Architect of Miami Dolphins’ undefeated team defense wins prestigious award
Former Miami Dolphins assistant Bill Arnsparger, regarded as one of the NFL’s top defensive coaches in history and coordinator of the “no-name” defense for Miami’s 1972 undefeated team, has been named one of two winners of the Pro Football Writers Association’s prestigious Dr. Z award.
The annual award is given for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL. The honor is named for Paul Zimmerman, who covered the NFL for 29 years as Sports Illustrated’s lead pro football writer.
Longtime NFL defensive coordinator and former head coach Romeo Crennel, currently an assistant coach for the Houston Texans, joined Arnsparger as co-winners of this year’s award, which was expected to be announced Monday afternoon.
Arnsparger, who died in 2015 at age 88, was an assistant coach for nearly 21 years in the NFL, including two defensive coordinator stints with the Dolphins (1970-73 and 1976-83) and one with the San Diego Chargers (1992-94).
He was also the head coach of the New York Giants from 1974 to 1976, going 7-28 before his dismissal. He had one other head coaching job, with LSU, going 26-8-2 from 1983 to 1986 and twice winning Southeastern Conference coach of the year honors before resigning to become athletic director at the University of Florida.
His teams advanced to the conference championship game or Super Bowl in seven of his 21 seasons as a defensive coach. He won two Super Bowls as a coach, with the Dolphins in 1972 and 1973; his defenses allowed 12.2 and 10.7 points per game those two seasons.
His 1972 defense allowed no points in Miami’s 14-7 Super Bowl victory over the Redskins to complete the Dolphins’ perfect season, the only unbeaten season in NFL history. Washington’s only touchdown came on a special teams fumble return.
His defense ranked first five times and 15 times finished in the top five in points allowed.
He was nicknamed “one more reel” by his players because of his countless hours of film study.
“It’s remarkable that he never called a defense that we didn’t have total faith in,” former All-Pro safety Dick Anderson said. “The man was brilliant. He put us in the right place at the right time for our abilities. He never asked someone to do something they couldn’t mentally or physically do.”
Former Miami Dolphins special teams coach Mike Westhoff won the Dr. Z award last year.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 11:42 AM.
