Falcons, Dolphins are NFL's top turnarounds
by Jimmy Johnson
Updated: December 15, 2008, 1:23 PM EST 17 comments add this RSS blog email Print When you look at Atlanta, everything they have done has gone right. Owner Arthur Blank changed the entire organization. He hired Tom Dimitroff as the general manager and to handle personnel. Then they brought in an unproven NFL assistant in Mike Smith as head coach and he put together a great coaching staff.
Let's list his assistant coaches. Keith Armstrong is one of the league's top special teams coaches. Paul Boudreau is a proven and quality offensive line coach. Terry Robiskie is the receivers coach, but he's been one of the top all-around coaches in the league for years. Mike Mularkey is the offensive coordinator and he has been a head coach in this league. And then they make a great pick in quarterback Matt Ryan and then they make a great free-agent signing in Michael Turner from San Diego. So this wasn't just one move. This was a series of excellent moves, one right after another. Bill Musgrave, the quarterbacks coach, has worked great with Ryan, too.
That's what it takes to win in the NFL — you have to bring in top people across the board. You just can't change one person. Or, go get one player, and then expect to change the look of your team.
The Miami Dolphins did the same thing. They hired Bill Parcells, a proven winner in this league. Bill knows what he wants and he brought in Jeff Ireland to handle personnel and hired Tony Sparano as head coach. And they made a deal to bring in quarterback Chad Pennington when the Jets gave up on him, deciding that Brett Favre was better. Remember, Parcells drafted Pennington when he was running the Jets. He knew what he was getting at quarterback in Pennington. And that's been a huge upgrade for Miami's offense. He just set a Miami record with 17 consecutive completions. They made a few other personnel moves to fill in some spots and then made a great pick in Jake Long at offensive tackle with their first pick.
In some ways, these two organizations did the same thing. That's why I think the NFC Coach of the Year should be Mike Smith and the AFC Coach of the Year should be Tony Sparano.
Parcells is responsible for bringing in Ireland and Sparano. And Dimitroff was instrumental in hiring Smith although we know they talked to Jason Garrett and Steve Spagnuolo after Blank was rejected by Pete Carroll and Bill Cowher. So, you don't ever start in the middle and hire a general manager. You start at the top and then you work yourself down.
Dimitroff deserves credit for hiring Smith, but I have to believe that he worked with his head coach before pulling the trigger on Ryan and Turner. I'm sure they worked together on those moves and all of their personnel decisions. I'm sure the same thing happened in Miami. Parcells worked with Ireland and Sparano in Dallas and he knew how they thought and approached the game.
Once the teams are put together, then you turn it over to your head coaches. Once the season starts and your team is put together it falls on the shoulders of your head coach.
This kind of first-year success makes total sense to me. Ever since free agency has come into play, we have seen teams win four games one year and then pretty soon they are going to the Super Bowl. Consequently, turning it around in one year is not impossible. And turning it around in two years is very doable. But again, it doesn't mean just getting one or two players. And it doesn't mean simply getting that new head coach. If you are at the bottom it means changing the entire attitude of the entire organization and bringing in the right people in administration and the coaching roles and adding some talent.
Record-wise, the Dolphins are the most impressive turnaround because they won only one game last season and have already won nine games. Atlanta parallels what Miami has done so far. But in a lot of people's eyes, Atlanta was rock bottom after the Bobby Petrino-Michael Vick headache. So the public perception is that Atlanta has done a better job overall.
You can look around the league and say this can also be done with other franchises. But it can't be done with the Raiders. Why? Because you are not going to have this complete change of structure with Al Davis still owning the team. This is why I can say Detroit can do it. They are ripe for this. They are ripe to bring in a new attitude at the top. They are ripe — and no offense to Rod Marinelli and Martin Mayhew who are there — to try a new structure with a new general manager and a new head coach because they have some good young players. Calvin Johnson is as good a talent as any wide receiver in the league. Kevin Smith is an outstanding running back. So Detroit does have a couple good players.
People will say what about Cleveland? But are they going to do it piecemeal and just add one or two people or change the whole attitude?
I think the whole key on a guy like Bill Cowher, who is the most mentioned coach to save a franchise these days, is to consider what happened to me. It was very difficult for me to have the same passion with the Dolphins that I had with the Cowboys. I had two years working on the FOX pregame show and I enjoyed my lifestyle. I loved my lifestyle, to be honest. I had already won a couple of Super Bowls. It was difficult for me to have the same passion my second time around.
I think that's happened before with other coaches. I think that happened with Joe Gibbs. I think it happened with Bill Parcells. My record at Miami over four years was pretty good. I won a couple playoff games and my record was better than Parcells'. But the perception was that Parcells fixed the Cowboys. So I don't know what the answer really is.
The safe way to go is with someone who is proven like Cowher. But I am not sure if you will get the same passion. That's the safe way. The bigger upside is to get a young, hungry, energetic coach like Mike Smith or John Harbaugh or Tony Sparano. There is a bigger upside than getting the proven guy, but there is also a bigger risk because you are liable to hire somebody who is not ready.
But the safe way with someone like Cowher is that you know you are going to get all the bases covered. Hey, when I came back I was in the playoffs three straight years and it was good, but it was not what it could have been.
Some playoff thoughts
Overall, I like Carolina. They are playing super right now running the ball and playing defense. But what scares me is the inconsistent play of quarterback Jake Delhomme. For them winning the whole thing, I just don't trust Delhomme because he has had some bad games and he hasn't been great on third downs, either. That's their Achilles' heel as far as I'm concerned. The running game is saving them right now. But once you get to the playoffs, where every game is against a quality team, Delhomme is going to have to perform at a high level.
What about Tennessee? I think teams have figured them out a little bit. They know what their strength is and I think Tennessee has lost a little of its zip once they kind of got it cruising. Now, that doesn't mean that Jeff Fisher can't get it back. Pittsburgh had a big win in Baltimore, but you still have to wonder whether the Steelers have enough offense to win it all.
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