Coach Saban's Media Round Table Session

[DolFan619]

Coach Saban's Media Round Table Session
May 24, 2006


Miami Dolphins Head Coach Nick Saban held a round-table discussion this afternoon with members of the South Florida media, including Barry Buetel, host of the Dolphins Hour on 790 The Ticket, to discuss the state of the team since the conclusion of the 2005 NFL Draft.

The following highlights what Coach Saban discussed.

• Coach Saban stated that this is a slow time of the year. The players are involved with voluntary workouts. The team gets 19 practice opportunities, between OTA days and mini-camps, to teach in an organized manner. OTA stands for Organized Training Activity, but Coach Saban likes to call them Organized Teaching Activities. He has been pleased with the attitude and the work ethic of the players. The learning curve for new players, either draft picks or free agents, is a little greater, which is a given.

• One of the challenges with the rookies is battling their high expectations. Coach Saban said he wanted the players to concentrate on those things that will make them a better player and being able to play consistent football on a winning basis. Sometimes those expectations gets them to focus on the outcome rather than what they need to do on a daily basis to achieve that outcome. That is what the coaching staff is trying to focus on with the players.

• Coach Saban told the media that Daunte Culpepper has done more than the coaching staff ever thought he would at this point in terms of his physical ability. He has been cleared to do the things he needs to do at his position, such as taking three-, five- and seven-step drops, handing the ball off on some of the zone plays and dropping back to pass. This has been described as the next part of his rehab. Coach Saban said he is very pleased with Culpepper’s progress and that he is not inhibited from doing the things he needs to do at his position.

• Coach Saban added that he his pleased with the progress Joey Harrington has made since he has been here. This is a different system than he is used to, but is progress is noticeable considering he has had to start from scratch just over a week ago at the first OTA day. Cleo Lemon has also showed tremendous improvement from last year to this year in his knowledge of the offense and his ability to execute his decisions and commands.

• All of the rookies are being challenged right now by what hey have to learn to be able to be consistent performers at this level. It is a process that they all have to go through, and the players that are more mature and understand what is expected of them can deal with it a little bit better and can make progress a little more rapidly. The coaches are not disappointed in any of the rookies they have and are encouraged by the ability they have shown. It is just a matter of the coaches allowing them to go through the process they need to go through so they can contribute to the team.

• The two positions that have a greater learning curve than other positions is offensive line and defensive back. The younger players at those positions have been challenged by what they have to do, but the coaches are pleased with their progress and how they are handling everything. The coaching staff continues to work with them so they can provide quality depth and develop a role that will have significant impact.

• As far as further roster moves, Coach Saban reiterated that there are always areas that the team tries to specifically identify things they can improve on. Some of the areas have been addressed, but there might be a few pending opportunities out there where if the right opportunity came up and the team had an opportunity to improve itself, they certainly would. Coach Saban added that they are never satisfied with where they are from a personnel standpoint. Anytime they can bring in a player to add quality depth or have an impact as a role player, the team would be interested in that player.

• Coach Saban commented on the status of linebacker Eddie Moore. He went back to Birmingham, Alabama, to see Dr. James Andrews. They have decided to give him a couple more weeks of rehab time, then they will sit down with him and see what is best for him from a medical standpoint to move forward. Coach Saban made it clear the team is not trying to get rid of Moore and would love to have him on the field.

• As of this time, the team is not in a position to comment on the Ricky Williams situation. When all the information is in and a decision has been made, the club will have an appropriate response based on all the information. Coach Saban added that the club does not have all the information. No decision has been made and the team is working with and supporting Williams every way the team can.

• Coach Saban addressed the young players at defensive tackle and said he has been pleased with their effort so far. Manny Wright played well last year when he had an opportunity and his continued development is very important. Even though he spent the entire 2005 season on I/R, Kevin Vickerson has a chance to make this team if he can show that he can come back and make some progress. The coaches have been really pleased with Matt Roth. He is a lot more confident with what he is doing. These players are beginning to show consistency in what they are doing and that is key for young players.

• It is important that the players understand the importance of conditioning because of the environment in which they have to play in down here. Every player is given a body fat, muscle mass, hydration test and it is beginning to resonate with the players how important conditioning is. Sometimes guys with weight issues have body fat issues and what has gone hand in hand with that is those guys are low in hydration. We are in an environment where they need lower body fat, have high hydration and high muscle mass. That is the team’s goal from a strength and conditioning standpoint. This a point of emphasis with the younger players. The more players they can get to buy into this gives the team more of a competitive advantage.

• Coach Saban stressed that at this time, much like the depth chart, it doesn’t matter what position Marcus Vick is listed at. He has a lot of athletic ability and a lot of natural instinct as a player. During the Sunday mini-camp practice, where he played almost exclusively at wide receiver, you would never know he has never played the position before by the way he ran his routes. He is not a great receiver yet at this stage of his development, but there are a lot of natural instincts there. He was natural at catching punts. Even at quarterback he has natural instincts. However, until the coaching staff can see him play and do certain things, there is no need to speculate on what he might be. He even played safety in high school.

• Linebacker was one of the areas where the team felt it could improve whether through free agency or the draft. The team was able to add Sedrick Hodge and Keith Newman and along with Donnie Spragan gives the team three end of the line players. Spragan offers the most flexibility as to where he can play, and even though depth remains an issue at middle linebacker, the team might be able to find it from within because of the flexibility of some of the new players.

• The coaching staff monitored Brock Berlin while he was in Europe and he is now back participating in this week’s OTA days. He performed well in Europe, but the team is heavy at that position now so the coaches really want to evaluate how he has progressed.