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Cefalo on Dolphins, Past and Present |  | ||||||||
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by
Chris Shashaty, Phins.com Columnist When it
comes to the Miami Dolphins, perhaps no one has a better and more balanced
perspective than former Dolphin wide receiver and current radio play-by-play
man Jimmy Cefalo.
During Web
Weekend II, hosted by the Miami Dolphins, Cefalo shared his views on various Dolphin
topics. Q: What’s different about the 2005 Cefalo: “The
organization is different top to bottom. There’s a new CEO, Joe Bailey, who’s a
wonderful man. He’s a terrific management style person and a people person. Mr.
(Wayne) Huizenga has done everything he can to make this a good organization. (For
example) the alumni, we have a suite upstairs where they can come and watch the
game. I don’t know of any other NFL team that does that. Sometimes I’m standing
next to Bob Griese, sometimes its (Larry) Csonka, sometimes Mark Dennard. The
organization is run the way you hope it would be run. If you had to pick the
top 100 employers in Q: What’s your assessment of head
coach Nick Saban? Cefalo: “Coach
Saban has more qualities that are Shula-like than anyone I’ve ever known. His
practices are crisp, they’re concise. It’s the way Shula ran a practice; there
was no wasted motion. He’s a disciplined man. He doesn’t smile a lot but I
don’t want my football coach smiling a lot. Football is not a democracy; it’s a
dictatorship. If there was one thing about the administration of the previous
few years, it was a democracy. That’s not the way football programs should be
run. (It should be) ‘This is what we’re doing, this is the vision, and this is
how we’re going to do it’ and Nick Saban does that as well as anybody. He’s
kind of a mad scientist defensively. He’ll hide whatever (personnel) problems
he’s got. If he thinks he doesn’t have enough speed at the safety position
he’ll hide it by blitzing linebackers or putting them in zone coverage. Will
(the Dolphins) get better as the years go? You betcha. (But he won’t answer any
questions as to how long it will be) because he does not want to give his players
(and) his coaches an excuse for not being good this season. I like that about
him.” Q: How long do you think it will
take Saban to turn the Dolphins around? Will it be three years, like what
former coach Jimmy Johnson promised? Cefalo: “As
a fan, I don’t want a three year plan. I want to win now. I’m going to be happy
with improvement, certainly. But I want to know that this organization is doing
everything it can to be a champion and I’m not going to accept anything less
than that. I like that Coach Saban says that.” Q: How long do you think Nick Saban
will stay in Cefalo: “Coach
Saban is 53 years old and signed a five year contract. He’ll be here through
those five years, I have no doubt about that. At 58, does he make a different
decision? I don’t know. It’s kind of early in the process to think about that.
He seems to like Q: What is your opinion of Saban’s coaching
staff? Cefalo: “Maybe
the best staff in football. You cannot predict what they’re going to do
offensively. In past years, we all said ‘I know what they’re going to do’.
Scott Linehan is a very good coordinator and that’s one of the big differences
in the Dolphins organization (from 2004). Hudson Houck is considered the best
line coach in football. The best free agent pick-up was Hudson Houck. There 22
assistant coaches for 53 players. I asked Don Shula how many he had in his
first year as a coach. He had 4 assistants.” Q: Can the Dolphins play Ronnie
Brown and Ricky Williams at the same time? Cefalo: “There’s
one important question (when they’re on the field at the same time): Who’s
gonna block for whom? In a passing circumstance, it’s going to be an issue for
a (defensive) coordinator when the two of them are in there. One thing was
evident whenever you watched the Miami Dolphins play: Ricky Williams was the
best football player on the field, period, on either team. They played five
preseason games and he was the best player on the field.” Q: What keeps Chris Chambers from establishing
himself as an elite wide receiver? Cefalo: “Chris Chambers has got a lot of ability. He
runs patterns extraordinarily well. He’s got terrific speed, good size, and
he’s tough. I think he’s trying to be too much of a perfectionist. He’s out
there trying to be so perfect that he’s not allowing his natural ability to
take over.” Q: As a former kick and punt
returner, what is your assessment of the return game? Cefalo:
“The Dolphins return game is one of the best in league. Wes Welker is as good
as they come. He is fast. The problem with Wes Welker is that he doesn’t have
much fear and that’s a problem for a punt returner because he’s going to get
himself killed. He’s a little guy who plays football like (former Dolphin
linebacker) John Offerdahl did. Shula used to say ‘I’m worried about Offferdahl
because he doesn’t know how to take a half step’. The Dolphins have a great
advantage in average starting position over their opponents. Coach Armstrong
has done a good job.” Q: What should the Dolphins do about
the problem with penalties? Cefalo: “The
biggest problem this team has had are double digit penalties. And I said to
(Saban), “You’re such a disciplined coach, how does this happen?” He said
‘Well, let me tell you how I’m going to try and correct it. I’m not one that
thinks a billyclub will change behavior. I simply tell the players what should
be done. And if they don’t do it, I find other players.’ Shula did this all the
time. We were the least penalized team in the NFL for 20 years. (He’d make) an
example of someone and then nobody jumped offsides again.” Q: As the new radio play-by-play man
for the Dolphins, what’s it like working with former teammates Joe Rose and Nat
Cefalo: “Joe
Rose and I have been best friends for 25 years. He’s the godfather to my
youngest daughter and I’m the godfather to his oldest son. When we go into the
booth I can look at Joe and say, on the air, “Joe, that was the dumbest thing
I’ve ever heard” and it’s okay because we’re pals. Nat Moore is kind of like a
big brother to all of us. He’s a wonderful man, smart as whip; he’s got more
football smarts than almost anybody I know. The idea was to take knowledge and
Dolphin fans and put them in the booth. You don’t want somebody in the booth
who’s not a Dolphin fan.” Q; What’s your approach to calling
the games? Cefalo: “The
way I’ve decided to call this is as a fan. I think fans want to hear the
positive. It doesn’t mean you won’t point out the bad. But what I told Coach
Saban and what I told (Joe) Bailey is that I will always be respectful with
criticism. We care about the Dolphins and what they do on the field. We also, I
hope, are able to impart some knowledge that you won’t get from another
play-by-play/color team because we’ve been there.” Q: Looking back on Super Bowl XVII,
do you think Don Shula handled the quarterback situation with David Woodley and
Don Strock the right way? Cefalo: “I
wish Coach Shula had pulled David Woodley in the third quarter of the Super
Bowl. He completed four passes that day and, truth be told, we were open a lot.
Then again, that’s an unfair statement by me because, if you ask any receiver,
they’re always open! But David was having a bad day in Pasedena and I think at
some point that Coach Shula probably should have made a change. Remember, that
was a running football team and Woodley gave us something that Don Strock
didn’t; he gave us another (running) threat at the QB position. (For example),
he’d hand the ball off to Tony Nathan and then run a pass pattern. So I think
it was the right choice (to start Woodley).” Q: You spent most of your career in
run-oriented offenses with Joe Paterno ( Cefalo: “No.
I retired to further my broadcasting career. There was no future for me in
football, especially at that time when they weren’t paying a lot of money. The
salaries weren’t always what they are today. I was a third round draft pick and
my first year salary was $35,000. I left football to make more money and to
provide for my family. Catching another hundred balls would have been okay, but
not very important.” Advertisement |
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