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Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano
It is Game 2 in the head coaching career of Tony Sparano and he has a lot on his mind. The biggest challenge this week is moving past a frustrating loss to the Jets and getting the team back on track against Arizona. Sparano talks about the challenges, the expectations and several aspects of his team in this exclusive one-on-one interview for Miamidolphins.com with Dolphin Digest editor Andy Cohen.
Q. What is the emphasis this week as you prepare to face Arizona?
TS: To eliminate minus plays. That's the big emphasis. Not give up any of the hidden yardage that comes with minus plays. If we do that, we'll have a chance to win the game. I'm talking about a 9-yard punt against the Jets that is really a 31-yard hidden-yardage play, a kickoff out of bounds that costs us about 20 yards of field position. These are yards that are hard to get back. The team we are playing this week had the ball seven times at the 50-yard line or better in the opener against San Francisco. That's what you're looking for.
Q. Is it difficult when you spend so much time and effort preparing for the Jets to quickly turn your attention to the next challenge?
TS: No, it's not difficult for me just because of the way the game went. When you lose a game the way we lost that game, and have a chance to win at the end of the game, you are excited to get going the following week. Our team is really excited about getting back at it.
Q. Can you elaborate on the premise that everything starts with the running game, that if Ricky and Ronnie have success it makes things so much easier for Chad and the passing game?
TS: That's a true statement. You're trying to get out of the box early on offense and one of the things you can do to eliminate mistakes is utilize the running game. We did not do that effectively enough early in the Jets game and as the game went along we had to throw the ball more. The ideal number of carries is 35. If you have 30-35 carries, we did it the right way and time of possession will be on our side.
Q. How can you teach defensive backs not to bite on play-action fakes when the natural inclination is to help stop what they think is a running play?
TS: First, you have to have belief in your front seven. When you are playing against a solid play-action team, if you believe your team can stop the run first, then you should have the confidence to stay back. Your eyes shouldn't be in the backfield. You should see the pattern first and then react.
Q. Tom Brady is out for the season; the Colts lose their opener at home. Is this league now wide open?
TS: Yes, I really believe the league is wide open. With Tom Brady out and even with the Colts losing, those are still really good teams with great personnel. Maybe it's naive on my part, but at this point in the season it sure looks to me like the league is wide open.
Q. So much is always expected of the No. 1 overall pick; what should be the realistic expectations for Jake Long in his first season?
TS: I think the realistic expectation is that he ends up being a solid left tackle for us and gets better with each game. At the end of this thing, I'm very comfortable we will look back someday and be very happy that we used the No. 1 pick in this draft on Jake Long.
Q. There are so many things to second-guess in a football game. Do you stay up on Sunday night going over the entire game in your mind, and how do you handle the second-guessing?
TS: I stay up. I play every play in my head for an awful long time. That's one of the things I did as a kid when I was playing and now as a coach it possesses you a little bit. You do play every play over in your head. The second-guessing part is natural. Maybe if you had another chance you would do it another way. But usually I stand by my convictions of the decisions I made during the game.
Q. Tell us how the Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano brain trust work during the season. Do the three of you meet on Monday to go over the entire game?
TS: No, we really don't meet on Mondays. I think Jeff and Bill probably watch the game together by themselves. I watch the game here with my coaches. I review it with them. Jeff will sit in when we review with my coaches. He'll be a spectator in the back of the room. We'll identify strengths and weaknesses and what we need to do that week to get better.
Q. What are your impressions of Samson Satele and what is his long-range potential?
TS: I see that he can be an excellent player. There are things he still needs to do. He needs to get stronger in the weight room. His work ethic is really good. Little by little he's learning a lot more about defenses. I don't know if that was the case when we came in here. But he's done an awful good job of that this year. He's more quick than strong. His speed and athleticism is probably what separates him from most players at his position.
Q. People were wondering why Chad Pennington was running play-action fakes late in the Jets game and was not in the shotgun offense. Can you explain?
TS: One of the things you need to consider is a quarterback's comfort level. Chad likes to have the ball in his hands behind center right away. He's more comfortable that way than in the shotgun. Also it depends on the route. When you are throwing somewhat of a timing pattern, you want to have the ball in your hands right away. When you're throwing something that is a little bit more downfield, you can be in the shotgun.
Q. Finally, Coach, tell us what it's like at halftime in a Tony Sparano locker room. Do you talk to the team? How do you make the most of the little time that you have?
TS: What we try to do on both sides of the ball, we try to give the players as much graphic information as we possibly can, whether it's through statistics or whatever. That will all be on an overhead as the players come into the locker room. Then the coaches will present the adjustments for the second half, also on the overheads. So we give them an awful lot of information in a 12-minute period. Then I'll speak to them as a group and we'll talk about what the plan is going out in the second half and what we need to do differently.
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