Peter King MMQB: Dan Campbell- “We’re about to wake the sleeping giant.” | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Peter King MMQB: Dan Campbell- “We’re about to wake the sleeping giant.”

G

gafin

Practice Squad
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
2,135
Reaction score
4
Dan Campbell is not a shy man.

Dolphins interim coach Dan Campbell was near the end of a 30-minute conversation with me on Saturday. I felt like I was being coached for about half of it, with Campbell sometimes lapsing into coach-speak, like I was one of his players: We gotta get off to better starts! We gotta get manageable second downs! But then, at the end, I asked him what he wanted Dolphins fans to know about this perennially disappointing franchise, and what the Campbell regime, however long it lasts, had planned.

Pause. Two, three seconds.

“I would say this,” Campbell, 39, said ominously. “We’re about to wake the sleeping giant.”

Pause. Then nothing.

Okay, Dan. Have a good day! End of interview.

The man is serious. He sounds nothing like an interim coach. In 30 minutes, you got the feeling that the matter of taking over a team in October after a pitiful 1-3 start was a trifling inconvenience—he was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and just because he took over now instead of January didn’t really matter. He had every intention of taking advantage of this chance and turning Miami around this year, instead of just keeping the seat warm for the next, more established head man. Odd. He’d never coached anywhere other than Miami, working as a coaching intern in 2010 and then as the tight ends coach since 2011. Never a coordinator, anywhere. Never a head coach, anywhere.

Campbell, a Texan, was a tight end for four teams over 10 seasons, and never thought he’d want to be a coach until he left the game. And he thought, What do I love? Football. And competing, and physical and mental toughness. “I am the guy who loves challenges,” Campbell said. “There’s plenty of people out there who look at my inexperience, who look at whether I deserve this, and that gives me motivation. That is when I rise to the top. Whether you’re a player or a coach it’s all about being competitive. As coaches and players in the last four weeks, we’ve all underachieved. And my message to the team is going to be: We’re going to get back to the basics. And we’re going to be competitive.”

That word kept coming up—competitive. I brought up to him how incredible it is and how much an indictment of the talent-laden team it was that, after four games, Miami has been outscored 37-3 in the first quarter.

“I addressed that with our team in our first meeting,” Campbell said. “Thirty-seven to three. I said, ‘Somebody tell me what that is.’ Nobody knew. I said, ‘That’s the score in the first quarter of our games. That’s the first thing we gotta look at. How can you win games when you’re always playing from behind so fast!’”
Click to expand...

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/10/12/nfl-week-5-monday-morning-quarterback-peter-king
 
"we who are about to die salute you" :lol:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That sounds good, but at this point I'm in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp.
 
I'm rooting for him. As ill equipped as Philbin was, I always rooted that, somehow, someway he would figure it out. Bottom line, I have no agenda. My goal is for the Miami Dolphins to win. I'm not stuck on any single coach or player. I don't care what race or religion you are. Represent the franchise proudly and win.

If it works out with Campbell, it solves so many problems. Coaching requires so many components. But if you drew a pie chart of the components, the component involving leadership/command/overall control whatever you want to call it, is the number one factor you have to have. It's a must. And somehow Miami has had a few guys that didn't have this component when you look at Cameron, Sparano, and Philbin.

Campbell's got it. It's not easy to have. You can hire guys to work on schemes underneath you compatible with your philosophies. But there are plenty of scheme guys that can't lead their way out a wet paper bag. Campbell has a leadership ability that's reminiscent of a young Bill Cowher.
 
We'll see man... At this point just give me a reason to watch past the first half. It is on par with the Cam Cameron era right now.
 
It's hard not to like his bravado. Yes we all know it always depends on results before a jury is convinced, but it this guy brings it backs it up and doesn't fist pump field goals like the last rah rah guy we had then we might be onto something
 
LouPhinFan said:
That sounds good, but at this point I'm in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp.
Click to expand...

This is totally fair. He's green as grass. Heck, we don't know if he can call a TO or make a challenge, let alone approve a game plan or half time adjustment. We've got 12 games to see.
 
Austin Tatious said:
I'm rooting for him. As ill equipped as Philbin was, I always rooted that, somehow, someway he would figure it out. Bottom line, I have no agenda. My goal is for the Miami Dolphins to win. I'm not stuck on any single coach or player. I don't care what race or religion you are. Represent the franchise proudly and win.

If it works out with Campbell, it solves so many problems. Coaching requires so many components. But if you drew a pie chart of the components, the component involving leadership/command/overall control whatever you want to call it, is the number one factor you have to have. It's a must. And somehow Miami has had a few guys that didn't have this component when you look at Cameron, Sparano, and Philbin.

Campbell's got it. It's not easy to have. You can hire guys to work on schemes underneath you compatible with your philosophies. But there are plenty of scheme guys that can't lead their way out a wet paper bag. Campbell has a leadership ability that's reminiscent of a young Bill Cowher.
Click to expand...

Yes but probably help if he had a better online, LB's and safety play, but I digress. Let's hope we see at least more competitive play on the field at least.
 
I'm in the wait and see camp too. Especially with all the preseason talk of how good we are. hard to be too optimistic at this stage. But good read, none the less.
 
Albert Romano said:
Yes but probably help if he had a better online, LB's and safety play, but I digress. Let's hope we see at least more competitive play on the field at least.
Click to expand...

One nice thing is we will be able to look at data at the end of the season on improvements. Right now we are 1-3. We have the 78th and 79th rated guards when there are 64 starters league wide, not counting injuries. We have one sack in four games, 31st against the run, low rushing attack, poor on offense and defense etc. This is all measurable. It's also based on easy schedule.

Now, going forward, all this data can be compared with the data we see the rest if the way to see the before and after with Campbell with a harder schedule.
 
At least momentarily, it gives us reason to be pumped for the upcoming Fins football game :hi5:
 
Austin Tatious said:
One nice thing is we will be able to look at data at the end of the season on improvements. Right now we are 1-3. We have the 78th and 79th rated guards when there are 64 starters league wide, not counting injuries. We have one sack in four games, 31st against the run, low rushing attack, poor on offense and defense etc. This is all measurable. It's also based on easy schedule.

Now, going forward, all this data can be compared with the data we see the rest if the way to see the before and after with Campbell with a harder schedule.
Click to expand...

.. And since we have all these 'data' crunchers as part of the FO some of the data should speak volumes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom