Hey It's Tony! Sparano Finally Talks

Tony Sparano has been the quiet child that rarely gets to talk, sits at the table with the adults and speaks only when spoken to.  While he sits there he mulls over the menu, moves around the peas on his plate and waits to be remembered.  After quietly sitting for so long, that child finally gets his chance to shine.  Tony Sparano finally gets to talk.

First Tony talked about the offensive line and the glaring need for a LG and RT and says that the Dolphins plan to address the issue in the Draft…perhaps a tip of the hat to one if not both of the teams first team picks.  If that fails…a not likely scenario given the draft slotting of the Phins, the team would look toward adding from a used up free agent pool before the start of training camp.

While Tony attended his first league meetings, he received congratulations and welcomes from his new brethren of NFL head coaches.  Gary Kubiak and Shaun Payton offered advice.  Payton gave some insight into the man that the Miami Dolphins now call head coach.

"“He’s seen this process and has been taught very well,” Payton said. “He’ll be very judicious in his decision-making. He won’t be afraid to ask for advice and help. I think he’s prepared very well for this spot.”“But the reason he’ll do well is because the players will trust what he’s trying to tell them, and they’ll buy into what he’s telling them,” Payton said. “His ability to communicate has always been one of his strong suits. He’s effective at communicating to the players what he feels like they need to get better at. He’s very honest with them. There’s no hidden agendas with him.”"

So while Sparano learns the ropes, he at least has a guy down the hall that has been one of the best.

In this afternoons Sun-Sentinel, Omar Kelly who is quickly becoming one of the more reliable south Florida Dolphins beat writers, took the time to get Sparano’s opinion on this years free agency crop.  To read what Sparano said about the some of those individuals and how they will fit in with the team, simply continue reading.

"It’s a challenge, and I love challenges. That’s why I’m here. I get up every single morning, and I sleep very little at night, because I’m excited about what I’m doing. I look forward to the challenge. We know it’s a challenge. We know it’s a lot of hard work that lays ahead of us, but I enjoy it.” Sparano Said."

Jason Ferguson: “I’ve had the opportunity to work with Jason for a while in Dallas and from my end, when you are blocking these guys ever week you are looking for the hardest guys to move. Jason is one of the hardest guys in our league to move and that’s a compliment. He’s a big strong, physical player inside that provides some leadership. He has some outstanding leadership skills and can bring those things to the table. I don’t like to say this one way or the other because it’s not important to me, but he does know our way and that helps a little bit. He understands what lies ahead for the next several months.”

Ernest Wilford: “Our history has been that we have those kind of receivers – Keyshawn [Johnson], Terrell [Owens]- those big physical receivers. But Ernest, honestly, he’s a guy that jumped out at us as a guy that could really make a difference for us and complement some of the players we have right now. So he’s coming in and he knows he has a great opportunity to compete as well.”

Trey Darilek: “I’ve had history with [him] in Dallas. I like Trey, I know what Trey does. He’s a hard competitor and he’s a tough guy. That’s what we want to find in our offensive line. We’re not going to take people just to take people because there’s a hole. We got to make sure they’re the right people. At the end of this process it may not be the best 53, it will be the right people. And that’s important. It’s important my players understand that right now. We’re going to take the right 53 players.”

Sean Ryan: “He’s a guy that nobody has mentioned right now. But Sean, I’m excited about. I know him. He’s a tough guy. He brings toughness to our team. He has the makeup. He’s a smart, tough, disciplined football player. I really like [David] Martin. He’s an athletic player. He’s a big, athletic player. It’s an interesting position. Justin Peelle, I know a lot about. So we have some guys there that are young players that have some history in our league right now. They’ve played on special teams. That’s a position for us that’s going to be an important position as we get on in this thing. They’re going to have to do an awful lot.”

Reggie Torbor: “He’s a guy we’ve had the opportunity to play against several times with the Giants and I like the way he plays. He’s an active player, a physical player that provides some pass rush ability every once in a while with the rush. He’s a big physical lineman.”

Randy Starks: “He’s a young player who has played a lot of downs in Tennessee. He’s only missed maybe one or two games due to injury, which is a positive for us. We’re looking for guys that can come in and play for the long haul. He’s an arrow up guy right now, with a lot of upside. We’re excited about that. When you can find defensive linemen that can show up every week and be snap eaters for you that’s a positive.  “Starks is a guy that can play inside or outside so he’s one of these snap-eaters we’re talking about. He can play inside or outside. With Matt Roth with Ferguson, with Vonnie [Holliday], with Starks, now you start to create some depth there at a couple of different positions with guys that can do some things at a couple of different places depending on what we do – whether it’s three technique or one technique, or play four technique.”

Nate Jones: “Honestly, one of the things that we did when we came here and watched all this film is we saw a lot of young players back there that we were really excited about. When we watched them, that they had a lot of upside and they got us curious. So we thought when we were watching these guys, that maybe there were a few more pieces back there than we thought. So we’re interested and excited to get them out on the field. Now Nate is a guy that has played for us and again, he’s one of those that people think you signed a special teams player but for us, he’s a guy who’s going to compete to be a corner. And one thing I know about Nate Jones is that he competes and he competes hard every single day.”

Keith Davis and Chris Crocker: “Keith Davis honestly is one of the toughest players that we’ve had the opportunity to coach. This is tough and he brings toughness to your team. And Crocker is a guy I’ve played against several times in our league and we think he’s outstanding safety, cover guy. He always gets some hands on some balls and it’s no secret there’s guys hurt in our secondary right now. And that can’t be an area where we have guys hurt and have success in our league.”

Dave Rayner: “He can kick the ball off. He’s a good young kicker with a live leg and we’ll take a look at him and see what we have. But again, no different, and take nothing away from Jay [Feely]. Jay’s done an outstanding job. I mean 21 of 23 or somewhere in that range, he really has done a great job. But again, we really want competition at every single position. The quicker our players understand that, the better off we’ll be.”

Charlie Anderson: “We’ve had the opportunity in Dallas to play against him an awful lot. We played him in the preseason, we played him once or twice in the regular season. And we get out on the field and he just jumps out at you because he’s this big, good looking guy that can run and he presents some problems that way. He’s a young player, like a few of these guys we’ve signed that’s looking for an opportunity. But he gives you that big linebacker we need in our league to be durable that maybe can help in some pass rush but can still play in coverage and do some things that way.”