Miami Dolphins' Sparano knows good coaches continue to adjust
By ARMANDO SALGUERO
asalguero@MiamiHerald.comDo you remember when the Patriots once knew Dan Marino's audible calls during a playoff game? Remember the mousetraps and lobster traps scattered around the Dolphins training facility to warn players of an upcoming trap game?
Do you remember, ``Fail forward fast?''
Those examples of ridiculous and failed Dolphins coaching moments are what Miami fans had grown accustomed to, and frankly, become weary of for years until last week.
That's when Miami rookie coach Tony Sparano did something a Dolphins coach hasn't done so completely, so obviously, in a long time: He and his staff out-coached the guys on the other sideline.
''I think our coaches did an amazing job of preparing us for the New England week and the players took the information, took the details, applied them on the practice field and translated them to Sunday,'' quarterback Chad Pennington said.
Quick, name the last time before that New England victory when the Dolphins out-coached the other team?
Waiting . . .
. . . Still waiting.
The point is it has been a while. So congratulations are due Sparano because he definitely earned that NFL Coach of the Week honor he was awarded Friday.
I wanted to talk to Sparano about how he check-mated Belichick to get his first NFL victory. I wanted to talk to him about out-maneuvering the guy who has three Super Bowl titles on his résumé and how that helped the Dolphins get only their second victory in a miserable 22-game span.
But it was a conversation Miami's still-new coach had no interest in joining.
Sparano, you see, is smart enough to out-coach Belichick and he's smart enough to know Belichick could return the favor the next time their teams meet.
''We were just trying to win a football game,'' Sparano said modestly. ``I think what's interesting is a lot of people want credit when all of a sudden we won a football game. But when we were 0-2 that line was very short.''
That's the way it is in the What Have You Done Lately League.
Coaches such as Scott Linehan and Cam Cameron come to town one day and get run out the next. Coaches such as Brian Billick and Mike Shanahan are put on a throne one season and on the hot seat the next.
So Sparano must know his genius gets fleeting attention and then requires him to offer more genius Sunday when the Dolphins play more talented San Diego.
It is not an easy assignment.
The Dolphins caught the Patriots by surprise. They employed their so-called ''Wildcat'' package for the first time this season and the Patriots did not adjust to it after a series, after halftime, or after Belichick drew up each player's assignment on a board.
'In my mind, the whole reason for this was just to give our players something that they can kind of put their arms around and think that, `This is our deal. This is going to give us an advantage one way or the other,' '' Sparano said. ``It's not really a short-term fix.
'It's something that, as I've said, we have several other pieces to this puzzle if we want. We may not use them, and we may use them. It just depends on what we see and how we do it. It's not something you can just roll out there every week and say, `Here we are, we're in this deal.' It's not something that's going to work.''
It's not something that will catch anyone else by surprise. The Chargers have spent two weeks preparing for a package similar to what Miami used against the Patriots. The Chargers spent practice time last week looking at the package because Oakland -- their opponent Sunday -- also used a variation of the look the same day the Dolphins did.
The Dolphins did it because they were looking for a spark and their quarterbacks coach was at the University of Arkansas when it worked. The Raiders did it because they were looking for a spark and running back Darren McFadden was the trigger man for the package at Arkansas.
So the Chargers should be prepared. And that means it will be up to Sparano and his coaches, fresh off a bye weekend, to answer with another wrinkle out of the formation or to find something altogether new San Diego doesn't expect.
That, in part, is what out-coaching the other guy is about.
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