After leading his squad to a less than stellar 4-9 record, Tony Sparano was released from his coaching duties by the NFL’s Miami Dolphins on Dec. 12. The move wasn’t a complete surprise to most fans as rumors about his job being on the line had been circulating for several weeks. The club also announced that its assistant head coach and secondary coach Todd Bowles has temporarily been named the interim coach.
Stephen Ross, the Dolphins’ owner, called a news conference to break the news to the press and thanked his ex-coach on several occasions for all of the work he did for the team and for helping build a great foundation for the next head coach to build upon. He said he’s looking to hire a coach who will be able to convert the team into a contender each season.
He added that it was the right time to make a coaching change as the team seemed to be stuck in neutral under Sparano. He added that the club will have a lot of time to interview candidates and hire a new coach that can lead the team to the glory that it enjoyed in the past. He said he’s in no hurry to hire somebody and will keep looking for as long as it takes to find the perfect match. He said he’d like to find a young Don Shula-type coach and it’s important the new man will be able to work well with Ireland.
Ross said he felt that all of the speculation and rumors about Sparano’s job with the team was becoming an unnecessary distraction. The writing seemed to be on the wall for Sparano after the Dolphins stumbled out of the gate and were 0-7 before they knew what hit them. However, things improved dramatically after that with Miami winning four out of their next five contests.
But it seemed that Ross had made up his mind to replace the coach and the turnaround in fortunes couldn’t save him. Sparano found out that he had lost his job shortly after GM Jeff Ireland and Ross made their final decision and after he held is regular Monday press conference.
Ross said Sparano wasn’t too happy with the move and that was understandable since he gave everything he had to the Dolphins since being hired. He added that the coach put his heart and soul into his job, but understood why the move was made and may have even been relieved by it because of the pressure he’s been under lately.
Sparano leaves the Dolphins with a 29-32 record. He led the team to an 11-5 record in his first year as a head coach as well as the AFC East title in 2008. It was also the franchise’s only postseason appearance since 2001.
