Anytime a popular restaurant introduces a new menu it’s always met with a hint of skepticism amid the anticipation. That’s the challenge facing Brian Daboll, the new offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins.
After three years of relying on his family’s recipe for success on offense, Head Coach Tony Sparano has turned to his new head chef, Daboll, to spice things up. It wasn’t an easy decision, but one Sparano deemed necessary.
“It’s a big challenge. You know as you can see here I’m a little of a gray beard,” said Sparano, who favored the run-first, pound the ball approach taught to him by Bill Parcells and others before. “I would tell you that when you’re used to something and you’re used to doing things one way, which I am, I’m growing up in this business with one real mindset, that was you run it to win and that was the way that we went, I had to step back and do what I thought was right for our football team. Now I don’t know that we’re going go out there and throw the ball 80 times this week. But we might, so we’ll see.”
Daboll’s chance to show off his cooking at the grand re-opening of Sparano’s restaurant will come Monday night at Sun Life Stadium against the New England Patriots. Not only will the locals be getting a first real look, but a national television audience also will be watching with interest as quarterback Chad Henne will be charged with serving up Daboll’s playbook.
For Daboll, he wouldn’t have it any other way than to square off against the team he apprenticed with from 2002-06. Last year the Cleveland Browns served as his test kitchen and he is confident that he has worked out all of the kinks and has the right ingredients in Henne, running back Reggie Bush and wide receivers Brandon Marshall, Davone Bess, Brian Hartline and Clyde Gates to succeed.
“(Reggie) brings some different elements in terms of the passing game than maybe some other running backs in this league,” Daboll said. “He has unique ability as a space player both coming out of the backfield and lining up as a receiver. So you have to create some plays where you maybe get a linebacker or a safety on him and put him in a different spot, something that will help the quarterback identify what the coverage is and you try to use him in a variety of roles.”
There has been a real eagerness among the offensive players to unveil the full extent of Daboll’s system. They have been going against their own defense in practice for more than a month and really had only two preseason games to put bits and pieces on display.
Now that they will have the full playbook at their disposal, the skill players and the offensive linemen can’t wait to prove how different this year’s offense will be. For Bess in particular, he sees some enticing plays with his name on them in the mix.
“To a certain extent you can say this offense reminds me of the one we ran in college at the University of Hawaii,” said Bess, who had Madden-like numbers for the Warriors with 3,610 receiving yards and 41 touchdown catches in three years. “Certain formations we have and certain ways we line up definitely remind me of Hawaii. My eyes are lighting up and I’m so looking forward to it, not only for myself, just for the whole unit. We have some great weapons on this side of the ball and if we maximize everyone’s potential we can be a force to be reckoned with, and that’s what I would love to see.”
The man responsible for getting the ball to Bess – and who has made it a habit over the last two years – is Henne and he has truly embraced what Daboll is creating. A lot of that has to with the faith Daboll has shown in his quarterback.
As training camp and the preseason progressed, Henne shared more and more about how much of this offense rests on his shoulders. He has been given the freedom to change the play at the line of scrimmage based on what he sees on the other side, and with that freedom comes responsibility.
“Yeah, he’s asked to do more, no question about it,” Sparano said. “I think in the past he didn’t have as many options as he has right now at the line of scrimmage and we were into a little bit more trying to manage that part of it for him and that’s not something that I wanted as we went forward here.
“I’ve been involved in some of these other systems where like what Tom (Brady) does with his team, Peyton (Manning) does with his team, where they can kind of get you into the right play and I thought that was important to give this guy that kind of leeway at the line of scrimmage. So that’s what we’ve done.”
Daboll is not at all hesitant when it comes to the amount of responsibility he is putting on Henne’s plate and that’s because he has watched how quickly his quarterback was able to learn the offense. He also has seen Henne pass on his knowledge clearly to the rest of his unit both in the meeting rooms and out on the practice field.
“He is exceptional in the classroom,” Daboll said. “You can sit down with a player and you can watch as much tape over and over and over again and sometimes they don’t always translate that to the field when it’s operating fast. He’s been able to do that this camp. He’s seen it on the paper, he’s seen it on tape and he’s been able to go out and operate it on the practice field.
“I think that he’s done a much better job of operating in the pocket. We’ve quickened up his feet, his delivery, his eye control on the defense and his accuracy has improved because of it. He’s done a nice job, but now the real bullets are going to start flying here.”
Perhaps Daboll’s strongest characteristic is his energetic personality, and that has rubbed off on his players. There is a visible confidence among the offensive guys and considering five rookies in the fold, that’s important.
Rookie starting center Mike Pouncey has gotten a kick out of Daboll and how he motivates everybody as well as with his creativity when it comes to play calling. He has a front row seat being the guy snapping the ball.
“This year we’re just basing our whole offense off big plays,” said Pouncey, who was the 15th overall pick in April’s NFL Draft. “Obviously, we’ve got guys around us on this team that can make the big play and score a touchdown on any play so we’re looking to be an explosive offense this season.
“I can’t wait. Our key addition this year was Reggie Bush. Reggie Bush alone will win us some games, and Coach Daboll was another key addition. He is up-tempo, has a lot of energy everyday and he’s great at what he does. We’re glad he’s here and he has a lot of stuff up his sleeve that we haven’t even thrown out yet and we can’t wait to go show everybody what we can do on Monday night.”
INJURY UPDATE: Running backs Charles Clay (hamstring) and Daniel Thomas (hamstring) both did not practice for Miami. … New England’s injury report was a little more comprehensive. Right tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back) did not practice and defensive end Mark Anderson (knee), cornerback Kyle Arrington (hip), right guard Dan Connolly (foot), linebacker Jermaine Cunningham (groin), linebacker Dane Fletcher (thumb), wide receiver Taylor Price (hamstring), running back Stevan Ridley (ankle), linebacker Jeff Tarpinian (knee), running back Shane Vereen (hamstring) and left guard Ryan Wendell (calf) all were limited. Cornerback Leigh Bodden (hand) and wide receiver Julian Edelman (hand) practiced in full.
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