Funny, but looking back at yesterday's game, it certainly did look like Miami was in our huddle on a lot of plays. I wonder if Sparano uses basically the same play book and playcalling style that was used down there. The Miami knew exactly what was coming and was more than ready for it. Hmmmmmm....
I think the simpler answer is that Tony was just downright predictable in his conservative playcalling.
As another Dolphins fan I agree. He's good at developing players but horrible at calling plays or making game time positions. Make him a position coach and he'll be fine.
Sparano is very conservative. He also has three huge flaws I think. He is very conservative and is a plodding type of offensive mind. You aren't getting creativity there. This is the guy known for settling for FG's and fist pumping. He makes horrible game time decisions. Calls time outs at the wrong time and has horrible clock management. And the worst is he doesn't change fast enough when something not working. This is a killer. He NEVER wants to change if a play or a person is not working. He held onto Ted Ginn way too long. He held onto Ernest Wilford when he was not working out and tried to salvage him as a TE. That didn't work out well at all. Now a lot of the Dolphins players really liked him and respected him but I don't think very highly of him a s a coach.
I am not sure how these suggestions will get implemented if they were ever heard. The team is off until next Monday. Working on any changes or fixes is pretty much out.
Amazing how we went from "Too Cute Schotty" to "Paul Hackettish Sparano" in one fell swoop. File this one under "careful what you wish for"..
My suggestion seems to already be taking shape: Bench the dinosaurs and play your rookies and practice squad guys. I'd keep going with this. I'd also move Wilson back to the slot and play ANY BODY ELSE opposite Cro. I'd also try to get Tebow the ball in space like NE does with Hernandez.
build around sanchez. you play out the season and wait until the draft. you cut the smuck like calvin pace, bart scott, eric smith etc. get a high quality WR in the first round and then in the second round get the BPA for RB. sign an olinemen through free agency. get rid of mike tannebaum we can't do anything about the talent on the team this far into the season
Careful what we wish for? Schottenheimer wouldn't be doing any better, instead he'd probably be doing worse since no one believed in his offensive system. Sparano is working with less talent, but his real problem is that he has them running a man blocking scheme. He should have never changed the running blocking, honestly.
One other problem we had with Sparano is even though he's an old OL guy he had OL problems a couple of his years here. He kept tinkering with the line and bringing guys in and kept trying to change. The line never gelled and it was frustrating. We went through a lot of linemen when he was here. He just couldn't get it right and it showed on game day. I think he's a good guy and a hard worker but maybe he'd be a better strength and conditioning coach or something?
We went from a guy who's system was so complicated, you needed to be a Mensa candidate to fully understand it, to a guy who is lets say, predictable to a fault. It was almost as if Miami had our playbook on Sunday the way they were all over our Wr's and Rb's. Sparano, from what Dolphin fans are saying, is the very essence of predictability. Now just because they're Dolphin fans doesn't mean that their observations are wrong because they want to win just as much as we do. They've seen Sparano over several seasons and they're seeing the same thing play out with us this year. Sparano is what he is evidently and we have to come to grips with that. Perhaps Sparano's offensive system is one that our HOF HC is comfortable with. Still doesn't explain the ineffectiveness of it or the need for secrecy during the preseason which as it turns out, was smoke and mirrors. Careful what you wish for means that we could wind up with someone worse than what we already had. It was time for Schotty to move on, but is there any argument that this offense, even with a healthy Holmes, has gotten worse? Before you bring it up, I'll ask the question: How many years do you want to give Sparano to get it right? He couldn't get it done in Miami in I think 4 years so there's a reference point.
I am not sure I am right about this but I get the feeling Sporano and the whole coaching staff are bound as a group at this point. I think if it continues as it is going it will be a group cleansing and not just coordinators. I could be wrong about this.
The biggest issue with Sparano is his tendency to be way to meticulous over minutia. Did you notice the double TE set and running when the Jets were down 24 in the 4th? How many wasted TOs have the Jets had because the play is late? Tebow used at the wrong times and wrong situations. What really caught my attention was a comment from a Miami player comparing the difference between Philbin and Sparano. His words were that with Philbin, the plan is installed and everyone knows what they have to do on Saturday. With Sparano, he was changing the plan into Sunday. Very telling.
Sparano and his staff were horrible at developing players. What most of us wrote off as trash has been developed nicely by Philbin and his staff in 6 months.
Ok, now you guys are scaring the shit outta me. Are you saying the Sparano hiring was esssentially the kiss of death for our offense?
There was a discussed vision for the offense in preseason and before. How many times did we hear about ground and pound? How many times did we hear about a special Tebow package to help the ground and pound? What is happening on the field doesn't resemble much of anything discussed. What happens on 3rd and short? Usually a pass. Either the players were not build for ground and pound, the discussion was bogus or they can't figure out a way to properly execute the intended game plan on offense. Take your pick, but I don't think any of those things are a good sign. If your offense is designed to ground and pound and Greene can get at least close to 100 every game - it ain't gonna work.
