Miami Football News

Every weekend during professional football season, the Miami Dolphins battle against their competitors to take home a win and inch closer to a spot in the playoffs and ultimately the Super Bowl. Helping to get each of the Dolphins’ players in his best physical condition is Head Strength and Conditioning coach Evan Marcus who enters his second season with Miami and sixth with the NFL. When Marcus came onto the team in 2008, the Fins had just finished a pitiful 2007 season going 1-15. Almost an entire new staff was brought on soon after to improve the Dolphins performance including Marcus who planned to work on their strength, prevent injury, and build them into the physical team they needed to be in the NFL. His plan came to fruition as the team was more agile and strong in 2008 finishing with an 11-5 record.

Marcus has bounced around among collegiate and professional teams for almost two decades and has earned valuable experience in the strength and conditioning field. In 2007, Marcus was the head strength and conditioning coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Just prior to that one-year stint, Marcus worked in the same role with the University of Virginia for four years overseeing all 25 sports. While it was a difficult task, Marcus was successful and was received well by the Cavaliers. Marcus received his NFL start working with the New Orleans Saints from 2000-02 as the assistant strength coach. The team faired well in the rugged NFL over those three years and recorded a club record with a first-ever playoff win along with an NFC West title, both in Marcus’ first year coaching the Saints.

Marcus graduated in 1990 from Ithaca College where he was an offensive tackle for the football team and held a starting position during their NCAA Division III National Championship win. He began coaching just one year later for Arizona State University as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He held that position for two years before coaching at Rutgers in 1993, University of Maryland in 1994, University of Texas from 1995-97 and University of Louisville from 1998-1999.

Marcus is settling well into his role down in Miami and looks to keep the Dolphins in top shape as they take on the 2009 season. If the team can continue to stay strong, be physical, and remain healthy, then the Miami Dolphins might just be unstoppable.

The Miami Dolphins defense has been less than impressive over the past few years and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni plans to change that. In 2007, the Dolphins had a weak offense and an even weaker defense finishing the season with a record of 1-15. Head coach Cam Cameron was fired a long with most of the coaching staff and Pasqualoni was one of the many new coaches to be hired by the Dolphins franchise. In 2008, the defense still struggled in some areas but was able to hold off their competitors in 11 contests and finished with an 11-5 record, an AFC East win and a spot in the playoffs. Pasqualoni plans to make his defense tougher, quicker, and more agile as he enters his second season with the Dolphins.

Pasqualoni came over to the Fins from coaching the Dallas Cowboys from 20055-07 along with many of his colleagues. During his Cowboys tenure, Pasqualoni was the tight ends coach during his first year. Arguably his best success as a coach during that year was tight end Jason Witten who went for 757 yards on 66 receptions and posted six touchdowns earning a spot in the NFC Pro Bowl. He moved on to tutoring the linebackers during his last two years with Dallas and in 2006 linebackers served as three of the top four tacklers on the team. Pasqualoni’s biggest success during his years as the linebacker’s tutor was DeMarcus Ware who earned a spot on the Pro Bowl team both years and totaled nearly 26 sacks. His coaching job with the Dallas Cowboys was his first in the NFL, coaching at the collegiate ranks for 29 years prior.

Pasqualoni is best known for his 18-year role with Syracuse University, his first four as the linebacker’s coach and his last 14 as the head coach from 1987-2004. During his lengthy stay as a head coach with the Orange, Pasqualoni posted an overall record of 107-59-1 with nine bowl game appearances and three straight Big East titles. Adding on his four years as the linebacker’s coach, the team posted winning records of all but two and 13 bowl game appearances. Syracuse was a big threat in the NCAA under Pasqualoni’s watch and many of his players, 17 to be exact, went on to be drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL draft including now NFL superstars, Donovan McNabb, Keith Bulluck, and Dwight Freeney.

Syracuse wasn’t his first head coaching position although it did put him on the map. From 1982-86, Pasqualoni was the head coach and athletic director for Western Connecticut State helping to lead the football team to a 10-2 record in 1985 along with a spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs and a New England Conference championship title. For accomplishing this among other feats in his five years with WCS, he was elected to Western Connecticut’s Hall of Fame. He was also the head coach for his former high school in Connecticut from 1972-75 and then moved on to coach Southern Connecticut State for six years. His lengthy stays at his schools shows his loyalty and commitment to improving football teams. The Miami Dolphins are lucky to have someone of this stature and with this much experience. In 2009 the defense needs to be more effective, put more pressure on the quarterback, and defend better overall. If Pasqualoni can help his defense become more effective, than they might get back to the Super Bowl quicker than they even expected.

When current Miami Dolphins head strength and conditioning coach, Evan Marcus, was hired to the team at the beginning of 2008, he brought along collegue Dave Puloka to be the assistant strength and conditioning coach. They had previously been in the same roles with the Atlanta Falcons during the 2007 season, the same time the Dolphins were getting pummeled by their opponents. The Dolphins franchise hired Puloka and Marcus to help with the overall change of the team and to make them a faster, stronger, more agile threat in the NFL. In 2008, the Fins improved their 1-15 record to 11-5 and showed promise to becoming a top team in coming years.

Before his first NFL coaching position with the Falcons in 2007, Puloka worked with the University of Virginia from 2005-06. He understands what it takes to be a quality football player, which helps with his coaching in the gym, because he was a football and track athlete at Holy Cross College. He played defensive end and totaled 19 sacks during his years on the team.

Puloka has a good leader in Marcus and the coaching team should be able to get the Dolphins in top shape so that they have their best opportunity to go far during the 2009 season.

The Miami Dolphins started fresh in 2008 and hired an almost all new coaching staff. Among these was David Lee who was placed on as quarterback’s coach, arguably one of the most difficult positions. And this position was even more difficult than normal for Lee because of the Miami Dolphins poor performance in 2007 resulting in a 1-15 record. But Lee and starting quarterback Chad Pennington formed a powerful bond and Pennington went on to lead his Fins to an 11-5 record in 2008, along with an AFC East title leading them into the playoffs. Although this will be only Lee’s sixth year in the NFL, he has 29 years of experience at the collegiate level proving that he is quite capable to help build an offense.

Just one year prior to joining the ranks in Miami, Lee tutored the quarterback’s and ran the offense at the University of Arkansas from 2004-2007. Arkansas was a high scoring team in 2007 averaging nearly 40 points good enough for a 12th place national ranking. Ranked fourth nationally was the running unit averaging almost 290 yards. This wasn’t the first time Lee dawned the Arkansas logo. From 1984-1988, Lee worked with a team that went 45-15-1 and saw action in five bowl games. He also returned to the team for two years from 2001-02 and tutored some of the quartberacks including Matt Jones and Tarvaris Jackson both of who went on to become players in the NFL. Following his second stint with the Razorbacks, Lee received his first NFL coaching experience working with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003-06. He began as the offensive quality control coach and tacked on quarterback’s coach as well in 2005. Under his watch, popular Dallas quarterback Tony Romo began as just an undrafted free agent and has been the starting quarterback since 2006.

While Lee has obvious experience working with several teams’ offense, he also has some at the head coaching position where he served the team at Texas-El Paso from 1989-93. His first coaching position came in 1975 tutoring the receivers and quarterbacks at Tennessee-Martin. He also worked at Vanderbilt, which was also his alma mater where he was the quarterback and served as team captain while earning his undergraduate degree. Following his period working as the quarterbacks coach at Vanderbilt, Lee moved on to work in the same position at the University of Mississippi. He then went on to work at the University of New Mexico before starting his first of three coaching stints at Arkansas.

Because Lee was such a successful player in the quarterback position, it is only fitting that he is a great coach as well. And he has proved that over the past 29 seasons. The Miami Dolphins have the quality of coach in Lee and the rest remains up to their execution, but with the improvement that was seen in 2008, it should be no problem for the Dolphins to climb back to the top.

When Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano hired Dan Hennings as the offensive coordinator in 2008, it seemed like a blast from the past. 2008 did not mark the first time Hennings wore aqua, coral, navy blue, and white in his career. He had previously been the quarterbacks and receiver’s coach in 1979-80 for the Fins under then-head coach Don Shula. During this period he worked with tight end Joe Rose who has been quoted saying that Hennings was the best teacher he had ever had. Hennings would need to be a great teacher once again to Dolphins players when he signed on to coach Miami in 2008. Miami was a lackluster team who went 1-11 during the 2007 season. The Miami franchise saw a major face lift after that season and most figureheads and the coaching staff were let go. Sparano thought Hennings would be the perfect addition and although he had been in retirement for two years, he decided it was something he needed and wanted to do. In 2008, Hennings reshaped the Miami offense and after a shaky first couple weeks, the Fins went on to make big improvements and earn an 11-5 record including an AFC East win and a birth into the playoffs. The offense who had placed 28th in the NFL in 2007 hopped, skipped, and jumped up to the 12th spot in 2008. A little bit of shaking up is just what Miami needed last year and if their improvement continues at the same pace, they’ll be right at the top this season.

Hennings is no amateur when it comes to coaching in the NFL. Now entering his 30th season as a coach, Hennings has coached Bob Griese, John Riggins, Joe Theismann, Dan Fouts and the great Joe Namath among hundreds of other players. He has also had experience working with two other 1-15 teams including the New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers. The Sporting News ranked Hennings as the third-best offensive coordinator in the NFL, an impressive feat for any coach.

Prior to coming out of retirement in 2008, Hennings worked with the Carolina Panthers from 2002-06. He had much success with a team that saw action in two NFC Championship games, one leading to a Super Bowl appearance. Five of his players during this time earned Pro Bowl appearances including quarterback Jack Delhomme who began as just an undrafted free agent and went on to make 89 touchdown passes in four years good enough for fifth-highest in the league.

Hennings served as the quarterback’s coach for the New York Jets for two years in addition to the offensive coordinator position during his last year. The team seemed to thrive with his coaching style and the Jets earned a 12-4 record in 1998 and saw play in the AFC Championship Game. Quarterback Vinny Testeverde had the best season of his career and led the AFC and was second in the league.

Hennings has not only flourished in the offensive coordinator position but in the head coaching position as well with the Atlanta Hawks and San Diego Chargers. He’s also worked with the Houston Oilers, Virginia Tech University, Florida State University, Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills and worked with the Jets and the Dolphins at two different points in his career. His experience as a coach is evident and unquestionably successful. The Dolphins are lucky that a coach of this caliber is on board and if his past success is any indication with how well Miami will do, then the possibilities are endless.

Standing right beside head coach Tony Sparano with similar coaching theories and the same passion about football is assistant head coach and secondary coach Todd Bowles who joins the Miami Dolphins for his second season. The Dolphins improved drastically from its 2007 season, which finished at 1-11, and finished in 2008 with a record of 11-5. Some of this improvement can be credited to Bowles who helped the Dolphins secondary record four more interceptions than the previous year. These plays are key in taking the advantage over opponents. Bowles understands this and is working to make sure his team can deliver in 2009.

Just before heading down south, Bowles worked with Dolphins Executive Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcels and Sparano in Dallas, Texas with the Dallas Cowboys. He worked as the team’s secondary coach. The Cowboys have always been an impressive team and one to watch out for in the NFL. During Bowles’ tenure, many of the players did not disappoint including three who earned a spot in the NFL Pro Bowl over five years under his coaching. Proving that his coaching of the backfield was stellar, three-fourths of this unit was selected to the NFC All-Star squad. His secondary along with the rest of the Cowboys picked off 52 passes, good enough for third highest in the NFC during the years he was there. It was clear that his coaching helped the team improve dramatically during his time in Texas. Bowles went to the Cowboys from the Cleveland Browns where he spent four years under two different coaching titles including secondary coach in his last year and defensive nickel package coach in his first three years. A notable achievement for the Browns franchise under Bowles was in 2003 when the team tied for the fewest allowed touchdowns during a 16-game season with 13 passing TD’s. The defense also earned a ranking of 15th in the NFL. During his last year with the Browns, and in his new secondary coaching position, his unit finished fifth in best pass defense in the league.
Before embarking on his secondary coach stints at Cleveland, Dallas, and Miami, Bowles got his start with the NFL and with the New York Jets as the defensive backs coach in 2000. During his one year with the green team, he helped the defense reach a sixth place ranking in 2000, significantly better than the 24th place ranking just one-year prior. Coaching for the NFL was the true dream but Bowles got some experience under his belt working for Grambling State University as defensive coordinator and defensive back coach and at Morehouse College as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach.

Bowles not only has coaching experience in the NFL, but playing experience as well, as he spent eight seasons as a defensive back with the Washing Redskins including a pivotal start during Super Bowl XXII where the team went on to win the coveted world title. He also played one year in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers.

Bowles has plenty of experience, but delivery on the field is what Miami Dolphins fans are looking for. As Bowles and the Miami Dolphins embark on the 2009-2010 season, football fans across the nation will be watching to see if this is the year Miami makes its comeback.

The Miami Dolphins need to focus on a strong special teams unit throughout the 2009-2010 football season. Helping them achieve this power is special teams coordinator John Bonamego who has one year under his belt with the Fins and is looking to continue his work during his second year. After a mediocre season at best last year with special teams, fans, critics, and the Miami Dolphins franchise are hoping that Bonamego has done something different with the team during training so that they can flourish in the area as opposed to being slammed like last year. The special teams unit finished 30th in the NFL last season and this was a huge hit for the team with weakness in all positions. But head coach Tony Sparano stands behind Bonamego and is confident that he is the man that can get the job done. Bonamego, himself, also feels solid going into the 2009 season and is ready for the competition. With returners like Ted Ginn Jr. and Davone Bess, and newcomers like Brian Hartline and Vontae Davis, there will be competition for those special teams slots and you can be sure Bonamego will select the best for the job on gameday.

Prior to his Dolphins start in 2008, Bonamego worked with the New Orleans Saints for two years as special teams coordinator. He was able to make convincing improvements with the special teams unit almost immediately and this part of the Saints is what helped them reach a 10-6 record in 2006 and earn the NFC South title. The team, as a whole, did poorly in 2007 and finished with a 7-9 season. Before Bonamego headed south to Louisiana in 2006, he worked with the special teams of the Green Bay Packers from 2003-2005 and the Jacksonville Jaguars starting in 1999. During his six years in northern Florida, his special units team blocked 13 kicks, seven that were field goals, four punts and two PAT’s. He worked with now Dolphins head coach Sparano briefly in Jacksonville as well.

Bonamego was a football player himself and played ball for Central Michigan before embarking on his coaching journey, which began in 1987. He worked his way from the high school division and through three colleges before landing a gig with the NFL, where he now considers his home. He has a lot of experience that will prove beneficial for the Miami Dolphins and after a disappointing first year in Miami, he is looking to prove to skeptics why he was hired. The Dolphins had a lot to deal with last year with changes in coaching, franchise positions, and player changes so as the 2009 season approaches, they should be more comfortable after a year with the staff. Bonamego plans to do whatever he needs to help his special teams unit contribute to the Dolphins rise back to the top.