Tony Sparano has officially been axed by the Don. Jay Glazer reported late this afternoon that Tony Sparano has been fired and Todd Bowles will replace him as the intern head coach for the Miami Dolphins.
Tony Sparano took over the Dolphins as Bill Parcells’ hand-picked head coach, and led them to a 11-5 playoff berth, but after that it went all downhill. After underachieving to a 7-9 record in 2010, the Dolphins got off to a 0-7 and it was largely in part to Sparano’s conservative coaching style.
However being a Miami Dolphins fan I first want to say that I respect Tony Sparano the person and wish him nothing but the best in the future. That being said, as a head coach the man was very flawed. Sparano’s game management skills were as weak as any coach in the league and Tony was too content with settling for field goals — giving his famous fist pump — while fans built up anger wishing for a less conservative style of offense.
Sparano is an offensive live coach at heart, yet the inconsistent play of the O Line, highlighted by Jake Long’s subpar season, was just one of many factors that led to this firing. Despite the fact that Sparano had a light a fire under his players in recent weeks, it was clear that the coach was not the solution long term.
The Dolphins have struggled to build a consistent fan base at the stadium and that is something that owner Stephen Ross will definitely take into consideration when trying to find the team’s next head coach.
Jeff Fisher, Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher are probably the 3 most attractive names on the coaching market and don’t be surprised if Ross is able to land one of them. With the Dolphins’ most recent loss this week, they are set up quite nicely to land Matt Barkley or RG3, making them an attractive choice for a new head coach. (Not to mention: who doesn’t love South Beach?)
So the day has finally come for Dolfans to mourn and to rejoice the departure of Tony Sparano.
