I figured this might be something we might want to talk about. "A year later, Tony Sparano can laugh about his first impression of the Miami Dolphins. The team he took over in early 2008 was coming off a 1-15 season, the worst in franchise history. It showed when Sparano conducted offseason workouts. “It sometimes didn’t really look much like football out there,” Sparano says with a smile. “A little bit of rugby, a little bit of other things going on, but not a whole lot like football all the time.” Then came a sudden transformation. The Dolphins went 11-6 in 2008, climbing from worst in the NFL to first in the AFC East. They ended a seven-year postseason drought and became the first team in league history to make the playoffs a year after winning only once." Click here for the rest of the article: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...ubYF?slug=txdolphinsrevival&prov=st&type=lgns
I don't know about you guys but this gets me excited about how the season could look for the Dolphins.
I think a lot of us can say with strong conviction that it all starts in the FO and how football operations are handled. We finally got a FO and a coaching staff that understood what it takes to be competative and find success in this league build on the pillars that are common with all winning teams over the history of the game. They wanted to change the work ethic, done. THey wanted to first address the personnel on the lines. Done. Then they wanted to acquire players who are smart, strong, fast. Getting done. You need people in control to know what it takes, we finally have that. I realize last year was no fluke, we improved dramatically for a reason. I fully expect our team to get better and better all because of the FO and coaches we have.
If 'optimism' means confidence that we're no longer a doormat... then, yeah... I'm optimistic. Realistically, there are reasons to be hopeful about this season, and there are reasons for pause. Right now, pretty much what anyone wants to believe can be justified due to the fact that this is such a 'new' team. We have young, unproven players at some very key positions. One year removed from such a dismal season, the Phins had success last year, but still have not truly established themselves in a tough division, and an even tougher conference. This will be a very interesting year to watch... hopefully, it'll be a fun one for us Phin fans... however, there is good reason for both skepticism and optimism, IMHO. We'll definitely get some clearer answers in pre-season. I'm on the edge of my seat.
Good read, thanks for the link. This IS going to be a VERy interesting and FUN season. To become the best, you have to beat the best. Either we have another solid year and make the playoffs again, or the FO will know where they need to focus next offseason to get us there. But make no mistake, we WILL get there! And it is going to be a very fun ride!
That is a great point, for years we operated on the "Magic Coach" theory, Wany and Lil' Nicky would just make do and who needs a GM? We all saw where that got us, a talented GM is as imported as a talented Head Coach, the two are not seperate entities, when Wayne H realized that and paired Mueller with Cameron, it was alread to late for that roster. Exactly. The Dolphins are finally no longer doormates or a collection of overpriced athletes hoping that the magic Coach will make it all better, we actually have talent now.
Yeah it does have a nice ring to it. Makes you want to pay attention even more than before. Watch every detail and every play. You don't want to miss a thing. That is how I feel about it.
Actually, one thing I really like about this new team... the Phins are much bigger and stronger than they've been, relatively speaking, in a very long time. Since probably the early 70's. I'd love to see us get bigger at MLB, but right now, we're starting to field a pretty intimidating group of guys on both sides of the ball.
To be honest I feel as though I am cautiously optimistic after so many disappointments since Shula left(and to be real his last couple of years)I do think we finally are on the path to future success,even if is not this season.I am exited about the potential of this team.
