Tony Sparano Channels Inner Bill Parcells Before Ravens Game

Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East

DAVIE, Fla. -- Considering how influential Bill Parcells has been on Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano's career it never comes as a surprise how much he references the man who hired him in Miami during his press conferences.

The third-year head coach shares the same philosophy as Parcells when it comes to the type of football team he is building and the importance he places on being physical and disciplined. So whenever he is asked to explain a personnel decision or a play call in a specific situation Sparano tends to use examples from when he coached under Parcells in Dallas to make his point.

On Friday, Sparano shared with the South Florida media his best Parcells imitation while explaining how the communication process between himself and his assistant coaches works during a game. The moment of levity came as he described why it is that he covers his mouth at times when he's actually calling a play.

"When I was calling plays in Dallas I used to have my sheet in front of me and I would make the call and then one day all of a sudden I got hit with a game plan," said Sparano, mimicking a game plan hitting him in the head. "I turned and looked and said, 'What?' And it was Bill. And he's like, 'Will you cover your mouth? Everybody can see.' And I never really thought about it so then I thought, 'All right, I need to cover my mouth.' So now it's just habit."

Earlier in the press conference as he gave examples of when he has to interfere with the chatter going on on the headsets Sparano brought up Parcells again.

"Sometimes I will interject and sometimes there's chaos on the line," he said. "Sometimes there's a lot of talk and I just need to get on the phone and say, 'Hey fellas, let's shut up here. Let's let the guy call the game.' That used to happen to me. I used to know this fella named Bill Parcells, he used to be in my ear constantly, and that wasn't always good either."

Parcells is now officially a team consultant after stepping down from his title as executive vice president of football operations the week before the season opener at Buffalo. He finished cleaning out his office at the team's training facility during Miami's road trip to Green Bay, but he and Sparano still stay in constant contact.

 

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