Coach Sparano..

[phinfan33]

i have a question for you older Dolphans...more specifically you older Dolphins fans who remember when Coach Shula first became the Dolphins HC back in 1970...does Coach Sparano remind any of you of a young Don Shula when he first became HC of our beloved Phins? meaning...with that hard-working,disciplined,blue-collar,take no **** style of coaching...i,like the rest of you have taken a look at the coaching job that Coach Sparano has done...with the exception of a few players...Sparano has taken a team of no-names,and made them respectable again,and we're winning and have a shot at a playoff birth,as well as the AFC East Division title...now think back to 1970 for those of you who remember that year,and take a look at what Coach Shula did his first year as our HC...took a team of no-names and made them winners with a 10-4 record and a playoff birth....do any of you see any similarities there...or am i just looking at it wrong?

 

[raving]

I was just thinking about this earlier today. I am exactly as old as the Superbowl - 43 - so I do not remember Shula's first few years, but Shula had teams like this one throughout his career.

That is teams that played above their respective talent level and did just enough to win until they became winning. Guys like Jim Jensen, Sam Nottingham, David Woodley, Nat Moore, Terry Kirby, Doug Betters, and on and on became better as the team would climb rung by rung up the winning latter.

This team reminds me even more of Shula because Pennington is Bob Griese-esque. Conservative, cerebral, patient, semi-athletic at best, methodical and so on.

This team hopefully will continue to please and surprise.

 

[dolpns13]

i have a question for you older Dolphans...more specifically you older Dolphins fans who remember when Coach Shula first became the Dolphins HC back in 1970...does Coach Sparano remind any of you of a young Don Shula when he first became HC of our beloved Phins? meaning...with that hard-working,disciplined,blue-collar,take no **** style of coaching...i,like the rest of you have taken a look at the coaching job that Coach Sparano has done...with the exception of a few players...Sparano has taken a team of no-names,and made them respectable again,and we're winning and have a shot at a playoff birth,as well as the AFC East Division title...now think back to 1970 for those of you who remember that year,and take a look at what Coach Shula did his first year as our HC...took a team of no-names and made them winners with a 10-4 record and a playoff birth....do any of you see any similarities there...or am i just looking at it wrong?

you ansered your question already.. we are both in our early 30's, and know how good of a coach Shula was (we do not need to know how good he was because we already know), by games, tapes, and reruns of what we have seen; you have answered your oun question.... We know Shula was a hard nosed coach, who demenaded perfection (no pun intended) from all of his players.. play hard, or dont play at all... Sparano, has shown those attributes.. From another great regime not names Shula, but name Parcells (this is fact)... This Miami Dolphins Started with Wilson, went on with Shula (for 80% of Dolphin tenure), had rough times (but winning times) with Johnson and Wannstedt, and will hopefully become even greater, in the Shula metholody, with a Sparano, Ireland, Parcells proven quantity... This, is a team of no-names, we all see it, and he has tranformed a horrendous 1-15 (but in 6 game competitive) team to a playoff team...

The dolphins are 1 of 3 teams in NFL history who have started 1 win seasons the previous year and gone onto 9 win season the following year; and WILL be the 1st in NFL history to go from a 1 win season to a 10 win season at KC this week...

GO FINS

 

[MD]

I think he reminds me of Shula in that Shula always had a great offensive line and played the same smash mouth aggressive run first style, prior to the unveiling of the greatest QB ever. He was big on the game being won in the trenches as evidenced by all the outstanding linemen that have played for the Dolphins.

I was only 10 when Shula took over and I don't specifically recall how he coached the first few seasons but from what I recall of his early years, there are many similarities.

Although Sparano will most likely not equal Shula in victories, he will be a legend in South Florida and throughout all of Dolphin land.

 

[jhortondj2]

Very difficult to compare fairly as the game has changed quite a bit. Currently the rules changes have helped to take the emphasis off of the trenches and put it more on the skill positions. However the obvious paralells are unmistakeable; ball control, mistake free, penalty free football using intelligent players. If Tony can complete the offensive formula by adding an extremely dependable short yardage game, then we can invoke the same spirit of play. Defensively; Shula's premium was, as I recall, having safety play that silenced "big play offenses" while the linemen excelled in short yardage stops. I think '70 is a good year to base the comparison on, but the available talent will dictate the path we take in the building process.
Excellent question! We need a Buoniconti (I miss Zach)

 

[phinfan33]

and another thing on Coach Sparano...IMO,he's only going to get better...

 

[Popshark86]

imagine if tony was the cowboys head coach, with all that talent

 

[Danny]

well,I was a kid back in 70...Shula I believe was younger at that time than Sparano is now...Shula was all discipline and Sparano is too tho times have change a lot...back in the day the players did as they were told...today you have guys like TO,Pacman and on and on....the teams are similar,not many names on defence other than Porter...on offence is about runninng 2 guys(Larry and Mercury-Ronnie and Ricky)a QB that manages the game and is very smart(Bob-Chad)and they both play like a team with balance.So it is similar in more ways than one.

Ozzy rules!!