Well, if you can't beat 'em - steal their younger LB coach.
The Dolphins are apparently in the process of setting up an interview with Steelers LB coach Keith Butler. Butler currently serves as the Steelers LB coach and has worked with Sparano in the past back when they both worked for the Browns from 1999 - 2000. Before that, he was a LB for the Seattle Seahawks for 10 seasons. Butler was thought to be next in line after that old defensive crypt keeper, Dick Lebeau, would shuffle off this mortal coil but God knows that skeletor ain't going anywhere soon. Therefore, this frees up Butler to interview with other teams including your Miami Dolphins.
Truth be told, I fucking HATE the Steelers but there's an opportunity here to get a fairly young DC that actually, you know, understands how to bring pressure via zone blitzes and any number of defensive disguises - AND ACTUALLY BRING IT ALL GAME AS OPPOSED TO ONE OUT OF EVERY SIX QUARTERS. This guy has been under Lebeau - a virtual lock as a HOF coach - for 6 years now and I gotta think this would be an excellent upgrade over Pasqualoni. Granted, if you stare at his picture long enough he looks like he has a glass right eye but that's what would make him even more diabolical. He'd be like our very own Bill the Butcher!! Plus, he's a LB player and coach by trade so he'll understand the absolute shit sandwich we currently have at the LB position. Maybe he'll push for LB and overall defensive draft picks. Maybe he can make heads or tails of all these slow fuckers. Or perhaps he'll finally figure out a way for JT and Peezy to co-exist on the field. Maybe the idea might germinate in his head to - I don't know - utilize Yeremiah Bell in a Troy Polamaluesque way and disrupt the line of scrimmage with Bell's speed, strength and lunacy! Furthermore, as Biggane mentions in the article, this is surely a sign that Sparano is having more and more say and is increasingly the captain of that ship. This is good for Sparano and shows more maturity as a head coach. Up until now, a lot of these coaches have been former Parcells guys. To bring in a guy that he worked on the same staff with at one point and now runs the heart and soul of one of the most traditionally feared defenses is all kinds of balls up awesome.
I say fuck Al Groh. Let's go with some young blood. Bring Butler in and don't let him leave until he signs a contract.
More on Butler here.
