If there ever was such a thing as the Big Book of Excuses, Dave Wannstedt was privy to it.
"Dan Marino quit on me ... Ricky Williams abandoned the team ... porous managerial decisions paralyzed the roster ... spectral quarterback play impaired our confidence ... injuries beset the starters ..."
Since taking over as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins after the 2000 season, Wannstedt and his squad have slowly declined. It started with a playoff birth in his first season, to falling just short of the postseason in his second season, until a 1-7 record persuaded him to resign this season.
In comes Jim Bates, a lesser-known coordinator in the NFL, who's left to inherit a scrap heap. Most coaches hope their first gig is planted in an environment conducive to success, but for someone who's been waiting for a professional head coaching job for 20 years, there was no fussiness.
So while the newlywed partners traveled to Seattle the following week, although they had virtually nothing to play for, they didn't Terry Robiskie the situation.
To this point, the only fish fried by Miami was the St. Louis Rams at home. Their road losses averaged nearly a 13-point margin, but even with unfavorable odds, the Dolphins almost defeated a team knee-deep in a playoff race.
The following week, the first road triumph was delivered. Granted, it was against the equally dubious San Francisco 49ers, needless to say when you've doubled your win total in one week, it is an accomplishment.
In his third and fourth game as head coach of the Dolphins, Jim Bates inspired his team to become an arduous opponent. Versus Buffalo and Denver, Miami lingered for 60 minutes, leading, but eventually failing, in both contests.
In Wannstedt's seven losses, Miami looked gutless in some of their trounces. They averaged losses by 11 points and would lose games even before playing them. When Bates stepped in, the team could have easily regressed even further, but they began the process of righting the ship.
And then came the cherry on top. While few took notice of a team that was now at the very least respectable, an appearance on Monday Night Football against the Super Bowl champions would clue in the daydreamers.
The Fish just continued to do what they've done for their new coach: dillydally, delay, and hang about -- like a Shaquille O'Neal basketball team -- until they saw the opportunity, and capitalized. Never out of it, always in it.
At the end of Sunday, the new-look Dolphins are 3-3 under Jim Bates and he has yet to use an excuse. If Wannstedt was permitted to excuse himself for unexpected inadequacies then surely Bates should be allotted twice as many. He could grumble about the absence of Ricky Williams, he could cry foul when facing the Patriots without defensive starters Sam Madison, Junior Seau and Zach Thomas, and he could whine about the lack of overall talent on the roster.
Or he could just win.
John Fox, the head coach of the Carolina Panthers put it best as he described his scrappy team heading into last weekend: "How you deal with adversity and prosperity kind of defines you. We fought through it, guys kept swinging their sword, and we fought our way back into this."
And that's what Bates inspired the depleted Dolphins to do.
As Nick Saban heads into South Beach to take over the reigns as the new instructor, it's too bad that Jim Bates will not get an opportunity at the full-time job.
Some may describe the recent competitiveness as nothing more than an ephemeral high, some may call it a stroke of luck, but when someone turns nothing into something I call it a job well done.
Nice guys and nice guys that finish last mix like Mondays and me.
"Sunday's paper is the worst. Weekend. You want to relax. 'Oh, by the way, here's a thousand pages of information you had no idea about.' How can they tell you everything they know about every single day of the week and then have this much left over on Sunday when nothing's going on?" — Jerry Seinfeld
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