February 6, 2002
CONTACTS: HARVEY GREENE
                    NEAL GULKIS
                    SETH LEVIT
     PHONE:  (954) 452-7010

                 

 

MIAMI DOLPHINS HEAD COACH DAVE WANNSTEDT QUOTES

 

 

“I’m excited, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, to announce a new addition to our organization.  Norv Turner will be our assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.  I think that Norv’s reputation speaks for itself, and he will bring certain qualities to this team and this organization.  Everybody wants to be associated with championships and with the best.  And there’s no question from being a head coach in the National Football League to being a coordinator on a couple of Super Bowl teams, that he is a great communicator with players, an excellent offensive mind, a person that is familiar with a lot of our staff guys. He is someone who I trust, and our philosophies are very similar and have worked with at two different locations.  I think this is a great addition to our football team, our staff and our organization and we look forward to getting this thing going and seeing if we can take it another step.’

Q.       As soon as you found out that Chan Gailley was going to Georgia Tech was Norv pretty much in your mind?

A.        “Yeah, for all the reasons that I just mentioned, from a football standpoint.  We weren’t sure obviously what the situation was going to be at San Diego. It’s not like we haven’t been in communication.  We talk once a week or so throughout the season because of our friendship.  And we’ve done that the last few years.  I think that nothing was new there.  As I mentioned we weren’t sure what was going to happen and I felt very fortunate to have Mike Shula in a position where I was very confident that Mike would do a good job.  And Mike’s excited, I might add about the opportunity of working with Norv and learning.  And Mike has made great contributions to our staff and will continue to do that.”

Q.       How important is it to you and the team to get him early and get prepared?

A.        “That speaks an awful lot of Norv.  With some situations still pending which he’ll talk about, it was important to him and his commitment to our team to get this thing going quick.  Already this morning we had staff meetings on offense.  We have talked about the calendar.  We were up till late last night talking about things.  We had personnel meetings this morning with Rick Spielman talking about our players.    He had a meeting with Jay Fiedler already this morning.  So he’s covered an awful lot of ground and I think time is of the essence.  As crazy as that sounds with the Super Bowl ending two or three days ago, we’re already moving at a fast pace toward next year.  So by being able to get this thing wrapped up at this time I think it’s definitely the best thing for our organization and like I said earlier, Norv was obviously a big part of getting this done and moving forward.”

 

NORV TURNER QUOTES

 

“Thank you Dave.  I’ll be brief.  To me, football, whether you’re coaching, whether you’re playing, whether you’re involved in the front office job, whatever that might be, it’s energy, it’s enthusiasm, it’s excitement you can bring each day as you go about doing your job.  That’s an excitement I feel right now.  To walk in this building, be a part of the Miami Dolphin organization and see everything it stands for and everything that the Dolphins have accomplished through the years.  And be part of Dave Wannstedt’s staff, be a part of the coaches and the guys that Dave talked about that I am very, very familiar with.  And that’s where it starts for me.  And if I can share and bring some of that energy and enthusiasm and that can rub off on the people I am involved with, then I look forward to that.  In terms of the football questions, the one thing that I can tell you, the three days we (Chargers) practiced here before the preseason game, I think I got a pretty good feel for this football team and it’s a very good football team.  I think that part of it is truly exciting because we do this for the chance to win.  We all want to win and I talked about excitement and the feeling of being here.  That’s why I wanted to be here.”

Q.       Can you talk about the Tampa Bay situation?

A.        “Dave and I talked a week ago, and we planned on doing this a week ago. I said I had a chance to go talk to them (Tampa Bay).  Dave said let’s put it off a week and see what happens.  I’ve gone through the talks.  The thing is getting drawn out.  I called Dave Sunday and said, ‘If you’re ready to do this I’m ready to do it.  I’d like to get down and get started.’  So really that’s where I was.  And again I can have that feeling and walk in here and talk about the excitement.  It was time to get started.  I have three or four coaches holding off jobs waiting to see what was going to happen.  A couple of them have already taken jobs today or are in the process of taking jobs.  So there are a lot of people that it affected and it obviously affected some people here.  So we just wanted to make a move.”

Q.       When you see Jay Fiedler is he the kind of quarterback that can run your offense?

A.        “First of all, I’ve watched four or five game films of him over the last week, but I go back to that three day period.  I wasn’t very familiar with Jay and even though we’re on the other field, I got to watch him some, and then going back to the hotel and watching a little bit of film.  I’m really exciting about what he’s able to do.  I think he fits the offensive system we want to run.  He’s very quick with the football and makes very good decisions.  Obviously the mobility is something I think if you look at the teams that are having success at that position and winning football games, there is a dimension of mobility that is important now in this league.”

Q.       Coach Wannstedt mentioned you talk throughout the season once a week.  Does that give you an insight of what this team was failing with on offense this year possibly and what you could do in the future to change that and put it in a different direction?

A.        “The thing that I always look for is getting a handle on the personnel and really getting to know them.  You really get to know them by being with them everyday, by coaching them, by being is meetings and by going through games with the guys.  The number one thing we’re going to try to do on offense, and I know it’s what Dave believes in and has believed in his throughout his entire coaching career, we’re going to do what best gives us the chance to win football games.  And I always start every meeting with the players by telling them, ‘If you do something well and you consistently do it real well, we’re going to do it in games.’  So what we do and how we go about doing it in games, what our philosophy, what our style is, is going to be hopefully the things we do real well we’re going to do them in games.  And the more things that we can do and the more things our players are capable of doing at a high level, we’re going to emphasize those things.”

Q.       Do you have any interest in bringing Troy Aikman here to the Dolphins?

A.        “The speculation has been interesting to me and it has been flattering, but there certainly isn’t any tie in terms of Troy playing or not playing, to me.  I would expect Troy would be announcing when we play games against the NFC and FOX is doing them.  He’ll be in the booth.  That’s the chance we’ll get to say hello.”

Q.       How would you describe your offense?

A.        “There have been a number of years since back with the Rams that we’ve been fortunate to have, probably half the time over the last 12-14 years, a Pro Bowl quarterback and a Pro Bowl tailback come out of our offense.  To me, that tells you your balanced.  And if we can have a balanced offensive football team we can run the football and then we can be productive in the passing game.  That gives you the best chance to be successful.  You’re going to be in football games where you want to go out and you have to run the ball to win.  There’s going to be a number of games where you have to be able to throw the football.  It gives you the best chance of being successful and again you’ve got to have guys.  It’s what I talked about before.  If you’re good at it you’re going to do it. The more things you’re good at the more things you’re going to do in games.”

Q.       Using tight ends as fullbacks in passing games is something you’ve done in the past at other places you’ve been.  Is that something we can expect?

A.        “I’ve been fortunate to be around awfully good tight ends and awfully receiving backs.  Larry Centers the last couple of years I was in Washington caught over 65-70 balls.  It was interesting.  We weren’t as successful with the fullback last year.  I don’t know if we had a player like Larry Centers, but our tailback caught 59 balls as a rookie after missing most of camp.  So I hope when the season is over we look back and say, ‘Hey we had a heck of a full back so we threw him the ball. We had a heck of a tight end so we involved him in the offense.’  And if you have guys who are capable of doing those things we’re going to use them.  The best offenses I’ve been in, we’ve had four or five guys catch over 30 balls.  The one thing that I think that has kind of been a trademark of our offense, the receivers are usually in the top four or five in average per catch.  It means we want to get big plays out of the wideouts.  I’d like to see those guys in that 16-17 yards per catch.  A few years ago we had two guys that had over 60 catches and averaged 18 yards/18.4 a catch.  So you’re getting big plays from your outside guys.”

Q.       When you look at this offense, what areas do you think need improvement?

A.        “Well again, I don’t know if I’m capable of answering that question.  I don’t know enough about it.  But I look at a team that won eleven games, so a lot of good things were happening.  Sometimes an offense isn’t as productive from a standpoint of yardage and points but it does things it has to do to help the team win a football game.  And sometimes those aren’t appreciated as much maybe as some other things.  I think the big thing from an offensive standpoint is obviously the thing I talked about.  You’ve got to take care of the football.  You can’t turn the football over.  That gives you a chance to be in every game.  And then I’d like to think that you’re able to run the football when teams know you have to run the ball.  You’re able to throw the football when teams know you have to throw the football.  That means you’re pretty good in those areas and it gives you a chance to be successful when things aren’t going exactly your way.”

Q.       At the Super Bowl Mike Martz credited some of his success to the two years he spent with you.  What does he take from you?

A.        “Well from a basic scheme, Mike was with me two years.  We were both with Ernie Zampese early in our careers.  From a scheme standpoint and from a playbook standpoint, if guys who have been in this offense stepped into St. Louis or stepped in here and looked at the book. They’d say, ‘Hey, everything is called very similar.’  I think a style of offense, the balance on first and second down, the approach that you have make big plays to score points, those are things we talked about a lot about and I know he thought during that time in Washington we certainly emphasized those things.  The biggest thing I think we both learned from Ernie is you’ve got a guy that does certain things, well let him do those things.  But if there are some things he doesn’t do well, don’t try to force those things on him.  And you look at Mike and what he’s done with that four wide receiver package, he’s done some things to suit that group and they’ve done awfully well.”

Q.       The relationship with Mike Shula.  Are you concerned about it at all?

A.        “I’ve known Mike a long time.  I’ve got to know him.  He worked with my brother, Ron, in Chicago, and we got to know each other then.  I think the world of Mike and what he’s done and what he did in Tampa.  And again, sometimes you don’t quite appreciate how things end up, but someone is doing an awfully good job to get you to that point.  And I’m looking forward to working with Mike.  We talked a little bit this morning about the system, about style and hopefully we can blend our past.  We all have different experiences, and with entire offensive staff, blend the things we’ve all done well and add to it and come up with an offense that brings a little bit of everyone’s back ground to it.”

Q.       Have you talked to Dave about what it would be like to work together again?

A.        “I don’t know that you talk about those things.  But Dave and I through the years, not only have we stayed awfully close and been close, but our wives are awfully good friends.  This league brings about a lot different circumstances and the chance the work for Dave and be a part of the staff.  I know what he’s trying to get done and if I can be a part of that and help him do that, that’s exciting to me.”

Q.       How much did Dave being here influence you to come here?

A.        “That was the key factor.  I mean he’s familiar with my situation in San Diego.  I chose to get out of my contract to have an opportunity once this job was open to come and be with Dave.  Dave’s a big part of it, the organization, all the things that go into that and then to be with a real good football team.”

Q.       How long is your contract and how much do you hope that this job will spring you to another Head Coaching job?

A.        “It’s a three year contract.  I learned this a long time ago from being around some awfully good coaches.  What I want to do is I want to come in here and help this organization and be a part of a winner.  And you go win games, there’s no greater feeling.  And you get in the playoffs and you have a chance to go compete and continue and win in the playoffs and go to the Super Bowl, that’s why you’re in this profession.  In my experiences, if you do those things then every one involved - players, coaches, everyone in the organization - good things happen for.  So in terms of any specific plans of what I want to get accomplished, I want to win and I know if we’re able to do that and when we do that, all the other things take care of themselves.”

Q.       Did you think Tampa would have been a perfect opportunity?

A.        “Well I obviously have a relationship with Brad and we had a lot of fun in Washington.  You think about that for maybe a few minutes and then you get in here and walk in the building and I see Tony Wise and I get in here and talk to the people here and Dave and I start talking about the football team.  There are a lot of different situations.  This is going to be a great situation for me and I really look forward to it.”

Q.       Did you take yourself out of the running for the Tampa Bay job?

A.        “I guess the best way to explain that.  We just called Monday, Nick Christian (Turner’s agent) called Monday and just told them I was coming here and was going to take this job.”

Q.       With your new contract do you have the option of opting out every year if offered a head coaching position?

A.        “That’s pretty standard in the league in terms if anyone on the staff has a chance to be head coach.  I think it’s pretty basic.”

Q.       What do you know about the Dolphins wide receivers, in particular Chris Chambers?

A.        “I know that we practiced three days here and all our defensive backs said they’ve got a young receiver that can just get up and go.  And our guys spoke awfully highly of him and I know the other guys have been productive and I have coached against them at different stops.  I’m excited to get to know them and as I said, get out on the field, get a real good feel for the things they do best and then put this thing together.”

Q.       Would you consider yourself to be a conservative coach by nature?

A.        “I think it depends on the situation you’re in.  I’ll go back to what you’re trying to get done in terms of winning the game and who you’re trying to do it with.  I like to think, as I said, we’re going to make big plays.  I think to win, to score points on offense you have to be explosive and make big plays.  You know when your successful, when you draw up a play you go call it in the game, if you execute it properly and it’s a big play.  People get the impression that’s not conservative.  So hopefully we’re successful with those type of plays and we’re not.