Jeremiah Thermidor Miami Dolphins Examiner
After winning four out of their last fives games, many of the Dolphins players believe Tony Sparano has earned the right to coach the team next season.
"We need to keep him. He needs to be here," said Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby when asked what he would tell Dolphins owner Stephen Ross if he were asked his opinion on whether Sparano should keep his job.
Sparano has been on the hot seat since the start of the season after he was nearly replaced by Jim Harbaugh last January.
Starting 0-7 all but sealed the deal that he wouldn't return next season.
But the Dolphins (4-8) have outscored their opponents by 58 points over the last four games which bodes well for a coach whose biggest flaw was that his offense struggled to score touchdowns.
"He knows what it takes for us to be successful on and off the field," Dansby said.
"Rome wasn't built in one day," he then exclaimed.
"We didn't gel fast enough. But right now we're playing well as a unit."
No one is doubting whether the Dolphins are playing well.
They proved it once again with the 34-14 beating they laid down on the Oakland Raiders.
After the victory, Dansby insisted firing Sparano would be a big mistake by the organization.
"He needs to stay and I'm going to push for him," said Dansby.
"You can't turn your back on him right now, you can't do it, you got to let him stay."
Ross, who has owned the majority of the team since 2009, visited the Dolphins locker room after the game.
He had a huge smile on his face when he left which illustrates, despite the questions surrounding the head coach, he's joyful when his team puts up solid victories.
Whether or not he's starting to have a change of heart about Sparano remains to be seen.
"He's one of the best coaches out here," said Dansby. "To take an 0-7 team and get us on a hot streak is impressive."
"I think it was much needed for us to go 0-7," he said with a straight face. "It was a learning curve for a lot of us guys to show us how to do things differently."
