Jimmy Johnson dishes on UM and Dolphins. And what Wannstedt finds ‘mind boggling’ on UM
Lots of Tuesday Dolphins and Canes chatter from Jimmy Johnson (who coached both) and Dave Wannstedt (who was a Dolphins head coach and a UM assistant):
▪ When Johnson watched Miami Hurricanes football games this past season, he noticed a couple areas where he thought Manny Diaz could do something different.
But then JJ wondered this: Should he call Diaz and tell him? After all, they had developed a good relationship last offseason, with Diaz taking his assistants to Johnson’s home in the Keys in the spring, and Johnson visiting practice last August.
Johnson, who admits he was “a little surprised” by Miami’s 6-7 season, decided to make a couple of those phone calls to Diaz - on topics that will remain between himself and Diaz - and he’s glad he did.
“There were a couple things I thought he could have done had he been a head coach longer,” Johnson said Tuesday during a Fox Sports media availability in advance of Sunday’s Super Bowl 56 coverage on the network, where Johnson will be in his usual chair on the pregame studio show from Hard Rock Stadium.
“I was hesitant a little bit about making the phone call a time or two. But [Diaz] was very, very good about it. I think he will be fine. I’m still confident he can get it done. He’s a hard worker, he’s confident, he’s smart. The whole key is recruiting some good players. You look at the top dozen schools in college football, their talent is so much better than the rest of them. There is a world of difference. My wife Rhonda could win 10 games at those dozen schools. It’s not the quality of the coaching, it’s the quality of the recruiting.”
▪ Former Dolphins coach and ex-UM assistant coach Dave Wannstedt said UM got the “steal of the transfer portal” in quarterback D’Eriq King, and Johnson said Diaz’s move to an up-tempo spread offense shows a willingness to adapt.
“I talked to [Chiefs coach] Andy Reid about it this morning,” Johnson said of the spread offense. “The thing I admire about Andy is you have been able to adapt year after year according to the talent you have on your team. That’s what the spread is, that’s college offenses [now]. You’ve got to be able to adapt.”
Wannstedt said of King: “I was doing a show on the Big Ten Network and they announced this quarterback King from Houston was going to take his redshirt year and get better and learn the offense more and come back next year.
“I said, ‘Let me tell you something - and I was on air saying this - ‘this kid is going to be at Oklahoma [in 2020]. He is going to be taking Jalen Hurts’ place. He ain’t coming back to Houston. He’s just saving another year.’
“That’s what happened but he ended up at the U. Wow. That’s exciting. They got the defense, they can run the ball. I was at their practice last spring. I’m a big Manny Diaz fan.”
▪ Wannstedt, a Fox college and NFL studio analyst, makes a good point about UM football: “The quarterback thing has been mind boggling to me. How you can be at the U and not have frontline quarterbacks stacked up. Is it evaluation? There’s something missing. If I’m basing it off my days where we went from Bernie [Kosar] to Vinny [Testaverde] to Steve Walsh to Craig Erickson, we had them stacked up. How they got in this jam is the difference in them being average like they’ve been or competing for the ACC Coastal.”
UM hasn’t had a quarterback drafted higher than the sixth round this century. Brad Kaaya went in the sixth round but never threw an NFL pass.
▪ One big difference from the way Johnson orchestrated his rebuilding project with the Cowboys and the way the Dolphins are doing it is the fact the Dolphins traded skilled young players (Laremy Tunsil, Minkah Fitzpatrick). Johnson didn’t.
Does JJ believe the Dolphins’ approach will work out?
“There’s been a lot of teams over the years that had a lot of draft picks,” JJ said. “A lot of those teams are still struggling. The whole key is not getting draft picks. The whole key is drafting good players. The only disappointing thing is if you got a good young player, you need to keep him somehow some way.”
▪ Johnson met with Dolphins scouts last summer, at the request of general manager Chris Grier.
“I told them the things I was looking for and examples,” Johnson said. “Playmakers, gym rats passionate for the game, character; you can’t win with bums. But intelligence right off the bat. You go through all those things but then you go to the original thing: Can he play? Zach Thomas was a great player; hey, he’s not real tall or not real fast. But go back to the top. Can he play? That makes your decision right there.”
▪ Johnson said the Dolphins face a tough call with their quarterback options in the draft, primarily Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert.
“I like both of them [Tua and Herbert],” Johnson said. “Tua, I’m just concerned about the injuries. He’s already had three. When you have injuries, the frequency of those injuries escalate as time goes on. Herbert played really well in the Senior Bowl. I was more impressed with Herbert in the Senior Bowl than I was at Oregon. They are going to have to spend some time on both of them.”
Wannstedt said “I would have reservations [about Tagovailoa] because of the injuries. It’s three years now he’s had injury. That would make me nervous. He’s being protected a lot more at Alabama with that talent. than he [would be] with the Dolphins.
“Is that enough reason to shy away from him? That’s the call you’ve got to make. It does concern you to draft a guy with the fifth pick, in my mind, for a guy that’s had injury three years in a row.”
Wannstedt, who once hired new Dolphins offensive coordinator Chan Gailey for that same job with the Dolphins in 2000, said: “Chan wants to move the quarterback. He always has, at least. He wants an athletic quarterback. So I think you have to take a look at that when you look at quarterbacks. Could he take a drop-back quarterback? Sure. But I know what Chan likes to do and what he’s had the most success doing.
“An athletic quarterback that can move around in the pocket a little bit. It doesn’t have to be Patrick Mahomes. But that’s what he liked about Jay Fiedler. He could move some on his feet.”
▪ Johnson, still full of joy nine days after learning he was being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, said “I think I went in for the team building as much as winning the Super Bowls. People back then didn’t trade. We had 51 trades in five years [during his Dallas tenure]- more than the rest of league put together. Coming up with the value chart, drafting 16 Pro Bowlers. Having 11 guys I’ve coached in the Hall of Fame. If Zach [Thomas] goes in, I’ll have multiple players in the Hall of Fame with two different franchises [Jason Taylor is his Dolphins player who already has been inducted.] Back of my mind, yes I deserve to be in there. But I wasn’t going to push for it.
“For years, I said I don’t care about personal accolades. It’s the ultimate team game. That’s the way I felt for years. But after coaching for 40 years, and as you get older, it’s kind of nice to be recognized. My first words out of my mouth [after getting the news on live television] were I want to thank all of the assistant coaches who worked for me. And I had some great players. They’re the ones who put me in the Hall of Fame.”
▪ Who will present Johnson at the Hall? “I’ve given some thought to it. I may have a unique little way. I’ve got to have some discussions before I finalize. My speech will be very short. I’ll thank a few people and I’ll sit down.”
▪ Johnson - who drafted and coached Thomas with the Dolphins - and Wannstedt (who coached Thomas with the Dolphins) on Tuesday - in conversations with reporters - made a strong Hall of Fame case for Thomas, who will learn Saturday if he’s being inducted.
“Zach, of all the players I coached in all my years, college and pro, Zach was the most coachable guy ever,” Johnson said. “He was most prepared, worked the hardest and passionate about the game. And extremely productive. You look at the numbers, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.”
Wannstedt spoke of his ability to play all three downs, unlike many other linebackers he coached.
Here’s my Tuesday Dolphins story with news on Jakeem Grant, the Dolphins auditioning a running back and Troy Aikman on the Dolphins’ hiring of Chan Gailey.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 5:02 PM.
