Dolphins News: Cooking with Bill Parcells

Rebuilding the franchise in his own image, it was no surprise yesterday when Bill Parcells tabbed Tony Sparano as the new Miami Dolphins head coach. While Jeff Ireland was installed as the general manager on January 2nd, make no mistake about it: This is Parcells' team.

He will not only buy the groceries, but he'll also hire and fire all the cooks. Sous chefs Ireland and Sparano know that going in.

The good news for Dolphins fans is that Parcells knows talent, not only on the field but on the sidelines and in the front office. Ireland will be Parcells' eyes and ears on the college scene–sort of his scout savant. He worked with Parcells in Dallas from 2003 through 2006 and 12 of the 22 starters on the current 13-3 Cowboys team were brought in during those years.

Sparano has the perfect pedigree to run a Parcells-designed team. In addition to serving on Parcells' staff as assistant head coach and offensive line skipper in Dallas for four years, Sparano's NFL resume is strong in the areas that matter most to Parcells.

Parcells has proven over the years to be adamant about controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Prior to joining Parcells in Dallas, Sparano was the O-line coach in Cleveland and tight ends coach in Washington and Jacksonville. In all three cases, those areas were strong squads on each team.

Given Parcells' fondness for tight end-based offensive schemes (see Mark Bavaro, Ben Coates and Jason Witten), Sparano is his guy. He shares an offensive mind with Parcells, so don't look for Parcells to bring in a high-profile offensive coordinator (like Norm Chow, whom Tennessee just fired). Instead, look for him to bring in a young, moldable offensive mind to become the next generation of Parcells' coaching tree.

With the offensive leadership in place, the next step will be to bring in a creative and hard-nosed defensive coach.

Rob Ryan in Oakland would be the perfect fit for a Parcells-constructed team, but Al Davis may not be willing to let Ryan go. Ryan has one more year on his contract in Oakland, and Davis already took Ryan's side when Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin wanted to cut Ryan loose.

If, however, Davis decides to let Ryan go after a disappointing 2007, Parcells will almost certainly show interest.

For the past two years, Ryan has run a four-man rush base defense in Oakland that included little blitzing and man coverage on the corners. Parcells favors that sort of macho defensive approach, and above all else, he has a great eye for the type of players who fit into his system.

Parcells will bring the players in and if Ryan doesn't become available, look for the former to seek out an aggressive defensive coordinator to complete the Dolphins' core coaching staff.

Of course, there are still lots of groceries left to buy. But regardless of which person Parcells brings in to head the defense, he'll know–just as Ireland and Sparano do–that Parcells is the head chef.

The rest of the group is just the kitchen prep team.