http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/02/2529359_p2/miami-dolphins-players-noticing.html
The man stayed strong throughout, took hits,{owners, fans, media} from all angles, kept his pride, protected his players, and continued to show how much he cares about this team, there are qualities about him that are quite endearing..I'am inclined to think his passion for his players inspired this team midseason to unite and come together..He's probably gone if he doesn't win 8 games, but if the big boys Cowher, Gruden, or Fisher don't want us 100 percent, I would stick with Sparano.
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MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member
So his passion got them to win 3 of 11 games. Color me unimpressed.Coral Reefer, bcfinfan, Frumundah Finnatic and 4 others like this. -
He is a good guy but awful coach. I don't want him coaching this team next season. Unless your content with staying below average.
texanphinatic likes this. -
Tin Indian and dolfan7171 like this.
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WHAT!!!???? He's a 7-9 coach! Period!
Why do Dolphin fans continue to justify reasons for retaining Sparano?!
The guy don't even know when to call time outs! If Ross is stupid enough to bring him back next season, i'm going to vomint!
Who cares if the players like him? That does not make him a good coach! He sucks at his so called specialty as OL coach! -
Clipse and schmolioot like this.
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Chances are, Tony will be fired. However, what's happening in Philadelphia with a coach that many want to get to replace Tony is not happening here. Miami's locker room hasn't been torn apart by a disgruntled player. You don't see Miami's offensive coordinator and defensive line coach having to be separated on the side lines during a game. You don't see a situation, at least this year, where the team's best wide receiver is completely ignoring his quarterback. That has happened twice in Philly, though McNabb was the one doing the ignoring of Owens during the first instance.
In my opinion, the guy is a hell of a motivator and leader, and if he takes some time to become an assistant again, I think there are a lot of things that he can look back on during his tenure here and learn from. If he gets another chance, he will be a better coach for it. Everyone likes to say that Sparano is a 7-9 coach. That may be the case, because I happen to think the Dolphins are going to rally and go 7-9 again. A great turnaround, but a case of too little too late. Bill Belichick was once a 7-9 coach as well though (36-44 as head coach in Cleveland).
Tony has learned to lighten up a bit in practices and it has helped. If he would learn to lighten up a bit on game day and quit coaching the game to not lose it, things could get a lot better for him.Bumrush, ToddsPhins, Tone_E and 1 other person like this. -
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IMO the primary reason this team started so poorly was that the defense was out of shape after the lockout. This was out of Sparano's control. Then it took Daboll a few weeks to get Moore up to speed on the new offense. I see the team that we've had the last four weeks or so as pretty indicative of Sparano's work. That doesn't make him a great coach, but he is a good coach with some strengths. I think he has great leadership and that is the #1 thing I want from my HC. The Xs and Os can (and should) be primarily handled by the coordinators. I think we have hired coordinators the last two seasons that can handle that task. I expect that he'll most likely be gone, but I'm not nearly as certain that we'll be better off b/c of it.
Bumrush, ToddsPhins, MrClean and 1 other person like this. -
i can say that i like what Daboll is doing ... it would have been interesting to see him here last year.
Nolan does a good job as well on defense ...
but outside of the fact that Tony seems to be an honorable man -- i am not endeared to see him return; with one exception ... if a new coach is hired - we likely will change both coordinators ... and that i'm not sold on. -
There are a lot of Sparano is a high character guy threads lately. That's great, but nobody ever questioned his character. In this league you gotta win games. And not just a few at the end after the season is already lost. I do agree with you that he should keep his job if he finds a way to win out. Absent that, he's given us some good times and some bad times but the party is over.
pitted151 likes this. -
This thread again? Who cares about Sparano's qualities. The only quality that should matter is Sparano's complete inability to coach.
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I agree with you though in the sense that he can't run away from that start, and I have to put the blame on him there, he should of had the respect of the team, they should of had it ingrained in their heads as to what type of shape they should of showed up as, and there should of been a message that was able to cross the lines of the strike to get that point across..
For me it comes down to what kind of interest the trio of Cowher, Gruden and Fisher have in our franchise long term..cause if one of those guys doesn't beg for the mother fu$#in job, then I'am not just gonna dump Sparano for an assistant who has never been, unless the prospect has some pretty amazing make-up.smahtaz and ToddsPhins like this. -
Only so much a coach can do. Considering there was a lockout in the off season and the team was installing a new offense and had 5 players starting at new positions on the offense I think Sparano has done a great job this year regardless of his 3-8 record. Even with that I don't think the offense was the main problem for the team's woes. Of course, there were problems getting into the end zone, but that changed when BM was stopped being continually targeted and play-action to the TE, roll-outs, etc... started being called. I think Henne did a pretty good job getting the offense ready in the off season given the circumstances.
However, the real problem early on was the defense. It obviously was the strength of the team. Karlos Dansby came in 24 lbs overweight (WTF Karlos?) and our dominant defensive line from last year was non-existent early on. Opposing QBs had enough time drink a beer and smoke a cigarette sitting in the pocket waiting for a receiver to get open. Tells me the defense did not put in the required work during the lock out the offensive players did.
Preparing the team this past off season was beyond Sparano's power. I don't think he is the best "game" coach out there, but the respect he receives from players on a losing team, his willingness to look at what he can do differently tells me he is a pretty damn good coach in a precarious situation. What I recall early in the year is players were calling each other out, but none of them were calling out Sparano.
The nature of the beast will result in Sparano probably getting fired at the end of the year, but he probably deserves to be retained more than most of the players that will be for next year.smahtaz likes this. -
pumpdogs likes this.
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Its not just about being a good guy..Its about making men follow you thru adversity, it's about quantifying the variables he inherited, its about not giving up on something to quick, its about projection of what you can do with this coach, with better skill players..
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Give the guy a quarterback and he'll win. It's as easy as that, especially in today's NFL. I love how fans talk about game management or halftime adjustments (and make no mistake, in the heat of the battle, I'm no exception) when they really have no inkling about how any of that stuff actually works and when referring to people who have forgotten more about the game of football than any of us will ever know.
No, that doesn't mean that one isn't allowed to criticize. But it means one should get some perspective. Bill Belichik went from a moron who couldn't motivate his team and had no clue whatsoever about game management (oh, and he sucked at half time adjustments too) to a first ballot Hall of Famer by virtue of Tom Brady. Tony Sparano is probably no George Seiffert, but if Chad Pennington was 25 when he came here instead of 32, we'd still be doing the Happy Tony Dance. -
I remember when we were playing the saints and we had a 24-3 lead.There was about 4 seconds left on the clock the ball was at around the 2 yard line and the saints were setup to kick the feild goal and our stupid coach calls a timeout.
Brees talks his coach into going for it and they score a td.Whole momentum of game changed on this stupid timeout and we lost.
Anyone armchair qb knows there was no reason to call a timeout there.Thats just 1 example why i will be glad to see him gone.In over is head.. -
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Yes, the first pick 6 was on Ginn and on a bogus call by the referees (it's not a Chad Henne debate, anyway), but anything even resembling decent QB numbers in the 2nd half would have easily won that game, bad HC decision or not. The funny thing is that I'm totally with you on the stupidity of that timeout. Alas, I've seen good and even great coaches do boneheaded things like that. It happens. It shouldn't, but it does. What usually doesn't happen is pulling out a win against a decent team when your QB goes 5 of 19 and two pick 6 in the non-garbage time part of the second half. -
If, on the other hand, it's about drafting/acquiring a different quarterback than Chad Henne, I'm not sure how you can put that on Sparano at all. We don't know that he had any say in that 2008 draft, and even if he did, that's what you have a football czar and a GM for.djphinfan likes this. -
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If Tony wins 4 of the last 5 and finishes the season on a 7-2 run with a backup QB, then I think you have to look hard at possibly keeping him, provided one of the big boys isn't available. Should he finish the season strong, you also have to consider if his potential firing might affect the players on the team who are loyal to him.rdhstlr23 likes this. -
I want to try our luck with somebody that is young and hungry and not some burnout retread.To tell you the truth i don't know who that would be but hopefully are new or current gm will have a clue.
Man if only ross could have snagged harbaugh. -
I considered Harbaugh in the big boy category, so I'm not just limiting it to past or current NFL head coaches. -
IMO picking out Sparano's replacement should follow the advice given when buying a nice suit----> if you're not in love with the way it looks and fits in the store, then leave it on the rack and keep searching. Don't just buy it b/c it seems nicer than what you currently have. -
Chad Pennington, first year coach, won 11 out of 12, executed on the road..Then got his chance to develope and play with a 1st year QB, posted 2 7 and 9 seasons doing so.
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