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High expectations for Ginn, Hagan

By BARRY JACKSON
Miami Herald

Ousted as UCLA's head coach after five seasons, new Dolphins receivers coach Karl Dorrell has set the bar high for Ted Ginn Jr. and Derek Hagan. And although May/June performance shouldn't be overstated, their offseason development has the team encouraged.

Ginn's ''release off the ball has gotten a lot better,'' cornerback Andre' Goodman said. ''He's a lot more assertive,'' Will Allen said.

Dorrell told Ginn he must ``run at the same speed all the time so they can't tell if you're trying to run by them or you're running something shorter. He's doing a real good job trying to look fast with everything he does.''

Dorrell, whose unit was good in his three years as Denver's receivers coach (2000-2002), says ''there is no question the skill is there'' for Ginn to be a legitimate No. 1 receiver. ``He's very smooth, quick, has good feet. He has all the tools to be a great player. He knows he needs to be a bigger factor in what we do.''

The Dolphins won't scale back his punt/kickoff-return duties, and Ginn (34 catches, 420 yards, two TD receptions as a rookie) said juggling those with No. 1 receiver duties isn't too much.

Dorrell, who was 35-27 at UCLA, said he has seen no recurrence of the drops that were a problem in Hagan's first two years. Though many expect Ernest Wilford to start opposite Ginn, Hagan insists he's ``expecting to start. I waited my turn behind Chris Chambers, Wes Welker, Marty Booker. Now those guys are gone, and it's my time.''

Even Dorrell asserted, ``There's no question he's at a level right now where he should be an excellent starter in this league. He's strong, physical, very bright, has good speed for his size.''

Ex-receivers coach Terry Robiskie said last December that Hagan needs to get married and stop thinking about trivial off-field matters. That initially bothered Hagan, who has proved to Dorrell he's serious about improving. ''He's doing a lot of film study. He wants to be great,'' said Dorrell, a former receiver at UCLA. And Goodman said Hagan has become ``more competitive at the reception point. When the ball is in the air, he has the go-get 'em in him now.''

CHATTER

• Safety Yeremiah Bell says new Dolphins coaches are ``more serious, more to the point than last year's. [Tony] Sparano will get in your face if he has to. We needed that. Last year, guys were taking it light because they knew nobody would jump in our face and say anything. Coach [Cam] Cameron wasn't passionate or adamant about [making points]. This year, they're very adamant, even if they have to yell.''

I know we can't tell much of everything, but am I the only one that's getting the feeling that a major reason our players didn't look good last year was that our coaches sucked?

And, remember, these were the same coaches Saban had - in the interest of continuity, Cameron kept the same coaching staff.

Ever since Saban's first year, it seems like none of our young players have really progressed - and none of our veterans have really improved much, either.

Not to totally discount your suggestion, but Bell progressed under Saban during his last year and so did Brown (he was on fire last year before he got hurt).

You can add Vernon Carey and Michael Lehan to that list too.