Is Tony Sparano The Right Guy for O-Line Coach?

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The Oakland Raiders are beginning to fill out there coaching staff after the firing of four assistant coaches after the 2012 season. After a long wait of speculation and wish lists by fans regarding candidates, the Raiders finally hired an offensive coordinator in Greg Olson and special teams coordinator in Bobby April. Now, just days later, the Raiders have now filled the role of offensive line coach with the addition of Tony Sparano.

Tony Sparano is a very well respected position coach in the NFL. But these days, what position coach isn't well respected? It seems like that term is used over and over. The Denver Broncos just hired Greg Knapp, who Raider fans called the the worst offensive coordinator ever, to be their quarterbacks coach. Why? Because he is a well respected quarterbacks coach.

Just like some coordinators aren't meant to be head coaches and are just meant to be coordinators, the same could be said of position coaches. They are meant to be just that....position coaches.

I believe Sparano and yes even Knapp, fit into that category.

Sparano's biggest claim to fame as an offensive line coach came from his time with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003-2007. In that time, he improved an offensive line that did not exactly have a huge amount of talent other than an aging Larry Allen. In his time there, the unit improved every year in pass protection. However the Cowboys did make the transition from Drew Bledsoe to the more mobile Tony Romo.

Regardless of why the o-line improved, they improved so much that Sparano was given a head coaching job with the Miami Dolphins. His time there was a bit of a mixed bag, however in 2008 he led the Dolphins to a AFC East championship with the help of the WildCat offense(i'll get into that a bit later). After that, things fell apart and quick. Once it was proven that the Miami Dolphins did not have a legitimate starting quarterback, and defenses started focusing on Ronnie Brown and an aging Ricky Williams, the team could not adjust due to talent restraints. Sparano was fired mid season of 2011.

2012 was when Sparano was elected to be offensive coordinator of the New York Jets. After the Jets traded for Tim Tebow, it seemed like a fit to hire the guy who made the WildCat popular(again, I'll get into that later). Considering head coach Rex Ryan never really wanted Tebow and therefore never played him, and it was exposed to be a media hoax that was as big as Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend, once it was clear that Ryan would never put in Tebow for extended playing time, Sparano's biggest reason for being hired was basically a bust from the start.

That's to bad, because now we don't really know what Sparano offers as a legitimate OC. You can't blame him for debacle that was Mark Sanchez, because at the end of the day, Sparano has never been known to have a quarterback background, and the Jets wide receivers are bad to say the least.

So what does Sparano have to work with as an offensive line coach in Oakland?

Well, he has a left tackle in Jared Veldheer that is on the cusp of a pro-bowl one day. Ever since being drafted in 2010, Veldheer has improved every season. In 2012 he only gave up four sacks and only committed two false start penalties in an offensive scheme that he wasn't even a match for. No doubt Veldheer has something to work with.

At the center position, we have Stefen Wisniewski aka Wiz 2.0. Another lineman who has the possibility if being a pro bowler. Wiz 2.0 only had three penalties all season and did not give up one sack.

With those guys, Sparano has the tools to build a strong offensive line.

I do love this hire, but there are some things that concern me.

Now that Sparano is with the Raiders, there is a feeling that Sparano could possibly bring the WildCat offense with him. With the Pistol offense being currently popular, and the Raiders having an athletic quarterback in Terrelle Pryor, on paper this seems like a match in heaven.

Well, not so much.

First let me just say this, Sparano is not the WildCat guru that some believe him to be. At least not in my opinion. That would go to his former quarterbacks coach David Lee who had a history of that offense when he was with the University of Arkansas and had Darren McFadden. Lee helped implement that offense in Miami because they had issues at the quarterback position. The WildCat helped cover that up.

A second issue I have is that the WildCat and the Pistol offenses are indeed different. Are there similarities, absolutely. But the biggest difference with the Pistol is that you need a legitimate quarterback who can read a defense to execute. Unlike the WildCat that can be executed by a running back or wide receiver with a decent throwing arm.

What makes the Pistol so effective is that if the quarterback realizes the defense has it covered, he can check out of it. Unlike a running back or a wide receiver who do not have that kind of trait. I do not know how many times the 2009-2010 Dolphins would go into the WildCat formation and than when the defense clearly showed that they had it covered, they still ran the play.

So for the Pryor fans out there that feel like he has the opportunity to truly compete, the WildCat is not the way he should do it, in fact, it is the worst way.

Could Sparano easily adapt? Absolutely, in fact he possibly could give a lot of insight to Greg Olson should Pryor be given a chance to be the guy. But Sparano is here to coach the offensive line, that should be his focus.

Again, I am very pleased with this hire. I feel like Sparano gives the Raiders a toughness that they lacked under Greg Knapp and Frank Pollack.

Another thing I found interesting was that Dennis Allen also named Sparano assistant head coach. A lot was made of Allen hiring Olson because he felt like Olson could not challenge for his job. However he hired a guy who has a background of being a playoff head coach and named him his assistant head coach.

Typically, when a position head coach gets the assistant head coach title, that is a figure head title. All hype, no substance. But that does show me that Allen is indeed at least trying to find the right men for the job despite what his future may or may not be. I think that is a very good thing headed into the future.

LINK: http://raidernationtimes.com/article.php?id=9569