datruth55
07-29-2005, 10:34 PM
Evolution of a Dolphin
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/dolphintour/archives/images/goodbyepic.jpg
When we last left our ocean friends they were tangled in the fishing net of the Purgatory I whose captain was the dreaded Wannstedt who’s long been sought after by PETA for killing bears and had now moved on to Dolphins. Since then the captain and his malicious crew had been fired, replaced by a more disciplined captain. One who would steer the ship away from stormy seas and not only prevent Dolphins from getting caught in fishing nets but teach them how to stay away from them. With his new vessel the Hope Revived and a new, stronger crew our new skipper, captain Saban, would embark on a fishing trip that all Dolphins fans hope will catch the most elusive of all trophy fish…the Lombardi.
http://www.seaworld.com/uploads/images/5/DolphinDelightTB.jpg
So how do you teach an old Dolphin new tricks? Discipline, discipline and more discipline not to mention a change in philosophy, a change in offense and defense and a better coaching staff. When Nick Saban took the head coaching job in Miami he said he wanted the challenge of building a competitive football team. I don’t know if he realized how big a challenge that was. Even in the midst of Shaq and in the middle of the Florida Marlins baseball season football rules South Florida. Miami is always first and foremost on the minds of sports fans in the southern state. Expectations are high even for a team that finished with its worst record since 1969. Fans are hoping Saban is the second coming of Don Shula, the hall of fame coach that was a mainstay in Miami for 26 seasons and lead the Dolphins to 5 Super Bowls appearances and 2 Lombardi Trophies. Shula was not only a coach but an institution and all coaches that follow him will be measured by his success, no matter how far removed they are from his coaching days.
Saban brings a no-nonsense approach to coaching, something that hasn’t been seen around here since Jimmy Johnson was the coach from 1996 to 1999. In truth Saban has his work cut out for him trying to undue what 5 years of Dave Wannstedt could only do. Saban will have to pay for the sins of his predecessor who traded away picks to either acquire veteran players who are now too old to be as effective as they once were or traded picks to move up in the draft to reach for players that would have been there when the Dolphins picked at their original position anyway. Wannstedt continually neglected the offensive side of the ball and the Dolphins paid for it last year when the defense ranked 8th in the league while the offense was an anemic 29th.
http://www.theshipslist.com/icons2/unitedstates.jpg
It’s now Saban’s job to turn this ship around. What he’s done so far is assemble some of the best coaches in the league for his coaching staff. He brought in a young offensive coordinator in Scott Linehan, a crafty veteran offensive line coach in Hudson Houck who’s job may be more pressure packed than Saban’s given that they expect him to work miracles with an offensive line that average just 83.7 yards a game rushing at 3.5 yards per carry and gave up 52 sacks. The changes on offense will be significant but surprisingly so will the changes on defense. For a team that ranked 8th you would think they would keep things the same but that’s not the case. While Miami played strong defensively they didn’t change things up to often and they didn’t take a lot of chances. Saban want’s to take those chances; he wants to keep offenses guessing much the way Bill Bilichick does in New England. Saban has implemented variable formations on defense moving Jason Taylor around from DE to LB and on occasion even has Taylor back in coverage. The idea being that if you focus on Taylor you have to find him and when you do he may not be the guy coming after the quarterback. Saban wants to create turnovers because lets face it this offense needs as many chances as possible to score, any offense is happier with more chances. It’s a welcome change for fans that have been looking for the Dolphins to become more unpredictable or shall we say more unWannstedt.
http://www.onlinesports.com/images/mm-frt-helyfdol72.gif (http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-388501-10273668?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onlinesports.com%2Fc gi-bin%2Fgoto.cgi%3Fpage%3D%2Fpages%2FI%2CMM-HELYFDOL72.html%26srcid%3DCJ%26utm_source%3Dcj%26u tm_medium%3Dcpa%26utm_term%3DMM-HELYFDOL72)
Evolution takes time. Let’s remember that because we as fans want to win now but we have to understand that all things have to go through a process. It takes time to change attitudes, it takes time to instill confidence, and it takes time to gain knowledge and experience. This new captain will teach these Dolphins a few tricks, some of which we haven’t seen, some that are familiar. The biggest trick being the one that gets wins but that will come….in time
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/dolphintour/archives/images/goodbyepic.jpg
When we last left our ocean friends they were tangled in the fishing net of the Purgatory I whose captain was the dreaded Wannstedt who’s long been sought after by PETA for killing bears and had now moved on to Dolphins. Since then the captain and his malicious crew had been fired, replaced by a more disciplined captain. One who would steer the ship away from stormy seas and not only prevent Dolphins from getting caught in fishing nets but teach them how to stay away from them. With his new vessel the Hope Revived and a new, stronger crew our new skipper, captain Saban, would embark on a fishing trip that all Dolphins fans hope will catch the most elusive of all trophy fish…the Lombardi.
http://www.seaworld.com/uploads/images/5/DolphinDelightTB.jpg
So how do you teach an old Dolphin new tricks? Discipline, discipline and more discipline not to mention a change in philosophy, a change in offense and defense and a better coaching staff. When Nick Saban took the head coaching job in Miami he said he wanted the challenge of building a competitive football team. I don’t know if he realized how big a challenge that was. Even in the midst of Shaq and in the middle of the Florida Marlins baseball season football rules South Florida. Miami is always first and foremost on the minds of sports fans in the southern state. Expectations are high even for a team that finished with its worst record since 1969. Fans are hoping Saban is the second coming of Don Shula, the hall of fame coach that was a mainstay in Miami for 26 seasons and lead the Dolphins to 5 Super Bowls appearances and 2 Lombardi Trophies. Shula was not only a coach but an institution and all coaches that follow him will be measured by his success, no matter how far removed they are from his coaching days.
Saban brings a no-nonsense approach to coaching, something that hasn’t been seen around here since Jimmy Johnson was the coach from 1996 to 1999. In truth Saban has his work cut out for him trying to undue what 5 years of Dave Wannstedt could only do. Saban will have to pay for the sins of his predecessor who traded away picks to either acquire veteran players who are now too old to be as effective as they once were or traded picks to move up in the draft to reach for players that would have been there when the Dolphins picked at their original position anyway. Wannstedt continually neglected the offensive side of the ball and the Dolphins paid for it last year when the defense ranked 8th in the league while the offense was an anemic 29th.
http://www.theshipslist.com/icons2/unitedstates.jpg
It’s now Saban’s job to turn this ship around. What he’s done so far is assemble some of the best coaches in the league for his coaching staff. He brought in a young offensive coordinator in Scott Linehan, a crafty veteran offensive line coach in Hudson Houck who’s job may be more pressure packed than Saban’s given that they expect him to work miracles with an offensive line that average just 83.7 yards a game rushing at 3.5 yards per carry and gave up 52 sacks. The changes on offense will be significant but surprisingly so will the changes on defense. For a team that ranked 8th you would think they would keep things the same but that’s not the case. While Miami played strong defensively they didn’t change things up to often and they didn’t take a lot of chances. Saban want’s to take those chances; he wants to keep offenses guessing much the way Bill Bilichick does in New England. Saban has implemented variable formations on defense moving Jason Taylor around from DE to LB and on occasion even has Taylor back in coverage. The idea being that if you focus on Taylor you have to find him and when you do he may not be the guy coming after the quarterback. Saban wants to create turnovers because lets face it this offense needs as many chances as possible to score, any offense is happier with more chances. It’s a welcome change for fans that have been looking for the Dolphins to become more unpredictable or shall we say more unWannstedt.
http://www.onlinesports.com/images/mm-frt-helyfdol72.gif (http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-388501-10273668?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onlinesports.com%2Fc gi-bin%2Fgoto.cgi%3Fpage%3D%2Fpages%2FI%2CMM-HELYFDOL72.html%26srcid%3DCJ%26utm_source%3Dcj%26u tm_medium%3Dcpa%26utm_term%3DMM-HELYFDOL72)
Evolution takes time. Let’s remember that because we as fans want to win now but we have to understand that all things have to go through a process. It takes time to change attitudes, it takes time to instill confidence, and it takes time to gain knowledge and experience. This new captain will teach these Dolphins a few tricks, some of which we haven’t seen, some that are familiar. The biggest trick being the one that gets wins but that will come….in time