Dolphins coach Tony Sparano says Parcells decision to step down as VP of Football Operations does not affect the Dolphins approach to the 2010 season.
Dolphins coach Tony Sparano insisted the team approach’s to the season will not change now that GM Jeff Ireland has taken over Bill Parcells role as VP of Football Operations.
“It really doesn’t affect me in my day-to-day dealings right now one way or the other to be honest with you,” Sparano told ESPN.com. “This is something that’s probably more important to you the media right now and it affects you more than it affects me from my end. My day-to-day dealings mostly are with Jeff Ireland. He’s the guy I talked to five, six times a day.”
On Tuesday, Parcells stepped down from the player personnel role he held with Miami since late 2007. In that time he helped assemble a team that went from a 1-15 season to AFC East champions in one year. He will still deal with the team on a daily basis as a consultant.
Sparano explained there was nothing shocking about the change, as it was Parcells’ plan all along to eventually turn over player decision power to Ireland, a former national scout for the coach when he headed the Cowboys from 2003-2006.
“The timing, to me, doesn’t seem peculiar one way or the other,” Sparano said. “When I came in here as the head coach and Jeff, Bill and I were together for the first time, we knew this was part of the plan and it was eventually going to happen. So the timing really is not something that [is], honestly, an inconvenience.”
QB Chad Henne said the players consider the Dolphins’ “Tony Sparano’s team”, as they don’t interact with front office officials such as Parcells and Ireland all that much.
“Coach Parcells overlooks everything, but Coach Sparano’s with us every day, so this is his team,” Henne said. “Our leader’s Coach Sparano. We believe in him, and that’s where we’re going to stick our heads to. We just got to worry about what we have to accomplish through our leader in Coach Sparano.”
While preparing for Miami’s opener in Buffalo on Sunday, Sparano joked that just because nothing is different, it doesn’t mean his job has gotten any less grueling.
“My day didn’t get longer today,” Sparano said. “It’s still a 16-, 17-hour day.”