Jan 16, 2008 4:17 pm US/Eastern
Tony Sparano Hired As Head Coach Of Miami Dolphins
(CBS4)
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Tony Sparano named new head coach of the Miami Dolphins
CBS
Discussing his new job as Miami Dolphins head coach, Tony Sparano said at the team's training camp in Davie on Wednesday that, "I'm just happy to be part of the family."
Following is a full transcript from his news conference supplied by the Miami Dolphins:
Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland:
"Good afternoon. Thank you for being here. At approximately 9:30 this morning the Miami Dolphins offered the head coaching position to Tony Sparano, which he accepted. I'd first like to thank the three other candidates that came in here and interviewed, Leslie Frazier, Rex Ryan, and Jim Schwartz. All three are high character people and gentlemen, and I wish them all the best.
"When Bill (Parcells) and I discussed what we were looking for in a head coach, we talked about one of high character. We wanted someone that understood how to develop young players, coach the team, and one that could instill a culture that is all about winning. We think we've found that guy. We know we've found that guy. That guy is Tony Sparano.
"Before I give Tony the podium, I'd like to introduce his wife, Jeanette Sparano, and welcome her to South Florida and to the Miami Dolphins organization. On behalf of Mr. (Wayne) Huizenga and the Miami Dolphins organization, I present you Tony Sparano, the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins."
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano:
"Thank you very much Jeff (Ireland). I need to take this opportunity, first of all, if I can, to thank a bunch of people. Mr. (Wayne) Huizenga, I want to thank you so much for the opportunity that you've given me. I really do appreciate this opportunity and this chance and I'm looking forward to the challenge. Also, I need to thank Coach (Bill) Parcells. I've coached for a lot of people and worked for a lot of great coaches, Marty Schottenheimer, Tom Coughlin, Chris Palmer, but Coach Parcells has taught me the most and prepared me the most for this job. I want to thank him tremendously and, of course Jeff Ireland, who I have the utmost respect for and I'm looking forward to working with him here with the Miami Dolphins. I also need to thank Mr. (Jerry) Jones and the Dallas Cowboys, Wade Phillips. Obviously, you finish a season and you win 13 games it gives you a great opportunity to put yourself in some of these positions, and I thank them. Mr. Jones has always been great to me and my family, and I appreciate all he has done for us down there as well.
"I need to also thank my players. Anybody that's listening right now knows that the way that I'm built is that I appreciate my players and I appreciate the relationship that I have with them. We work hard together, and those guys down there in Dallas did one heck of a job for me, and I know that you're only as good as the people that you surround yourself with. I had good players and they did a great job for me, and I appreciate them right now and thank them for helping me get this opportunity. My agent Jimmy Sexton I want to thank as well. He's done a great job for me. And most of all, my family, my wife Jeanette and my children Tony, Andy, and Ryan, I love them and I appreciate their support.
"Obviously, for me, I'm a football buff. I love it. I'm a history guy, and to be a part of this organization with the great history that the Miami Dolphins have and the great tradition is something that really excites me. I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead. Anybody that knows me knows that I'm not afraid of challenges, I look forward to them. We have a lot of work to do here right now. I'm excited and I'm ready to dive into it and really just springboard into this whole thing right now.
"We're going to look here for quality people and we're going to look for character people. That's important to me. It's important that we have character people here on this football team. It's important that we have high-character people walking through the building right now. At the end of the day, we've got some challenges ahead. There are no promises, there are no commitments, there are none of those things right now. That's not what I do. I coach. I'm here to coach this football team, to help them get better, to help them improve in any way I can and develop our young players, to do all the things that I believe in and that I know Jeff and Coach (Bill) Parcells believe in as well.
It's going to be a tough road, but we're going to get this thing done the right way. At the end of the day, we are going to have some things that are real important. To my players that are out there right now that I hope are listening, one of the most important things that we're going to start to get involved in here is our offseason program. It's something that is going to build unity, chemistry and build the character that we're looking for this football team. Again, I look forward to this challenge. I can't wait to get involved in it right now, as I'm standing here. I'm just happy to be here right now. I'll answer any questions that you have. Thank you very much."
(On how to turn around a 1-15 team) – "I think part of it is, obviously, you have to go through a culture change here, right now. I don't really care what happened in the past. That isn't my concern. My concern is what's happening today, right now as we're standing here. We're going to surround our players with outstanding teachers, outstanding coaches and we're going to work them as hard as we can work them. At the end of the day, we hope that that's going to be good enough."
(On when he expects to make additions to his coaching staff and meet with players) – "As Jeff (Ireland) said, I got offered the job this morning at 9:30. At the end of this meeting, I'll start to worry about the coaching staff and do some of those things. We'll start to put some of those pieces together. Obviously, it's the first move for me and one of the most critical moves. I've been in some of those situations and I just think you've got to surround yourself with the best people that you can and some of the people that believe in your philosophies."
(On why he is confident that he is ready for the head coaching position) – "Being in this league for as long I've been in the league, nine, 10 years here now, and getting a chance to work with different players, different position players, all those things, communicating that way. Coach (Bill) Parcells gave me a great opportunity his last year there to call the plays on offense and do those things. Being in front of the room constantly, I was always in front of the room having to communicate with the entire team in some situations as an assistant head coach and certainly as an offensive coordinator, that type of situation. I've always had a great relationship with the players. I've always been able to work them very hard and get the most out of my guys and I think that those are things that help prepare you for this job. I also learned a lot from a lot of good people. I learned what to do and what not to do. I respect the coaches that I've worked for and I hope to use a lot of the things that they have taught me."
(On how important discipline and respect are for this team) – "Very important, I think discipline is critical. We'll have discipline here with the Dolphins, there is no question about that. At the same time, we'll treat each other with respect. That's a two-way street. That just doesn't mean that I need the players to respect me, I need to respect the players as well. It will be a two-way street that way and we'll have a good relationship. It will be open and they will know that I care about them and I hope that they will feel the same way by the end of this. I know they will."
(On why he wanted the head coaching position) – "I wanted it because of the people here. At the end of the day, Coach (Bill) Parcells, my relationship with him, Jeff Ireland, Mr. (Wayne) Huizenga, getting a chance to meet him last night, the people here in Miami, I just know how bad they want to be successful here and I wanted to be a part of that. I enjoy the people here. I know what the people here are capable of, and I'm excited about that."
(On some of the offensive and defensive philosophies and schemes he prefers) – "First of all, what I believe in is that I believe it's important that the system fits the players, not the players fit the system. I think that's important. I think you've got to look at what we have here right now and when we get our coaching staff together and we sit down and we're in this place until 12, one o'clock in the morning, we'll get some of these questions ironed out. At the end of the day, whatever is going to be best for the Miami Dolphins is what we're going to do. Offensively, I'm used to a couple of different systems right now. What we did when I was with Bill (Parcells) and what we did this year down there in Dallas with Jason Garrett and myself was really a combination of two systems, our system and Jason's system. We put both of those things together and he and I kind of banged our heads a little bit with the rest of the staff and came up with something that we thought was pretty good."
(On how often he sees himself discussing coaching tactics with Bill Parcells) – "I hope as much as I can. I know Coach Parcells is here as a resource for me and I'm going to use him every way I can. He's been through a lot of battles. He's won a lot of battles in this league, and I respect him tremendously. He knows that. I'm going to ask as many questions as I possibly can and continue to learn. He's taught me a great deal and I'm going to continue to learn as much as I possibly can. Now that being said, I have a way. I understand that way. I know that Coach Parcells, Jeff (Ireland), and Mr. (Wayne) Huizenga know that I understand that way, and that's the way I hope we go about it."
(On some of his football role models) – "Again, I can't say this without really smiling, but Coach (Bill) Parcells, coming up, obviously. I grew up a Giants fan. I was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. My father, to this day, is a Giants fan. I hope he's a Dolphin fan today. We grew up that way, so Coach Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer, I think, are two people that I respect a tremendous amount and, obviously, it was great for me because I had the opportunity to work with both of them and learn a great deal."
(On the influence Chris Palmer has had on him) – "Chris Palmer was a tremendous influence because he gave me my first opportunity, to be honest with you. Back when I was at the University of New Haven, kind of looking for my place, he gave me my first full-time job, then took me with him to Boston University and gave me an opportunity there, and then when he got involved in the Cleveland Browns situation, he took me there as well and gave me my first chance to be a coach in the National Football League. He's done a great deal for me and he knows I'll never forget what he's done for me."
(On if he will want to meet with Ricky Williams and Joey Porter to determine whether they possess the type of character he is looking for) – "I want to meet with every player if I possibly can. I'm not going to pass judgment one way or the other on anybody's character on anybody's character because I don't know them. For me, the score in 0-0 right now. I need to sit down and I need to get to know these people and as we get to know one another I'll make my own judgments from that standpoint, as they will with me, I'm sure. But we're going to communicate and there's no question about that."
(On why he feels he can succeed here given the record of the organization's recent head coaches) – "I can't make any guarantees of anything. The only thing I know is that I'm here because, obviously, I want to be here and I'm here because I believe that I can handle this job and do a great job here and help this team get to where they need to be. At the end of the day, I can't be concerned with what happened in the past. I'm just concerned with today and where we're going from here."
(On at what point in the process he became convinced that the Dolphins were a good fit for him) – "I think the point in the process was last evening after I had the opportunity to meet with Mr. (Wayne) Huizenga. When I left that meeting with Coach (Bill) Parcells, Mr. Huizenga, and Jeff (Ireland) and a few others, I felt very comfortable and I only hoped that when I woke up this morning that this would be the situation. Again, I thank them tremendously and that's the way it happened."
(On how Tuesday night's meeting differed from his initial interview) – "Last night's meeting was about good, casual conversation at the time where we got a chance to know each other a little bit. My first meeting with Jeff (Ireland) was a four-hour grind. He put me through a pretty good grind for four hours down there in Dallas, and I expected that. I know Jeff Ireland, and I know what he's looking for. I knew what to expect, so it was no different than the other interviews that I had. I went into that interview prepared, and I just thank God that I got to this point."
(On if he has any concerns regarding the possible challenge of coaching in the shadow of Bill Parcells) – "No, none at all. If at the end of the day that's the worst thing that happens to me, I'm okay."
(On if he will hire someone to call plays) – "Honestly, it depends on the people that we can hire. I'm not stuck on that one way or the other. If I have to call the plays, I will. I'm going to be very involved in both sides of the football, offensively and defensively, regardless of the situation. But if I can hire someone that I trust, I think my job is to manage this football team and to see the big picture. If I can do that, I think that is going to help everybody involved. I've seen it done a bunch of different ways, and some people have had success and some people haven't. Whatever is going to be best for the Miami Dolphins when we put this whole thing together with our staff will be what I do."
(On if the upcoming Senior Bowl accelerates the process of compiling a coaching staff) – "Yeah, I'm sure it does. We want to try to get this thing going as fast as we can possibly get it going and get as many people here as we can get. But we're not going to do that at the cost of not hiring the right person. We're going to make sure that we hire the right people if we can."
(On if as a former lineman he feels a team needs to be built starting from the line) – "Make no bones about it, I feel like that is an important position, but I look at the eight teams that just played this past weekend – and we were one of them – and they all had quarterbacks that were outstanding. I'm sure that the quarterback position is the position. With that being said, when we arrived in Dallas with Coach (Bill) Parcells, one of the commitments there was, slowly but surely, to try to get the line to play the way it did this past season. That was a work in progress, but when you see the end result and what happened, you know how important the interiors are on both sides of the ball."
(On what it is like to have familiarity here with Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Brian Gaine) – "'Familiar' isn't the term I would use, but at the end of the day, I just know how they work and I know the kind of people that they are and what they stand for, and the kind of people that they want to bring here to the Miami Dolphins. That is the most important thing to me and it was through the interview process. At the end of the day, I'm familiar with them if that is the word that you want to use. I think, more importantly, I know the type of people that they're going to want to be involved with, and that is what excites me."
(On where and under what circumstances he first met Bill Parcells) – "The first time I met Coach Parcells was the day he called me. I had just gotten released from Jacksonville, and Tom Coughlin at the time called Coach Parcells and talked to him on my behalf. I went up for an interview, and that was the first time I met him. We interviewed, and he gave me an opportunity at that time to coach the tight ends. I coached the tight ends for him."
(On if he remembers anything from that initial interview with Bill Parcells) – "What I remember is that when I walked through the door, it was Coach Parcells. As you walked through the door, he was a little bit bigger than I was that way. He was great. He told me like it was, and that is what I wanted to hear. Tom Coughlin is that type of a coach. He tells you just like it is, and I respect that. That is the only way to be. Coach Parcells told me exactly the way it was then and every year after that. I knew exactly where I was with him all the time, and I think that is an important quality. That is what I remember the most from that conversation."
(On what the last week has been like for him with first game-planning for the New York Giants and now becoming head coach of the Dolphins) – "Obviously, it's been a real crazy week for me, but I'm glad that it ends this way. At the end of the day, if you're going to lose a football game like we lost down there in Dallas this week, it does leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Anybody that knows me knows that I'm about finishing. It isn't about starting this thing and – I learned this from somebody else – kind of putting your toe in the water. You've got to finish and we didn't finish, so it left a bad taste in my mouth. Once that was over and I was able to get involved in some of these opportunities, that kind of cleared the smoke a little bit, but I think about last week a lot right now."
(On his philosophy regarding playing young players who may not give him the best chance to win now but will in the long run) – "That is a good question. I think at the end of the day we have to look and see what's best for us, but I think a big part of what we're doing right now has to be to develop some young players. I think what you don't want to do is in year two have questions about maybe some young guys that you think are outstanding players, and you still have questions about them in year two because you didn't do something with them in year one. We'll look at that and we'll see what we have here. I have not studied tape on the Miami Dolphins at all. I was tied up studying tape of the New York Giants, and possibly the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I wasn't sure who we were playing, so I kind of got involved in that. We'll sit down here and that's my job right now. I'm going to spend a lot of hours watching people and talking with Jeff (Ireland) and Coach (Bill) Parcells, and we'll go from there."
(On if he will go to the Senior Bowl) – "I don't think I'll go to the Senior Bowl if I have my choice. It's not something that we've talked about right now openly, but I don't think that I would go. I think that I would try to stay here and work on hiring a staff."
(On if he has any impressions of John Beck) – "None right now. I have not watched film. I'll reserve comment that way. At the end of the day, I need to sit down and watch tape. For me, it's 0-0. I need to see what's happening on the film and watch it. I'm not interested in watching all the good plays. I need to see what's happening with the quarterback when he's not winning, when he's behind and when he's doing all of those things."
(On what he considers the most important position after quarterback) – "For me, personally, I'm a lineman. I think that a lot of those things, that is kind of where it starts. I know that we have some work to do here and we're going to look, and we'll figure that out as we go on right now. I think there are some positions in the interior that are important, and we'll see where that goes – I don't know."
(On if Todd Bowles is ready to be a defensive coordinator) – "I have no idea what the status of Todd is one way or the other. I know Todd is a coach and I think he is a hell of a coach. I haven't talked to any of those guys, so I'm not sure what the status of that is right now."
(On if he watches The Sopranos) – "I feel like if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question, I'd be in great shape. That is about it. I don't get involved in it one way or the other. It's something that people have fun with, but I understand it."
(On how he is going to handle the tough road of coaching a team that needs to make major improvements after coming from a team that experienced success) – "It's funny, you can say that I came from that, but that is not where it started in any of the situations I've been in. The Cleveland Browns – that was an expansion team. In Jacksonville, we had just lost a bunch of players due to cap situations and those types of things. In Washington, we walked into a situation that wasn't a great situation at the time, and in Dallas it wasn't a great situation at the time. I've been involved in some of these kinds of projects, and I know the way that this thing has to go. It starts with having good people. I'm going to say it again, Jeff Ireland, Coach (Bill) Parcells and Mr. (Wayne) Huizenga – all great people, all great pieces to this thing here and I'm just happy to be part of the family."
(On if as head coach of the University of New Haven he ever thought his next head coaching position would be with an NFL team) – "No, I didn't think it, but I hoped it – I really did. I wasn't sure where the path would lead at the time, but you know what, it's all relative. At that time we were a Division II school, the smallest school in Division II, to go to a national championship at that time. I had 120 players, and you had to get 120 players on the same page, so it's all relative. A little different situation, obviously, and a bigger stage – all those things – but I'm prepared and I'm confident in myself."
(On what his father had to say following Dallas' loss to the New York Giants) – "Whenever we play the Giants, I know my dad is always rooting for us. My parents are my biggest fans, along with my wife and my family and my in-laws. They're my biggest fans. They followed me along through this whole process, and I appreciate what they do for me."
(On what people in New Haven are thinking today when they find out he has been named head coach of the Dolphins) – "I just hope they're all proud, and that is really it. I'm sure that is what they're thinking – that they're proud. I know some of them might be saying, 'Oh my God, what did he get himself into one way or the other with this big stage?' But at the end of the day, we're going to love it. They know that this is going to be great. My parents and my in-laws are all supportive of me."
(On if he subscribes to the theory that 'bigger is better' when building a team) – "No, not necessarily. No, not at all. That is a good question. It goes back to this whole offseason program that I'm talking about. Bigger isn't necessarily better for me. Our players are going to be in outstanding shape. We're going to work them hard. No, bigger is not necessarily better. At the end of the day, we want guys who can run and we want guys who are physically ready to play. Endurance and stamina in this game are important. You've got to be able to go the long haul – not 16 [games], but maybe 20 or 19 or whatever it takes to get into this thing. That is important, so bigger isn't always better in that situation."
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