Sparano: 'I'M Just Happy to Be Part of the Family'

Jan 16, 05:08 PM

Jan. 16--DAVIE -- The Dolphins newly named head coach speaks with a thick Northeast accent. Tony Sparano was born and raised in New Haven, Conn., so he grew up loving the New York Giants.

His love affair with that team blossomed into a great deal of admiration for Bill Parcells, who coached the Giants from 1983-90, and now serves as the Dolphins new Vice President of Football.

Sparano was thrilled to finally work for Parcells in Dallas, where Tom Coughlin, one of Parcells' former disciples, recommended him for an assistant job. He's even more pleased today to be Parcells' hand picked selection as the Dolphins new head coach. And he doesn't mind the shadow his new boss, whom he still refers to as "coach," places him under.

"At the end of the day if that's the worst thing that happens to me, I'm okay," Sparano said when asked about being under Parcells' shadow.

Parcells and new General Manager Jeff Ireland's familiarity with Sparano, who ran Parcells' offense in 2006 -- their last season together back in Dallas -- was what made him the front-runner to replace Cam Cameron from the very beginning of the three week old search. It's also the reason he was excited about the job, saying "I'm just happy to be part of the family."

"I know coach Parcells is here as a resource for me and I'm going to use him anyway I can. He's been through a lot of battles, won a lot of battles here in this league and I respect him tremendously. He knows that," Sparano said. "I'm going to ask him as many questions as I possibly can and continue to learn. He's taught me a great deal."

Of all the NFL head coaches Sparano's worked under in his nine seasons as an assistant -- Marty Schottenheimer, Tom Coughlin, Chris Palmer, Wade Phillips -- Sparano admitted Parcells has taught him the most, preparing him for the job he was hired to do Wednesday morning.

He was the only candidate given a second interview, which followed a 4-hour session he underwent with Ireland back on Jan. 5 in Dallas.

"When Bill and I discussed what we were looking for in a head coach. We talked about [finding] one of high character," Ireland said. "We wanted someone that understood how to develop young players, coach the team, and one that can instill a culture that's all about winning. We think we found that guy. We know we found that guy. That guy is Tony Sparano."

Parcells watched attentively as Sparano tackled every question during Wednesday's press conference with an aggressive and candid style, one reminiscent of his mentor.

"Anybody who knows me knows I'm not afraid of challenges. I look forward to them," said Sparano, who inherits a 1-15 team that has plenty of holes on its roster. "We have a lot of work to do here right now. I'm excited and ready to dive into it."

According to Sparano, outside of finding a quarterback, atop his must do list is changing the culture of the team.

"I don't care what happened in the past. That isn't my concern. My concern is what's happening today," he said. "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."

There were no guarantees or promises made by the Dolphins new leader. He stressed the importance of the offseason program, pointing out it'll be used by the team to build unity and chemistry.

After Wednesday's press conference Sparano began the process of putting his staff of assistants together. He presently doesn't plan to attend next weeks Senior Bowl practices, which is often used by coaches to not just scout college talent, but put together their staff.

"You have to surround yourself with the best people you can, and some of the people that believe in your philosophies," Sparano said. "We're going to look for quality people, and character people. That's important to me. It's important that we have character people here on this football team, and important that we have character people walking through the building right now. At the end of the day we have challenges ahead."

Sparano prides himself in his ability to foster "great relationships with the players," which allows him to work them "very hard and get the most out of my guys."

He said every player will be given a clean slate. As for the systems he'll run and his football philosophies, he wants the system to fit the players, and not vice versa, and the former offensive line coach likes to build from the trenches.

According to Sparano, he plans to be very involved in both sides of the football, but won't rule out calling the plays until he hires an offensive coordinator he "trusts."

"My job is to manage this football team and see the big picture," he said. "If I can do that it's going to help everyone involved."

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