Speculation now turns to realization for the Dolphins as they open training camp under yet a new regime and with a totally revamped roster.
Come Saturday morning, first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano will officially call to an end summer vacation for himself, his coaching staff and the 80 players on Miami's roster. More than half of the players on that roster (45 players) are new additions, so there are plenty of starting jobs up for grabs.
First and foremost, those players unfamiliar with how training camps were run under current Dolphins Executive Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells when he was a head coach are in for a rude awakening. Sparano considers Parcells his mentor, and though the team got a little taste of what to expect during OTAs and the mandatory mini-camp in June, the intensity will be turned up a few notches now.
"We want to come out of this thing a little bit battle-hardened," Sparano said Monday during his weekly appearance on WQAM's Dolphins Tonight radio show. "I mean I think we want to put our players in as many physical, competitive situations as we can during training camp. It won't be easy and I told the players that. Make no bones about it, it will not be an easy training camp. We need to bring these players into a competitive environment.
"We need to find out a lot of things and answer a bunch of questions that you can only answer when you have pads on, equipment on and you're putting them into those situations. I want it to be hard, and I've told them this, I want practices to be hard so that hopefully the games will be a little bit slower and a little bit easier for them."
Five guys who do know what to expect when they hit the field on Saturday are safety Keith Davis, cornerback Nate Jones, tight end Anthony Fasano, linebacker Akin Ayodele and nose tackle Jason Ferguson. All five played for the Dallas Cowboys last year when Sparano was the assistant head coach/offensive line coach.
