Cowboys fans are still trying to figure out when assistant head coach Tony Sparano became such a hot commodity. He worked his way up from tight ends coach to offensive play-caller in four years, but remained in Bill Parcells' witness protection program, which prevented coaches from making eye contact with reporters and neighborhood children.
New Orleans, San Diego and Cleveland all tried to make Sparano their offensive coordinator at some point, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones exercised his veto power each time. Sparano was devastated when he wasn't allowed to follow Sean Payton to the Saints in 2006.
Parcells continued to lean on him heavily while barely acknowledging his important role in public. On the few occasions Sparano was allowed to talk to reporters, he was so paranoid that he didn't say much of anything. "Keep it positive" was always his closing line.
Two months ago, Sparano expressed an interest in Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland's alma mater, Baylor. In a strange but predictable twist, the perennial Big 12 doormat (and my alma mater as well) never considered Sparano.
Three weeks later, he's interviewing for three head coaching vacancies in the NFL. You've heard people call this a copycat league, and that also applies to coaching searches. While Parcells was using Arthur Blank to make another owner jealous, he dropped Sparano's name.
The Ravens soon caught wind of Sparano, and decided to fly him in during the Cowboys' recent getaway weekend. A source familiar with the Ravens' coaching search described Sparano's interview as "unbelievable."
Against Parcells' will, I've had the pleasure of getting to know Sparano pretty well over the years. His wife, Jeannette, is fiercely protective of him and reports everything she hears on local sports talk radio. Sparano's two sons, Tony and Andy, play defensive end and center for the University at Albany.
During his five years in Dallas, Sparano has coached five Pro Bowlers in Jason Witten, Flozell Adams, Larry Allen, Andre Gurode and Leonard Davis. Witten has told me several times that he thinks Sparano would make an excellent head coach.
"He just has this presence that commands respect," Witten said. "He'll stay all over you, but he's never doing it just for show."
Even after Sparano became the offensive line coach in 2005, Witten constantly went to him with questions. In 2006, Sparano called plays and coached the offensive line at the same time.
The Cowboys finished with 425 points, their most since 1995, and had a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers. Of course, that didn't keep Sparano from being demoted when Jones hired Jason Garrett to be the offensive coordinator.
Sparano, who was given the assistant head coach title, could've felt resentment toward Jones and the new regime. Instead, he threw himself into helping with the transition. Sparano was coach Wade Phillips' sounding board on the few occasions Phillips made sounds.
He rededicated himself to his offensive line duties and was rewarded with three Pro Bowlers. After working for Marty Schottenheimer, Tom Coughlin and Parcells, Sparano experienced some culture shock working for the laidback Phillips.
Now, it's back into the meat grinder. Parcells has vowed to stay away from the practice field, but you can bet he'll offer some feedback. The good news for Dolphins fans is that Sparano is pretty much the opposite of Cam Cameron, who doesn't wear his passion on his sleeve.
I don't anticipate him throwing Coughlin-style tantrums, but he's been known to use colorful language to drive home a point. As long as Parcells sticks around long enough to help provide the foundation, Sparano will eventually win in Miami.
There are some who think the Cowboys would miss Sparano more than Garrett. I think those folks are pretty astute.
