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John Denney has played for six Dolphins coaches, beginning with Nick Saban. So what’s the most unusual thing interim coach Dan Campbell has done, compared to everybody else Denney played for?“Everything,” the veteran long-snapper said Thursday.
Several of Campbell’s creative touches --- which led Ryan Tannehill to say this is the most fun he has ever had at practice --- have been well-chronicled, including a tug-of-war competition and Thursday’s decision to have the offense wear black jerseys because it got the better of the defense in practice on Wednesday.
“Ninety-five percent of them love it,” Campbell said of those jerseys. “It doesn’t match, but we’re men and it’s not that big a deal... We did it with Tony [Sparano].”But Campbell has done other unique things that haven’t been reported. Among them:
### He likes non-monetary incentives. Last week, the defensive players who forced a turnover in practice had their names placed in a hat and became eligible to receive a parking spot close to the chartered plane for the Tennessee game.
### Last week, if the offense won the practice, the defensive players were required to carry the offensive players’ pads off the field. It was reversed if the defense won. One player said he hadn’t done anything like that since high school.
### Campbell had offensive and defensive linemen run receiver routes against each other; and a few players kicked field goals against each other, with Ndamukong Suh (a former soccer player) beatingJarvis Landry.
The point to all of this? It keeps players interested, engaged and competitive. “It’s a long season and you’ve got to make it fun,” Olivier Vernon said. “He does that. It’s a great tactic.” Said Denney: “At this level, you are competitive by nature and he brings that to the surface. Stupid little games make guys compete. The parking spot is huge.”
Joe Philbin (and UM’s Al Golden, for that matter) are big on slogans; Philbin hung them all over the Dolphins facility and UM – under Golden – pasted inspirational quotes from Golden, Bill Belichick, Rick Pitino and others near urinals, sinks, hallways, etc. Campbell? Not so much. He ripped down slogans and instead installed TVs which replay highlights from practice (including the tug of war) and game highlights of Dolphins players and Michael Jordan. As one player said, Campbell has struck the right chord with everything he has done.
CHATTER
### Campbell said Thursday he won’t meddle with his coordinators. “Every once in a while, I may have an idea; I’ll give them my opinion. Last thing they need is me looking over their shoulder.”… Campbell said he “written down scenarios” and watched other teams to brush up on potential clock-management decisions. Every Thursday night, Philbin watched the end of close games from the previous Sunday for pointers.
### New defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo ditched predecessor Kevin Coyle’s approach of splitting middle linebacker snaps between Kelvin Sheppard and Zach Vigil because Anarumo said Sheppard has emerged as “one of the leaders of the defense [and] did a great job of communicating pre-snap.”
### Dallas Thomas, rated 98th of 103 guards by Pro Football Focus, remains an issue; offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said there was “inconsistency” from him Sunday after he graded out best on the team in interior runs the previous four weeks. Plus, he has allowed among the most quarterback hurries of any guard in the league, according to PFF.
General manager Dennis Hickey mentioned this summer that tackle Jason Fox was an option at guard, but Fox said he has received no practice snaps there recently. So the Dolphins, for now, are sticking with Thomas.
Several of Campbell’s creative touches --- which led Ryan Tannehill to say this is the most fun he has ever had at practice --- have been well-chronicled, including a tug-of-war competition and Thursday’s decision to have the offense wear black jerseys because it got the better of the defense in practice on Wednesday.
“Ninety-five percent of them love it,” Campbell said of those jerseys. “It doesn’t match, but we’re men and it’s not that big a deal... We did it with Tony [Sparano].”But Campbell has done other unique things that haven’t been reported. Among them:
### He likes non-monetary incentives. Last week, the defensive players who forced a turnover in practice had their names placed in a hat and became eligible to receive a parking spot close to the chartered plane for the Tennessee game.
### Last week, if the offense won the practice, the defensive players were required to carry the offensive players’ pads off the field. It was reversed if the defense won. One player said he hadn’t done anything like that since high school.
### Campbell had offensive and defensive linemen run receiver routes against each other; and a few players kicked field goals against each other, with Ndamukong Suh (a former soccer player) beatingJarvis Landry.
The point to all of this? It keeps players interested, engaged and competitive. “It’s a long season and you’ve got to make it fun,” Olivier Vernon said. “He does that. It’s a great tactic.” Said Denney: “At this level, you are competitive by nature and he brings that to the surface. Stupid little games make guys compete. The parking spot is huge.”
Joe Philbin (and UM’s Al Golden, for that matter) are big on slogans; Philbin hung them all over the Dolphins facility and UM – under Golden – pasted inspirational quotes from Golden, Bill Belichick, Rick Pitino and others near urinals, sinks, hallways, etc. Campbell? Not so much. He ripped down slogans and instead installed TVs which replay highlights from practice (including the tug of war) and game highlights of Dolphins players and Michael Jordan. As one player said, Campbell has struck the right chord with everything he has done.
CHATTER
### Campbell said Thursday he won’t meddle with his coordinators. “Every once in a while, I may have an idea; I’ll give them my opinion. Last thing they need is me looking over their shoulder.”… Campbell said he “written down scenarios” and watched other teams to brush up on potential clock-management decisions. Every Thursday night, Philbin watched the end of close games from the previous Sunday for pointers.
### New defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo ditched predecessor Kevin Coyle’s approach of splitting middle linebacker snaps between Kelvin Sheppard and Zach Vigil because Anarumo said Sheppard has emerged as “one of the leaders of the defense [and] did a great job of communicating pre-snap.”
### Dallas Thomas, rated 98th of 103 guards by Pro Football Focus, remains an issue; offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said there was “inconsistency” from him Sunday after he graded out best on the team in interior runs the previous four weeks. Plus, he has allowed among the most quarterback hurries of any guard in the league, according to PFF.
General manager Dennis Hickey mentioned this summer that tackle Jason Fox was an option at guard, but Fox said he has received no practice snaps there recently. So the Dolphins, for now, are sticking with Thomas.
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