Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dolphins regroup
With a new coach in place, offensive line retrains its focus.
DAVIE — The Miami Dolphins hired veteran offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo as their senior offensive assistant on Wednesday in an attempt to move beyond the video scandal involving former offensive line coach Chris Foerster and prepare for Sunday’s game at Atlanta.
“It was definitely different today,” right tackle Ja’Wuan James said of Wednesday’s practice. “Just a little weird, but it’s just something we’ve got to get used to.”
Offensive linemen expressed warm sentiments for Foerster, who resigned Monday, hours after the video of him snorting a powdery, white substance while addressing Kijuana Nige Sherrod, a Las Vegas woman, surfaced online Sunday night.
“At the end of the day I was heartbroken over it,” right guard Jermon Bushrod said, “because you never want to see a guy going through something like this.
“That’s why we all have his back in here and we want him to get better, that’s the only thing that means something to us right now.”
Left guard Laremy Tunsil declined to speak about Foerster, but James seemed to like Foerster, who was in the second year of his second stint with the team. James said he never saw any indication of Foerster attending a meeting under the influence of
an illegal substance.
“We’re not even going to speak on that,” James said. “All I can speak on is his character, and he was a good coach to us and great man. And he’s never showed that to us, or anything like that.
“All I know is as a football coach and a man, he was a great man and a great leader.”
Dolphins coach Adam Gase said he’s confident that the apparent issues with Foerster are limited to Foerster alone.
“To me, it was an isolated incident,” Gase said. “Really, that’s the best answer I can give you. A lot of people are just a little surprised.”
DeGugliemo (pronounced day-GHOUL-yellmo), who served as the Los Angeles Chargers’ assistant offensive line coach last season, was the Dolphins’ offensive line coach from 2009-11 under coach Tony Sparano.
DeGuglielmo’s exact role wasn’t revealed by Gase. He’ll work alongside Chris Kuper, the Dolphins’ assistant offensive line coach under Foerster.
“I’ve got to kind of sort out the way I want it right now,” he said. “Just one of those things, getting ready for the game, just kind of keep it in house.”
Gase said he met DeGuglielmo, known to most as “Googs,” during the summer. Gase said DeGuglielmo visited the Dolphins during training camp and they had “a few good days of conversations.”
Gase and DeGuglielmo both worked with New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. DeGuglielmo worked with McDaniels with the Patriots (2014-16) and Gase worked with him in Denver (2009-10).
“We were just kind of talking about that system,” Gase said of the summertime talks between him and DeGuglielmo, “and how we went about things and some of the things that we’re doing different now and some of the things that we liked in the system, some of the things that we kind of tinkered with to see if we like better.”
It’s a bit of a mystery why Miami’s offensive line has been so bad this season. The Dolphins are 31st in rushing (74.8 yards per game) and they’ve allowed 10 sacks, which is tied for 19th-most in the league.
A year ago, under Foerster, Miami was ninth in rushing (114 yards per game) and only gave up 30 sacks, 10th-fewest in the league.
Gase said he thought the offensive line, who he has blamed for most of the offense’s struggles, made progress last Sunday although it still wasn’t a strong performance.
“I think the fourth quarter was really our best quarter we’ve had probably since that first game, where I saw what we saw that first game (against the Chargers),” Gase said. “There was a lot of grit, there was a lot of toughness shown, there was a great finish, there was strength. That’s what we need to be consistent on.”
Gase said he’s noticed things break down in pass protection when guys get beaten early in the play.
“Just keep fighting because you can recover,” he said. “You can find a way to get that guy blocked, the quarterback can move out of the way to where if you finish the play it might open up the throwing lane. If we are consistent with that, that’s where we’re going to make strides and that’s when we’re going to get better at protection.”
Gase said perhaps DeGuglielmo can provide a set of fresh eyes on the offensive line.
“That’s a positive that’s come out of this,” Gase said. “Somebody who hasn’t really been here. We’ll take a look, see if he can kind of see something, maybe make some adjustments.”