New Dolphins coach Brian Flores is trying to fix a thing that is broken, and that’s going to take time.
It’s also going to take some old-school techniques of making examples of players who make mistakes in practice.
According to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, the rookie head coach has taken to making players run to compensate for mistakes on the practice field. Screw-ups required a sprint to their “Takes No Talent” wall (another of their motivational ploys, emphasizing that attention to detail doesn’t require physical gifts) and back.
Sunday, the defense had to make the run twice, the offense once. The offense also had to drop and do push-ups to pay a penance.
“Today was a tough one,” safety T.J. McDonald said. “Definitely a grinder. He’s big on discipline. Making sure, if you’ve got too many players on the field, that’s pre-snap/post-snap that you can’t have. You’re going to pay for it.
“We know what the expectations are, so as soon as he says, ‘Hit the wall,’ we messed up. We have to be on our little details. It’s not just us. Coaches, everybody. It’s a group effort.”
Building the kind of discipline the Dolphins need to be successful isn’t going to happen with a few wind sprints, or one year’s worth of personnel moves. But as they move in that direction, they’ll at least build their endurance.