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The Fins' Best Ever Defensive Coordinators

Vaark

Vaark

They call me Speedo but my real name is Mr Earl
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With the distinct possibility of Vance Joseph moving on, leaving unfinished business behind and not much of an impact, it got me to thinking about and appreciating our better defensive coordinators who really were worth their weight in gold. Heaven knows, we've had some dog**** too!

Most everyone could probably agree that Arnsparger is heads and shoulders our best DC ever.

Beyond him, who would be on your list as the 4 next best? I'm actually hard pressed to come up with a consensus beyond Jim Bates.

But given that, I guess I'd include Nolan, Hill, Stuckley and Capers.

My nod for worst ever would go to Olivadotti.

Who would you include and how would you rank em?

Oh and I was also thinking that if we could land Wade Phillips, he'd immediately rank in the pantheon of the top 5
 
Vaark said:
With the distinct possibility of Vance Joseph moving on, leaving unfinished business behind and not much of an impact, it got me to thinking about and appreciating our better defensive coordinators who really were worth their weight in gold. Heaven knows, we've had some dog**** too!

Most everyone could probably agree that Arnsparger is heads and shoulders our best DC ever.

Beyond him, who would be on your list as the 4 next best? I'm actually hard pressed to come up with a consensus beyond Jim Bates.

But given that, I guess I'd include Nolan, Hill, Stuckley and Capers.

My nod for worst ever would go to Olivadotti.

Who would you include and how would you rank em?

Oh and I was also thinking that if we could land Wade Phillips, he'd immediately rank in the pantheon of the top 5
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A good argument could be made that Wade Phillips is one of the best DC in the history of the sport.
 
I'm not sure the rank considering it was for only one season but in 2005 under Nick Saban we had Richard Smith as DC.

It was actually quite the defensive coaching staff to accompany him as we had LB coach George Edwards who is currently the DC for the Vikings, and DL coach Dan Quinn who we all know went to Seattle as a very successful DC and is now the HC of Atlanta where Richard Smith is now his DC.

Smith is currently coaching a very young defense with the Falcons and they have made significant strides if for no other reason than they are forced to practice against the league's #1 offense on a weekly basis. Though his tutelage under Saban and Quinn has been invaluable.

Overall, it's Arnsparger and no one else is really close.
 
Capers was only good under Saban...he was the DC in the 1-15 season under Cam Cameron.

Even now Capers is up and down every game for the Packers.

Bates #2
Nolan #3
Studley #4

Everybody else has sucked. It's amazing to me that this team has been to 4 super bowls with Arnsparger as it's DC...the other one was 1984 with Studley as DC but Marino carried that team there.
 
datruth55 said:
Capers was only good under Saban...he was the DC in the 1-15 season under Cam Cameron.

Even now Capers is up and down every game for the Packers.

Bates #2
Nolan #3
Studley #4

Everybody else has sucked. It's amazing to me that this team has been to 4 super bowls with Arnsparger as it's DC...the other one was 1984 with Studley as DC but Marino carried that team there.
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Defense. Wins. Championships.
 
The 9 or 10 years Olivadotti was here Miami was known as the "olphins" because they had no D. Never understood why Shula kept Tom on staff. Besides Arnsparger I'm hard pressed to find a top 3 let alone 5. Mike Nolan is probably 2 and Jim Bates 3. Not much to choose from after that.
 
Olivadotti's defenses from about 1989 on would start the year looking pretty good, then fade later in the year. He could devise a game plan to contain Buffalo in September and October, then Buffalo would counter it in December and Olivadotti would have no answers.

Olivadotti was the main culprit, but I think people sometimes overrate the talent on those defenses. Offerdahl was elite but often injured and had to do too much on his own. Bryan Cox was very good, but also had to do too much on his own. Oliver and Jarvis Williams were a good run stopping duo, but in my opinion, only average coverage safeties (no Pro-Bowls between them). Troy Vincent was elite, but left too soon, and Marco Coleman was a good, not great pass rusher. Tim Bowens showed up at the tail end of the Shula regime. Jeff Cross was usually the best of an underwhelming front 3 or 4.
 
daryl said:
Olivadotti's defenses from about 1989 on would start the year looking pretty good, then fade later in the year. He could devise a game plan to contain Buffalo in September and October, then Buffalo would counter it in December and Olivadotti would have no answers.

Olivadotti was the main culprit, but I think people sometimes overrate the talent on those defenses. Offerdahl was elite but often injured and had to do too much on his own. Bryan Cox was very good, but also had to do too much on his own. Oliver and Jarvis Williams were a good run stopping duo, but in my opinion, only average coverage safeties (no Pro-Bowls between them). Troy Vincent was elite, but left too soon, and Marco Coleman was a good, not great pass rusher. Tim Bowens showed up at the tail end of the Shula regime. Jeff Cross was usually the best of an underwhelming front 3 or 4.
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offerdahl being hurt often didn't help either. but seriously letting troy vincent leave was one of our worse mistakes of FA.
 
MadDog 88 said:
The 9 or 10 years Olivadotti was here Miami was known as the "olphins" because they had no D. Never understood why Shula kept Tom on staff. Besides Arnsparger I'm hard pressed to find a top 3 let alone 5. Mike Nolan is probably 2 and Jim Bates 3. Not much to choose from after that.
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yep. Some people are listing Studley - he may have been worse than Tom O and got fired after a short tenure. Our D in '84 (Studley) was putrid and was exposed late in the season by the raiders and chargers, and then dismantled in the SB.
 
royalshank said:
yep. Some people are listing Studley - he may have been worse than Tom O and got fired after a short tenure. Our D in '84 (Studley) was putrid and was exposed late in the season by the raiders and chargers, and then dismantled in the SB.
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Well it's Arnsparger by a country mile, then finally after that it's Bates. Beyond those 2, IMO it's a toss up - and considering the time span we're covering, when you think about it, that's kind of pathetic, isn't it?
 
Wildbill3 said:
offerdahl being hurt often didn't help either. but seriously letting troy vincent leave was one of our worse mistakes of FA.
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Not really. The Dolphins replaced Vincent with Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain. I liked Vincent, but the Dolphins were in cap hell when Jimmy Johnson took over and really couldn't afford Vincent's large contract.
 
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