Sparano Column: It’s All About How WE Play

Love this one. No matter the issues Tony has (and they have been much more limited this year), he is my coach and I am behind him 100%. Can't say enough about how he motivates this team and frankly motivates the fans. Now if Henning is back next year, my thoughts may change.

Q: You are so demonstrative on the sideline during a game. Do you ever watch tape of yourself and say, I look a little wild out there?
TS: No, I don’t. I don’t watch tape of myself. I’m not the type of guy that would be very good if I put a governor on myself. This is a passionate game. You have to play with passion and coach with passion. I love what I do. I’m not for everybody. There are some people that stand there and keep it all bottled up inside of them and they can’t feel very good about that afterward. Like I said before, I’m not for everybody, but I am for the Dolphins.

 

I'm not really buying how he distinguishes offense and defense. He really just seems to be regurgitating the same line we hear all the time from Henning. Yes. We get it. Our offense's "inefficiency" is thanks to "inconsistency" in "execution" from "certain players." But as has been argued ad nauseam by myself and others, we run our offense in a manner that demands efficiency. We put ourselves in that position. When you're eking out drives little by little because you lack fundamental creativity and big play ability, you place greater emphasis on efficiency, consistency, and execution. And, for once, it would be nice if the coaches admitted this rather than throwing their players under the bus.

And, as I said in the other thread, I'm just not buying this "Marshall was open for a big play but Henne blew the protection adjustment" argument. First of all, even if it's true and Henne really is 100% at fault, we're still talking about one play. Dan Henning is trying to sell the idea that he called the entire game to set up this one big play and Henne blew it. Am I the only one that thinks that whole argument is just absurd?

I have been a long-time critic of Henning, but his behavior as of late has, in my mind, been disgraceful. His press conferences are a joke. This is a guy that seems to have convinced himself that he deserves a statue to his greatness in Canton. Note the quote in my sig. Henning seems thoroughly incapable of operating from any starting premise other than that his play-calling was exactly right. As such, he's left reaching for alternative explanations no matter how transparently false they may be. Even when he has points, he generally is so singularly and rigidly focused on them that the point is lost.

I'm beginning to suspect that our offensive coordinator suffers from narcissistic personality disorder . . . and that our coach is far too passive and willing to placate him. That dynamic is, in my opinion, the number one problem with our team.

 

My main issue with Sparano is that he hasn't done anything, visibly, to change what is going on. The offense has looked the same the entire year and it's as if no adjustments have been made. Pennington was a 1 play adjustment, that didn't make sense to start with considering the record and timing of when it happened. It's like Henning is the coach and Sparano is the assistant, or maybe he just looks up to Henning for some unknown reason. Either way, Sparano is equally to blame as Henning or Henne is. His "too many opinions or people at one time" or whatever he said is understandable, but not when the current people are insane by definition, and as ignorant as they come.

All I know is the product we see on Sundays tells me this offense is starting to buy out of what is trying to be done. Whether it's Henne or Henning, I don't know, most likely both depending on the player. I want to see Sparano succeed, but after this year I no longer care what happens to him as long as it means Henning is gone.

 

I love this about Coach Sparano. He is a fan inside of a coach's body. There is some things I don't agree with but I still think he should stay as our head coach. In my opinion, I think he is doing a good job but there is room for improvement.

 

Henning, no doubt, is a football 'X and O' genius. The problem, I think, is that his X and O play-calling does not always fit well with the on-field dynamics. There is a disconnect somewhere. Conservative play-calling is his MO, no doubt, but it can be effective.

I think what happens is that, because of his 40+ years experience, he has seen it all, and because he has seen it all, he has some tendency to get "cute" with play-calling. On paper, I would bet that his plays make perfect sense. And no doubt, we have seen some brilliant calls (at times). The lack of consistency with this offense points to coaching issues, lack of talent, and poor execution. The offensive line, esp. the interior, is a shell of what it once was. Man, do I wish we had that hard-nosed, shell-shocking offensive line the last couple of years. The way this defense is playing, I think this team is better than 7-6.

The interior offensive line is really the 'center of the universe' for a team with this makeup, and they're not as dominant as the Smiley, Grove, Thomas wall (when healthy). They gelled pretty well, and give me an injured Justin Smiley over a healthy Richie Incognito any day!

Anyway, I could continue to rant. I think the receivers are better, but with the lack of consistency on the offensive line and it's turnstile mentality, our other skill players (RBs, especially) suffer. Sparano probably shot himself in the foot when he totally dismissed all of the starters on the interior from 2008-2009. This is really, IMO, where the problem starts.

 

It's a shame he can motivate players and fans but cannot motivate
a defensive coordiator(last season)special teams coach,offensive coordinator

 

I don;t mind demonstrative, but when the fans are frustrated that we may have coached our way out of a TD and settled for a fieldgoal, it looks bad to pump your fist like a madman over it. Just annoys the fans.

So passion, Yes... but I prefer when the coach is passionate about the same things I am passionate about. Not things I think he ought to be unhappy settling for.