Saying Goodbye To Tony Sparano
A Difficult Goodbye
The football community is hurting this week as we say goodbye to Tony Sparano.
His 31-42 record as a head coach with the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders doesn’t stand out, but his legacy will never be forgotten.
Sparano’s career spanned 19 seasons in the NFL, with stops in Cleveland, Washington (DC), Jacksonville, Dallas, Miami, New York (Jets) and Oakland, and he approached every opportunity with both class and professionalism.
He had settled into a role as the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive line coach in 2016, and was about to enter his third season under head coach Mike Zimmer, when news of his passing from heart disease broke Sunday.
He was 56.
Beyond The Numbers
When Bill Parcells hired Sparano in 2008, the Dolphins were coming off a franchise-worst 1-15 season, and the South Florida sports community was desperate.
Sparano was fearless when it came to creativity.
In his first season with the ‘Phins, before a Week 3 game against the New England Patriots, Dolphins quarterbacks coach David Lee approached Sparano with an offensive concept that had largely been used exclusively in college football. Lee, who had been an offensive coordinator at Arkansas, believed that with the tandem of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, the Wildcat offense would work.
Sparano agreed.
Brown and Williams combined for 211 yards and four touchdowns, as the Dolphins embarrassed their AFC East foe in a 38-13 victory. Following the game, future Hall of Famer Bill Belichick admitted he had been outcoached by Sparano and the Dolphins’ staff.
Miami would go on to dethrone the perennial division heavyweights from New England, rushing for 1,897 yards and 18 touchdowns with the Wildcat in 2008. The Dolphins completed a 10-game turnaround, going 11-5, and made their first playoff run in seven seasons; which culminated in a 27-9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the first round.
Legacy
Sparano isn’t going to go to the Hall of Fame, but his offensive gamble changed the league forever.
Rather than disappear, the Wildcat found its way into playbooks leaguewide, and eventually evolved into other creative offensive sets that have helped teams win games in both the regular season, playoffs and Super Bowl.
Aviante Collins, a tackle for the Vikings, said Sparano was “like a father figure,” and that’s how it always felt. Even from afar, you could feel the special bond Sparano shared with his teams, players and communities.
In Miami, he was instrumental in the Dolphins turnaround, but more than that he was able to reach the fanbase of a football town that didn’t have much to be inspired by, and this cemented his legacy in South Florida.
He is survived by his wife, three children and four grandchildren, but Anthony Joseph Sparano III will be missed by all.
