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Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano
Tony Sparano doesn't like being 3-5. Not one bit. That's probably why Sunday's Tampa Bay game can't come soon enough for the second-year Dolphins coach. In this interview with Dolphin Digest editor Andy Cohen, exclusively for MiamiDolphins.com, Sparano talks about the Tampa Bay game and the challenges facing his team.
Q. After the loss to the Patriots, you said: "You are what your record says you are." But can't there be an exception when a team like the Dolphins is playing the best teams in the league and holding their own against them?
TS: Let me explain why I say you are what your record says you are. I say it because we're a 3-5 team and if a 3-5 team thinks it is an 8-3 team at some point the things that got you to 3-5 you just don't fix. From our end, we need to understand what we are so we can fix some of those things. Now, that does not mean that all the time we are playing like a 3-5 team. I think this football team is better than a 3-5 team. However, I think there are some things that got us here that we need to fix.
Another reason I say you are what your record says you are is because when you go 11-5, like we did last year, then everybody says you didn't play anybody, your schedule was week, you didn't do this, you didn't do that. Well, you are what your record says you are. When you win 11 games in this league, it's hard to do, so you deserve credit for that. When you are 3-5, you have to get yourself turned around.
Q. You have a smart team. Do you have to remind them where they are and what need to do in the second half of the season?
TS: Yes, I do, definitely. My team is smart but you have to remind them of where we are. This isn't a new start by any stretch. But we have an opportunity now with two games in 10 days to dig ourselves out of this situation that we put ourselves in.
Q. You mentioned two games in 10 days. Is that fair? Is that fair to ask a football team in a physical game like this to play two games in 10 days?
TS: Everybody has to do it. Last year we didn't have to do it once. I don't think anybody argues for getting these games, but I do think these games are very physical from a player's standpoint. To bounce back and play a game on Thursday is tough, but the team that does it best will win the game.
Q. What kind of burden does it put on a coaching staff?
TS: It puts a large burden on a coaching staff in that it forces you to start preparing maybe two weeks ago. From a coaching standpoint, you really have to be prepared for the players on Monday after the Tampa Bay game. For me, I will come in right from the stadium after the Tampa Bay game and get to work on Carolina.
Q. Do you have to ask less of your players in that short week or more of them?
TS: You have to ask more concentration things and a little bit less from a physical standpoint. There is no way you can bring your players out there in pads during the week. But they have to be focused mentally. They have to come in Monday expecting a game plan against Carolina.
Q. Now you are beginning a stretch where you are facing teams not currently considered among the elite in the league. Do you have to coach harder preparing for games like these?
TS: I don't coach any harder one week to another. I think every week for us is hard. I do think you don't want to fall into a trap of worrying about what others teams are or what other teams aren't. From our end, we need to win a football game. We are a 3-5 team trying to be 4-5 and we just happen to be playing Tampa Bay this week.
Q. Tampa Bay won its first game last week. Were you relieved because nobody likes to face a winless team?
TS: Again, from my end, it didn't matter one way or another what Tampa Bay did. It's about what we can control.
Q. How do you evaluate this upcoming game and what your team needs to do to win?
TS: On the offensive side of the field, we need to be able to run the ball and create some big plays in chunks in the pass game. But most importantly we have to protect the quarterback. This team hits the quarterback. In 173 throws this season, they've hit the quarterback 45 times. That's about 26 percent. That's pretty high. On defense, we have to stop the run. Cadillac is having a great year. He looks very healthy. He's making all the runs. They ran the ball very well on us when we played them in the preseason with our goods against their goods. We also have to make sure their rookie quarterback does not get out of the pocket. He extends the game when he does that. Special teams will also be huge because this is the No. 1 special teams team in the league.
Q. At the end of the first half of the New England game, there was a question about one second remaining on the clock. Does a head coach have any recourse in a situation like that?
TS: We have none. The review is in the hands of the officials at that point.
Q. One more question about the New England game. Nobody can stiff arm like Randy Moss can. How do you teach a defender to make a tackle on a play like that?
TS: You have to study your opponent. If you study your opponent well enough and you know that's his move, then you have to be prepared. I spoke to the team about this recently: When you study a player, you can study mistakes or you can study habits. If you are studying mistakes you are studying the wrong way. You need to be studying habits. What does he do all the time? What is his move? One of Randy Moss' things is that he stiff arms. If I'm tackling Randy Moss and I know his move is a stiff arm, I'm not going to be tackling up there, I'm going to be tackling low.
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