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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Wannstedt—Winning Again

by: Kevin Kaminsky
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Given their shared passion for late-night cheese nachos over a few Heinekens, the average nutritionist might suggest that Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt need the afternoon jog for which they've become notorious.

But those who understand and appreciate their seemingly symbiotic relationship—one forged over the past two decades—will tell you otherwise.

Johnson and Wannstedt were born to run. Together.

After all, that's how the Miami Dolphins' head coach and his assistant head coach have done some of their best work over the years.

"We laugh about this now, but we've actually made some of our biggest decisions in that kind of setting," says Wannstedt. "In Dallas we made the decision to trade Herschel Walker (to Minnesota) coming back from our noon jog. People think that decision came after some high-level meeting, where the entire staff was strapped to chairs 14 hours and went through 20 cups of coffee and two packs of cigarettes.

"But I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday. It was our first season in Dallas, we were winless, and we had been talking about what we needed to turn it around. We needed players, but how were we going to get them? We only had so many draft picks and there was no free agency back then.

"That's when the idea of a trade came up. We came to the conclusion we only had two players anyone would want: Troy Aikman—and he was a rookie we weren't about to trade—and Herschel. By 5 o'clock that night, the deal was done. Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime situation."

The same might be said about the current coaching arrangement in South Florida, arguably one of the most unique in all of football.

Fired after six years as head coach of the Chicago Bears, Wannstedt was contacted by no less than five other NFL teams during the offseason about serving as an assistant or defensive coordinator. But the man with whom Wannstedt had spent 13 of his first 24 seasons in the coaching profession was in trouble.

Emotionally wrung after the death of his mother last December, Johnson spent the first few weeks of his offseason on an introspective journey which pushed him to the brink of resigning his duel role as Miami head coach and general manager. But as Johnson bared his soul to the media Jan. 14—sharing regrets, due to the tunnel vision with which he approached his professional life, of lost time with his two sons and a failed marriage among other things—a familiar face stood to his left.

"I'm going to have a heck of a lot less stress with this big guy next to me," Johnson said, motioning to Wannstedt.

Clearly, Wannstedt's desire to join the staff as a pure assistant head coach—not one with a coordinator's tag attached—wasn't the only reason Johnson rededicated himself to the Dolphins. But it certainly made the decision to commit, at the very least, to another year at Miami that much easier. The idea, in theory, was that Wannstedt would alleviate some of Johnson's work load, thus freeing him to occasionally break from the 15-hour days which frayed the edges of his personal life in years past.

But it quickly became apparent that Wannstedt's arrival meant much more to his long-time friend. In his fourth season with the Dolphins, the last thing Johnson needed was a yes-man in the house. Short of a disparate voice, Johnson at least yearned for a brutally honest one. Someone unafraid to speak his mind. Someone to occasionally challenge his ideas. Carrying remnants of Don Shula's staff among his assistants (defensive coordinator George Hill, secondary coach Mel Phillips, quarterbacks coach Larry Seiple and special teams coach Mike Westhoff) Johnson often felt isolated in his decision-making process.

He needed a sounding board. In Wannstedt, with whom he shared highs and lows at the University of Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, the University of Miami and at Dallas with the Cowboys, that's exactly what Johnson got.

"He's more than just another coach," Johnson said. "He's a confidant.

"I can be authoritative and someone might hesitate to make a suggestion. Dave won't hesitate. He'll say what he thinks. Sometimes, I'll agree with him. And sometimes, probably, I won't."

Either way, the process itself has done plenty to rejuvenate Johnson. By the same token, it's also sent a buzz through the coaching profession.

In the beginning, Wannstedt likened his situation to that of Mike Shanahan who, after being fired as head coach the Los Angeles Raiders, spent time as the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator before returning to the head coaching ranks at Denver. But, in truth, the scenarios couldn't be more different.

Unlike the average assistant head man, Wannstedt does not double as a position coach or coordinator. He is, at times, free as the wind; meeting with the running backs during a film session one minute, working with a defensive lineman on the practice field later in the afternoon, and huddling with Johnson that night.

Even on Sundays, Wannstedt is on the move. Early in the season Johnson asked him to spend the first half of games upstairs in order to monitor schemes and establish early strategy with the other coaches. In the second half Wannstedt can be found on the field where Johnson wants his right-hand man playing to one his major strengths: communicating adjustments to the players.

"At Dallas, even though I was the assistant head coach in title, all I cared about from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed was, 'How can we make the other team punt,' " says Wannstedt, who also served as defensive coordinator under Johnson in Dallas from 1989-92 before taking the Bears head job in 1993. "Now my day is split up. Let's say it's game-plan day. In the morning, I'm with the offense talking with (coordinator) Kippy Brown. Then, in the afternoon, I'm with George Hill and the defensive coordinators talking about that side of the ball. Every Tuesday night I meet with Mike Westhoff talking special teams.

"I'm just trying to pick up the slack anywhere I can for Jimmy."

Is Wannstedt's somewhat undefined role at Miami helping to redefine the assistant head coaching position?

Not quite. Both Wannstedt and Johnson agree that, for the most part, this is one experiment which can't be duplicated—unless, that is, the circumstances are as optimum as they are in Miami.

"I don't want to bust anyone's bubble, but if Jimmy and I hadn't been together all these years, I don't know if this could work," says Wannstedt. "You could try this with two outstanding football coaches. But if they don't really know each other, it may take two years before they work out the philosophy differences - how it's being said; what is being said. All those things can tweak a team, or turn a staff, if the two guys aren't on the same page.

"To try to do this without people who've been together and have one voice, it might not work as smooth and as fast."

"I know Dave has no motives other than to help us win games," Johnson said. "And I value his opinion. Rarely do you find this kind of relationship."

It's a relationship that dates back to 1977, when Johnson and Wannstedt coached together as assistants at Pitt. When Johnson accepted the head position at Oklahoma State in 1979, he asked Wannstedt to join him as his defensive line coach. At the time, not only was Oklahoma State on probation, but Jackie Sherrill was offering Wannstedt more money to stay with the Panthers.

"I had only known (Jimmy) for a couple of years, but he told me something at the time that made the difference," says Wannstedt. "He said, 'If you're willing to work, I'll give you a chance to be as good as you want to be.' I just really believed that. So I went there, our families became friends, and one thing led to another."

Among other things, it would lead to a blistering run at the University of Miami, where Johnson's Hurricanes—with Wannstedt on board as defensive coordinator—would drop only two games and capture one national championship between 1986-88. But the good times came to a screeching, albeit temporary, halt at Dallas when Johnson replaced coaching legend Tom Landry. The Cowboys opened the J.J. era with a 1-15 mark.

"I remember walking into my first defensive meeting at Dallas," recalls Wannstedt. "I'm 36 years old, with a national championship ring from Pittsburgh and one with Miami—and no NFL experience. And sitting there in this room is Randy White, Too Tall Jones, Everson Walls. Not only were several of these guys older than me, they had Super Bowl rings. I'm thinking to myself, 'What have we gotten ourselves into?' "

It wasn't long before Johnson got the Cowboys into a Super Bowl, capturing the title in a rout of the Buffalo Bills just four years after taking over for Landry. Though he would win a second championship the following year without Wannstedt on staff, many have suggested that the departure of his closest friend in '93 was the beginning of the end for Johnson at Dallas. In the months after winning Super Bowl XXVIII, his rapidly deteriorating relationship with owner Jerry Jones would explode, leading to Johnson's resignation.

In the meantime, after a 9-7 run with a first-round playoff victory in his second season with the Bears, things gradually turned sour for Wannstedt as well. Though his teams showed plenty of fight, poor personnel moves and dismal front-office leadership sealed Wannstedt's fate. After a second consecutive 4-12 season in 1998—despite the fact that the Bears dropped six games by a touchdown or less—Chicago pulled the plug on Wannstedt's reign.

During their time apart, however, Johnson and Wannstedt were in constant contact, their friendship never stronger. When Johnson took the Dolphins job in 1996, he and Wannstedt found time to speak at least once every week. By the time Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga sent a helicopter to Naples, Fla., to bring Wannstedt to Miami for the Jan. 14 press conference announcing both his arrival and Johnson's recommitment, the 47-year-old knew he was in the right place at the right time.

"For this situation to work, the head coach can't be concerned about his ego," says Wannstedt. "Jimmy is so open with me. And he trusts me. If he isn't going to share with me the minor ins and outs of this team, this arrangement isn't going to work. It works because our relationship is so strong."

"They're like two old women," Wannstedt's wife, Jan, says. "Or maybe I should say two old men. They can rehash something time and again as if it's the first time they're talking about it. And they'll laugh as hard as the time it happened."

The big question, however, was how the rest of the Miami staff would react to such a reunion. If Johnson gave Wannstedt carte blanche to work with every aspect of the team, would the other coaches resent it? Perhaps, viewing it as an intrusion on their time and domain.

Both Wannstedt and Johnson made it priority No. 1 to immediately set the record straight. In one of the first staff meetings last January, Johnson briefly left the room. Wannstedt promptly stood up and told the rest of the coaches that he was not there, in any way, to step on their toes.

"I have to always be conscious and sensitive to their feelings and make sure that I handle things the right way," says Wannstedt. "Actually, by me moving around so much—I'm watching film with the defensive line one morning; then I'm with the secondary putting in a blitz package the next morning—it's good, because I'm not sitting with any one coach giving him the wrong impression. I think they know now that I'm just here to help this team win. I'm not here to take anyone's job."

"I constantly work on this with the staff," Johnson says of Wannstedt's relationship with the other coaches. "I've had a couple of sessions with our entire staff. Here's how we're going to do things. Here's how it's going to work. And here are the potential danger areas. So far, so good."

As close as the two are, both men agree that one of the big reasons why Wannstedt's somewhat nondescript position works is that Johnson's role as general manager keeps him so busy with matters off the field. Though Johnson makes it a point to note the clear distinction between head coach and assistant coach, there is also little question that Wannstedt compliments his friend like the corner piece to a puzzle that is suddenly falling into place.

"If all Jimmy was doing was Xs and Os, we'd be stepping all over each other's toes right now," Wannstedt says. "But he's doing draft stuff, salary cap stuff, free agency—there's a lot on his plate. And that leaves room for me to jump in and help.

"It also helps that our philosophies are the same. He can trust that if I make a comment to a player or to an assistant coach, that I know what we're trying to accomplish. Š You get that kind of clarity, that kind of communication because of time and because of being together. It's not because I read about it in a magazine or watched a video of Jimmy. I know Jimmy. And he knows me."

In this case, Johnson also needed Wannstedt. He needed an ally. He needed his friend. Now, together again after seven years apart, Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt are off and running in Miami.

Some things, apparently, never change.
The Wannstedt File 1970-73 University of Pittsburgh player/OL
1974 Green Bay Packers player/OL
1975-78 University of Pittsburgh assistant coach
1979-82 Oklahoma State defensive line/defensive coordinator
1983-85 Southern California defensive line
1986-88 University of Miami (Fla.) defensive coordinator
1989-92 Dallas Cowboys assistant head coach/ defensive coordinator
1993-98 Chicago Bears head coach
1999-present Miami Dolphins assistant head coach

Notes:
•1994 NFC Coach of the Year
•Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl XXVII champions (DC)
•1987 University of Miami (Fla.) national champions (DC)
•1976 University of Pittsburgh national champions (AC)
•Led Chicago to 1994 NFC Wild Card playoff win over Minnesota
•Wannstedt-led Dallas defense led NFL in total defense during 1992 Super Bowl season
•Coached Miami (Fla.) defense that held opponents to 10.9 points per game and 2.2 yards per carry during his tenure






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