Dolphins to officially name Tony Sparano head coach.

The Miami Dolphins have hired Dallas Cowboys Assistant Tony Sparano as their head coach, replacing Cam Cameron who was fired earlier in the month. Sparano has coached in the NFL for nine years. Before joining the Dallas staff in 2003, Sparano was on the staffs of Cleveland (1999-2000), Washington (2001), and Jacksonville (2002). He was the head coach at New Haven in the college ranks from 1994-1998. Sparano was also a candidate in Atlanta and Baltimore. The move reunites Parcells with his former assistant. Sparano was the Cowboys play caller in 2006 before giving that up this season to Jason Garrett, who has still not accepted the Ravens offer to become their head coach.

I know Sparano is held in high regard by many around the league, but he's got his work cut out for him in Miami. A first time NFL head coach taking over a 1-15 team with no clear QB, a lack of impact players on offense and an aging defense doesn't sound like a great fit, but when your 1-15 there aren't too many great fits.

The Big Tuna Strikes Part II: Cam Cameron Fired

It would seem that Bill Parcells is the only one making news these days. In the past 2 weeks he's burned Atlanta, ended up in Miami, fired a GM, hired a new one, and now his latest news maker is the firing of Miami Dolphin head coach Cam Cameron. Cameron was fired after just one season with a record of 1-15, but our friend Les Miles would like to point out that the Dolphins didn't win a game in regulation.

As we love to do with Parcells, here are some names to speculate on who will replace Cameron: Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano, Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels, Arizona Cardinals Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley, former Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator Maurice Carthon and for the fun of it, Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis.

Parcells names Ireland General Manager, Other Teams fire coaches

As we first speculated here at TSP, Bill Parcells has named Cowboys Executive Jeff Ireland General Manager of the Miami Dolphins. "I am excited about joining the Dolphins," Ireland said in a statement. "I know the great tradition of the team, and in my mind they are one of the flagship franchises in the NFL. They have a great owner in Wayne Huizenga, who I know is committed to making the Dolphins into winners once again. I am looking forward to working with him and everyone else in Miami to achieve that goal." The genius that is Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips added this gem of a comment "The promotion, I think, was the key thing. I don't think he was going to be moved up to general manager here," Phillips said to laughter. Obviously Phillips is referring to the fact that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is also the Cowboys GM and the only way he's leaving that job is when he's dead and even then his ghost will still run the team.

Also, yesterday a few NFL teams fired some key assistants some coaches now looking for work are:

Mike Martz
Chuck Bresnahan
Ricky Hunley
Rob Ryan(believed to be fired soon and taking D-Coordinator Position with the Jets)

The Big Tuna Strikes: Parcells fires GM Mueller

The first casualty of the Parcells era is GM Randy Mueller. The Miami Herald is reporting GM Randy Mueller was fired by Parcells today. Parcells is to meet with Cam Cameron tomorrow, but there has been no mention of which way Parcells is leaning on Cameron. In addition, Assistant Director of Player Personnel Mike Baugh and College Scouting Coordinator Rick Thompson are gone.


This move is the first of many that Parcells will be making in the next few weeks. I don't expect him to retain Cameron. I believe Parcells will look to bring his own coach to cook the groceries Parcells and the new GM buy for him. The first GM candidate that comes to mind is Scott Pioli, Vice President of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots. Pioli, started his NFL career with Bill Belicheck and the Cleveland Browns. He then followed Belicheck to the Jets (where he also worked with Parcells) and has been with Belicheck throughout his New England tenure. There is also the fact that Pioli is Parcells son-in-law. The question is will Pioli give up his successful job with New England for a rebuilding job in Miami?

Another name to keep your eye on is Jeff Ireland, vice president of College and Pro scouting for the Dallas Cowboys. From all accounts Parcells and Ireland have a good working relationship and there could be a mutual interest.

Bill Parcells to Falcons

It's being reported on ESPN that Bill Parcells will be named the Vice President of Football Operations for the Atlanta Falcons. The announcement may be made as soon as today. This also likely means the end of the Rich McKay era as GM of the Falcons, although some are saying Arthur Blank may offer him another job in the front office, should McKay choose to stay on. As a Cowboy fan I have nothing but admiration and respect for Parcells. He took the Boys out of the dark ages of Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. While Wade Phillips has done a great job of coaching them, nobody can deny that Parcells built most of the 12-2 team the Cowboys have today. I believe he will do a tremendous job of rebuilding the Falcons franchise. Arthur Blank is a great owner and I'm sure he will provide Parcells with the resources(mostly money) to bring the franchise back from the dumps.

Two big questions facing Parcells are who will he bring in as Head Coach? And who will be the Falcons QB both next year and in the future? Knowing Parcells he almost certainly will try and get a coach from "his coaching tree", meaning Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels could be in the running after studying under Parcells disciple Bill Belicheck. I also might as well throw Charlie Weis name out there. He may choose a different route and if that is true I'm sure Mike Singletary will get heavy consideration. As for a QB I fully expect the Falcons to address the future of QB through the draft possibly taking Boston College QB Matt Ryan. For the immediate future at QB you can be sure a "Parcells guy" like Chad Pennington will be a target of the Falcons this offseason, but you could never count out a Vinny Testaverde/Bill Parcells reunion. Personally, I think Donovan McNabb would be a great fit in Atlanta. Parcells is familiar with McNabb, having faced him at least twice a year as the Dallas Head Coach.

After a terrible offseason with Michael Vick and an awful 3-11 season, made worse by Bobby Petrino quitting on the team, Falcons fans can start feeling good because Parcells improves every team he's affiliated with. His track record of taking broken franchises and making them contenders is flawless. He won Super Bowls with the Giants, took the Patriots from the worst team in the league to the Super Bowl, turned around the Jets franchise from laughing stock to competitors in the AFC, and restored the winning tradition of the Dallas Cowboys. Brighter days are headed for Atlanta, the Big Tuna is Back.