It is sad a day...Monte Clark was a O-line genius....he helped create one of the best all time O-lines every to play together...For us that are old enough to remember...it was guys like him and the GM that helped to build a great franchise...but we give most of the credit to Shula. Shula was like a great conductor..but with out the people who brought the instruments and played them...Shula wouldn't have been as great as he was.
In his first stint in Miami, Clark helped developed one of the best offensive lines in NFL history, featuring two Hall of Famers, center Jim Langer and guard Larry Little, and five-time Pro Bowl guard Bob Kuechenberg. Lets remember that most of those that are known as former Oline greats..were cast off's and late rounders that other teams didn't want.
“Monte was an outstanding teacher and knew how to present information to his players in a way that made it interesting and exciting for them,” Shula said in a statement. “His offensive lines in Miami were always one of the most effective in the NFL.”
http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thed...hins-super-bowl-winning-o-line-dies-thursday/
Here's more;
When former Miami Dolphins assistant Monte Clark was asked years ago about the bruising style of fullback Larry Csonka, he responded with a quote that would ultimately define his own personality as much as it personified the player he spoke about.
``When Csonka goes on a safari, the lions roll up their windows,'' Clark said.
He was gruff. He was funny. He was honest. And in the end, he'll go down as one of the best offensive line coaches the NFL -- and certainly the Dolphins -- has ever seen.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/story/1238448.html
Here's more;
“Clark had new ideas and constant demands. At a time when coaching the mind was gaining a toehold, he was a full believer. He concocted the motto, “Best in the Business,” for the line. At the end of end drills, they would put their hands together and chant, “Best” to reinforce the idea.
To start his linemen on sprints, Clark wouldn’t say, “Go.” He’d say, “Best in the business.”
He told the linemen his dream was to have other NFL line coaches use their game films as examples of how to block perfectly. He gave every lineman a book on visualization in which a group of people shot free throws to improve. A second group simply visualized making free throws. The two groups were found to improve at nearly the same rate, confirming the power of the mind.
In meetings, Clak didn’t just demand players close their eyes and visualize making a perfect block. He would go through it step by step: See quarterback Bob Griese calling the play, he’d say. Feel yourself leaving the huddle. Hear your opponent cursing across from you as you take your stance. Move by move, Clark would have them visualize the blocking technique of that particular play …
“Clark played 11 years in the league by mastering such techniques and squeezing every drop of talent from a body that could let him down. His legs, for instance, were so thin he sometimes wore shin guards to make them appear thicker. But upon retiring from football to join Shula’s staff in 1970, the best part of his game – his mind – was allowed to take over completely.
It was a formidable task in the beginning. He took one look at his inherited offensive line and knew coaching wasn’t the first problem. Talent was. Bob Griese, who was later dubbed , “The Thinking Man’s Quarterback,” was known as a scrambling quarterback his first few years in the league. Shula demanded in their first meeting that Griese stay in the pocket more. Griese asked Shula to build a better line so he could stay in the pocket.
“So that first summer together, Shula and Clark were on the prowl, calling up teams, studying waiver wires, looking for someone – anyone – who could upgrade the line. And they struck gold four times at a cost of nothing.
One: Tight end Marv Fleming, a punishing blocker, was acquired in a trade with Green Bay for receiver Jack Clancy. Two: Bob Kuechenberg, cut from two teams the previous year, signed as a free agent. Three: Clark noticed Langer on a preseason Cleveland film, and when the Browns tried to sneak him through waivers, had the Dolphins grab him. Four: A tackle legally named Solomon Moore was released by San Francisco. Clark discovered it was the player known as Wayne Moore – a raw but huge talent whom Clark had played basketball with that offseason in the Bay Area. The Dolphins grabbed him, too.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/spo...onte_clark_mattered_-_and_will_be_missed.html
May he rest in peace...in that great Football heaven!!
