He’s no Rex Ryan, but maybe he doesn’t have to be.
Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, the leader of the team that will serve as the subject of this season’s Hard Knocks, already has caught the attention of the man who’ll direct the upcoming training-camp series.
“When you’re around him, you’re kind of like, OK, this is a guy who can turn this thing around,” NFL Films director Rob Gehring told The Finsiders, a product of Dolphins.com. “He’s a leader. I almost equate him to a field general. After having just been around him for less than a month, I’m like, I’ll run through a wall for that guy.”
Gehring previously directed Hard Knocks in 2007 and 2008. He didn’t handle the 2010 version of the show, which featured Ryan’s Jets.
After spending some time at offseason workouts, Gehring also has his eye on one specific group of players. “Every time the DB’s are on the field, you know where Vontae Davis and Sean Smith are,” Gehring said. “You can hear them both, you know where they are. I think there’s definitely kind of an Ochocinco factor into play now, where those guys are jawing with him.”
Gerhing will need plenty of jawing from someone in order to make the show remotely as compelling as it was when Ryan’s antics served as the centerpiece. Though Gehring may want to run through a wall for Philbin, Gehring could use someone whose language could peel the paint off it.