Rick
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« on: September 19, 2008, 06:52:38 pm » |
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With Dolphins, Parcells faces toughest challenge since Patriots
Ethan J. Skolnick | Sports columnist , Sun Sentinel
September 19, 2008
DAVIE
For many Dolphins fans, it should be comforting to face the Patriots this Sunday.
Not pleasurable, but comforting.
Ignore the score. Take some solace in what the Patriots represent.
Like the Dolphins, they are coached by a Bill Parcells protege. That's worked out reasonably well for New England.
You'd take that, right?
"The Dolphins are right where they need to be," said former Patriots receiver Mike Timpson, a South Florida resident. "They are going to have lumps or bumps. But I don't believe they are that far off."
Let's establish this first: when Parcells joined the Dolphins, they were definitely further off than the Jets, Giants and Cowboys when each organization hired him.
The Dolphins were 1-15 last season, the same record the Jets posted the year before Parcells' arrival — but the Jets handed him Keyshawn Johnson and Aaron Glenn, among other promising talents. Two Hall of Fame defensive players ( Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson) awaited him with the Giants. Even after dumping Emmitt Smith, Parcells inherited a slightly better nucleus in Dallas in 2003 than he did in 2008 here.
Twenty-two Dolphins survived the Parcells purge … so far. Vernon Carey and Channing Crowder will be free agents. Ted Ginn Jr. and Jason Allen haven't proven much. Neither running back looks like a long-term lock. Three holdover defensive starters are at least 30. At most, a handful of 2007 Dolphins will serve as significant contributors in 2010, when the Dolphins should be in playoff contention.
In this sense, Parcells' Patriots work serves as guide and inspiration.
Parcells improved by three wins to 5-11 in 1993, his first New England season. Only eight players, including Timpson and Bruce Armstrong, were prominent contributors on the 10-6 playoff team in 1994.
"Two years later, when we made the Super Bowl, it was just Ben [Coates] and I," said Armstrong, a former stalwart left tackle who owns Rendezvous restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.
The turnover wasn't easy for everyone.
Parcells was Armstrong's fourth coach with the Patriots.
"I can relate to a lot of what some of the guys on this [Dolphins] team are going through," Armstrong said.
One of Parcells' first moves in New England was to trade Timpson's best friend, Irving Fryar. Fryar had also been New England's best player. Sound familiar? (Think Jason Taylor.)
Patriots players became accustomed to fighting for approval and survival. Timpson recalled all the nervous Tuesdays, when he would pick up a check at the facility, only to see other receivers working out. He said that these Dolphins "escaped the wrath a little bit" because Parcells is not coaching.
"We never had a chance to take a breath," Timpson said.
Even so, Tony Sparano has adopted many of Parcells' tactics. There's another similarity. Those Patriots, like these Dolphins, were uniformly anonymous. Armstrong thought it was "funny" when he saw Parcells on Dolphins billboards and heard players like Crowder joking about the absence of quality players to promote. It reminded Armstrong of New England in 1993.
"When you don't have anything, and you have all that turnover, he gave us instant credibility," Armstrong said. "We went from the New England Patriots to Bill Parcells and the New England Patriots."
They went from 0-4 to 1-11… to 5-11.
"It was like flipping a switch, and everything was taking hold," Armstrong said. "I was like, 'OK, we have laid a foundation.'"
Timpson said that belief bled into a solid offseason, for players retained as well as for Parcells and the front office.
"Then the expectations were higher," Timpson said.
Then they went 10-6. You can't expect that to be similar here. Yet you have cause to hope.
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