted a lot of players growth IMO.

Don't be fooled too much by this stuff about this approach versus that approach. When Sparano came in around 2008, his approach was lauded by players who lived through Cam Cameron's laid back regime. And that regime itself was lauded at first as opposed to Nick Saban's hard line stance. And that stance was initially lauded heartily by players who felt it was more focused and orderly than Dave Wannstedt's approach.

It goes round and round and the only commonality is that when things are going badly, change is appreciated.

The part that interested me was Ireland's praise of Kelcie McCray. He's a guy I looked at and I don't like to dismiss him but the fact of the matter is the safety position is real crowded (with mediocrity) and so it doesn't look like there's much room for a UDFA to make it. But then, someone like Tyrone Culver whom I believe is making a million plus, could be cut if a young guy is even close to him in talent. Those salaries get to be rolled forward nowadays so I think 53-man cut dates around the league are going to be interesting.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Don't be fooled too much by this stuff about this approach versus that approach. When Sparano came in around 2008, his approach was lauded by players who lived through Cam Cameron's laid back regime. And that regime itself was lauded at first as opposed to Nick Saban's hard line stance. And that stance was initially lauded heartily by players who felt it was more focused and orderly than Dave Wannstedt's approach.

It goes round and round and the only commonality is that when things are going badly, change is appreciated.

FTR, I don't give two ****s if the players LIKE or DON'T LIKE Philbin's approach. I like the things said about it, like "detail oriented" & "up-tempo/no huddle".

Yeah Sparano couldve made "tea-bagging" a normal conditioning activity, but if the dolphins were 42-6 in 3 years under his ruling, they would probably like his style :lol:

Whatever gets the players to play their hardest and train their hardest, when no one is looking, is the right approach..We'll see.

"Finascious D wrote:

FTR, I don't give two ****s if the players LIKE or DON'T LIKE Philbin's approach. I like the things said about it, like "detail oriented" & "up-tempo/no huddle".

I'm sure there were buzzwords that were clinged onto regarding Sparano. Personally I'm refusing to get sucked into being overly optimistic until pre-season and even then my optimsm will be tempered until the regular season. Call me jaded because I am.

"GreysonWinfield wrote:

I'm sure there were buzzwords that were clinged onto regarding Sparano. Personally I'm refusing to get sucked into being overly optimistic until pre-season and even then my optimsm will be tempered until the regular season. Call me jaded because I am.

I've yet to see anyone overly optomistic on this forum. We may have a different definition of the word. Dolfans, especially now, have no right to trust anything until they see it, and I believe thats the main thought process I have seen.

Sparano was also supposed to be very detail oriented. That was a buzz word that came out in the initial impressions of him from players and people around the program.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Sparano was also supposed to be very detail oriented. That was a buzz word that came out in the initial impressions of him from players and people around the program.

Bottom line is, if Philbin can't rack up wins it doesn't matter if the players love him or hate him. And honestly, what player will have anything bad to say about a new coach? I'm as high on Philbin as anyone else. I get warm and tingly when he talks about QB metrics and love that he understands the fact that this is a passing league. But just like I didn't think Sparano's ****ty Gladiator speech last year amounted to a hill of beans, I'm not going to read too much into this. I just like our coach and will like him until he proves incapable of the job.

Sparano was detail oriented, I just thought he focused on the wrong details. He was more about snap counts than the on-field mechanics. The lack of detail in their play-action passes, for example, always drove me nuts. The WCO has always been about timing so you expect there to be a lot of focus on route precision.

I don't know much about McCray, but there's no talent at S that's so over-whelming that I'd be shocked by an UDFA him.

I expect us to draw more penalties this year. Based off these comments alone, actually.

Talk..... Sounds nice but I think most of us....... most of us....... know none of it means squat especially this early on.

As CK pointed out, this type of talk we've all heard before about every incoming coach.

Time will tell period.

I'll take it all in and look for things that sound positive as well but to get all giddy about anything at this point is silly

"rafael wrote:

Sparano was detail oriented, I just thought he focused on the wrong details. He was more about snap counts than the on-field mechanics. The lack of detail in their play-action passes, for example, always drove me nuts. The WCO has always been about timing so you expect there to be a lot of focus on route precision.

I don't know much about McCray, but there's no talent at S that's so over-whelming that I'd be shocked by an UDFA him.

:amen: This is EXACTLY what I wuz thinkin.

This is what I didn't like about Sparanos practice approach, when one part of the team broke down in the game, he would talk after the next practice and say well, we spent the practice working on that facet..well, that sounds well and good, but if your spending the practice focused on one part of the game, then other parts are suffering, and that could impact the following week, it was always the same with the team, all parts could never play well together.

"KingMotion wrote:

I was going to talk about that. Ricky Williams last off-season said that Sparano was too focused on details and tried to micromanage everything. Posters on TP parctically orgasmed at a new reason to get him fired. Here we have a new guy focused heavily on details and it's great. It all ultimately comes down to wins. People like what you do usually up until the time you start losing by it.

I DID orgasm.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Sparano was also supposed to be very detail oriented. That was a buzz word that came out in the initial impressions of him from players and people around the program.

Bess said:

we focus a lot more time on the details of routes we’re running

That to me is the kind of thing I want to hear.

I remember they said Sparano was stat oriented. I seem to recall him being like rainman when it came to stats. I don't remember players saying he was detailed oriented. Maybe they did, but I don't remember.

And for everyone else, that feels they need to come in and give the old, "talk is cheap, we've heard it before, doesn't matter till its on the field", please, with all due respect blow that talk up your butts. I'm allowed to be excited. Why do so many feel the need to **** all over the parade. From the info we've been privy to, I'm excited, so sue me.

I and everyone else knows damn good and well, results are all that matter. But let's take this approach to its logical conclusion. Success in the NFL is defined by winning the SB. So, until we're in it and win it, there's no need to get excited about a great catch or one win, cause none of that = SB victory.

So please, the next time anyone feels the need to tell me to temper my enthusiasm, please, keep it to yourself.

looks like there is a lot of positive & professional energy injected into the team with the new coaching cadre
I repeat: 2012 is the year of The Coach! :dolphin:

"Finascious D wrote:

Bess said: That to me is the kind of thing I want to hear.

I remember they said Sparano was stat oriented. I seem to recall him being like rainman when it came to stats. I don't remember players saying he was detailed oriented. Maybe they did, but I don't remember.

And for everyone else, that feels they need to come in and give the old, "talk is cheap, we've heard it before, doesn't matter till its on the field", please, with all due respect blow that talk up your butts. I'm allowed to be excited. Why do so many feel the need to **** all over the parade. From the info we've been privy to, I'm excited, so sue me.

I and everyone else knows damn good and well, results are all that matter. But let's take this approach to its logical conclusion. Success in the NFL is defined by winning the SB. So, until we're in it and win it, there's no need to get excited about a great catch or one win, cause none of that = SB victory.

So please, the next time anyone feels the need to tell me to temper my enthusiasm, please, keep it to yourself.

The people who are over-enthused based on not a lot are often the same people that swing violently the other direction when faced with a lack of success. You're welcome to your optimism, but I'd rather feel optimistic about things that are more meaningful.

More detail oriented on wide receiver routes does not necessarily mean more detail oriented period, it just signals a focus on different things. That shouldn't be all that surprising as Green Bay was famed for their passing attack, whereas Tony Sparano's background and personality was more heavily invested in the ground game.

"rafael wrote:

Sparano was detail oriented, I just thought he focused on the wrong details. He was more about snap counts than the on-field mechanics. The lack of detail in their play-action passes, for example, always drove me nuts. The WCO has always been about timing so you expect there to be a lot of focus on route precision.

I don't know much about McCray, but there's no talent at S that's so over-whelming that I'd be shocked by an UDFA him.

Certainly not overwhelming talent but Chris Clemons and Reshad Jones are favorites of Jeff Ireland's while Tyrell Johnson seems more like a Kevin Coyle pick and Jimmy Wilson showed a lot of promise at the position a year ago before being moved back to corner, and meanwhile Tyrone Culver has always been a solid, reliable presence...so that does make it crowded.

"rafael wrote:

Sparano was detail oriented, I just thought he focused on the wrong details. He was more about snap counts than the on-field mechanics. The lack of detail in their play-action passes, for example, always drove me nuts. The WCO has always been about timing so you expect there to be a lot of focus on route precision.

I don't know much about McCray, but there's no talent at S that's so over-whelming that I'd be shocked by an UDFA him.

^This. I think Sparano was obsessed with meaningless statistics and I don't think he ever had any clue whatsoever what correlated most with winning in today's NFL even though it had been well documented. I loved when Philbin mentioned QB rating differential in his opening press conference.