Not only will the 2009 Miami Dolphins be the most physically imposing Dolphins team since the undefeated 1972 season but they will also be one of the most physical teams in the entire NFL this year. There I said it. Now I’ll tell you why.
Attitude is contagious. Imposing your will is contagious. Believing is contagious. Winning is contagious. Success breeds confidence and vice versa. If we have learned anything from last year’s 11-5 season it is that. Just as the 1-15 season the year prior showed losing and lack of confidence was an epidemic.
It all starts at the top. Bill Parcells came in on December 20, 2007 and immediately cleaned house. The man is brilliant in his approach. He brought attitude, swagger, and confidence and instilled a fear and discipline that was previously lacking. He was uncompromising and didn’t care who you were or what your name was; just ask Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor and Chris Chambers. He cross-referenced age and contract with talent and attitude and if you didn’t meet his standards you were leaving town, period. He eliminated the weak. Between January 2 and February 4 he had already replaced 18 coaches and staff members starting with the hiring of Jeff Ireland and firing of Cam Cameron the following day. The coaching staff was in tact in the persona of Parcells himself led by one of his most revered disciples, Tony Sparano. Attitude was coming.
Once natural selection was complete it was important to replace the weak and now missing players with the strong, fierce, ambitious and driven athlete with of course the perfect combination of price tag and age. Over the coming months there were more player transactions than Britney Spears panty shots. Tuna and Sparano bringing in a “type” of player that would have that attitude and swagger that the Dolphins regime was so hell bent on getting. Before the draft they had already signed 24 players, most of which former players and/or players well scouted by Parcells and Sparano, with another 20 players waived. If that’s not an over haul than what the hell is? This does 2 things and both of which are essential to being successful in the NFL. It puts the fear of god into each and every player as they realize that they are next unless they bring their A game and it brings a healthy competition to every position, which always makes you better.
The Draft was also vital as they drafted youth, talent, need and attitude to fill roster spots and immediately come in with an opportunity to compete for the starting job. Jake Long, Phillip Merling, Chad Henne, Kendall Langford and Donald Thomas last year and Vontae Davis, Sean Smith, Patrick Turner and say pat White this year. Let’s not forget the key Free Agent signings of Davone bess, Dan Carpenter, Cameron Wake, Charlie Anderson, Brandon London, Reggie Torbor, Justin Smiley and now Gibril Wilson, Jake Grove and Eric Green among many others. Some will fail, some will succeed but all will come in with an attitude, style and effort that Parcells and Co. covets thus making the entire team better.
A brilliant, yet disturbingly simple, blueprint to success.
Of course it took some luck along the way; Brett Favre and his ever annoying, (Don’t get me started on his newest comeback story) and never-ending career, allowing us to contract Chad Pennington. Sans Ernest Wilford no real busts via Free Agency or the Draft. Tom Brady getting injured. A last place schedule littered with jet-lagged teams. The gimmicky Wildcat formations that caught teams off guard and out of position that were already underestimating the Dolphins and their chances of actually beating them. All of which may be true, but winning breeds confidence and these Miami Dolphins, at the very start at least, will be bringing attitude and swagger and are chomping at the bit to bang heads and impose their will on opponents.
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