Black is the new motivation
Coach offers special jerseys as reward
DAVIE — The newest chapter in the Dan Campbell motivational book came Thursday in the form of black practice jerseys. Campbell, the Dolphins’ interim coach, had the offense wearing the snazzy apparel as a trophy, symbolizing its victory over the defense in Wednesday’s practice.
“They’re cool,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said of the jerseys, which featured white numbers. “I think it’s a good changeup. It’s adding to the competition. Offense won yesterday, so we get to wear the black jerseys today.
“It just kind of adds another piece to the puzzle when you’re competing for something. We have [competed] for pride and bragging rights, but it adds another something to it.”
Campbell said handing out the black jerseys was a tactic used once before when he was an assistant with ex-Dolphins coach Tony Sparano during training camp.
“The winner gets to wear black for the day,” Campbell said. “You ask those guys, 95 percent of them love it, just to be able to wear black.
“It doesn’t necessarily match, but we are men, so I don’t think that’s that big of a deal.”
Running back Damien Williams was pumped up about the new swag hanging in his locker before practice started.
“I honestly don’t know why we got the black jerseys,” Williams said, “but I’m guessing it’s because we won the competition yesterday.
“And the
defense, they’re a little mad about it. As soon as I grab mine I’m going straight to the defense. I’ve got to let them know we won.”
Since he took over earlier this month, Campbell’s practices have featured 1-on-1 battles, matchups between the first-team offense and first-team defense, a tug-of-war and a playful drill Wednesday in which young players were surrounded by veterans and had to battle their way out.
Campbell also apparently has a points system in which he grades his units.
The players love the action.
“He surprises us every time we go out there,” Williams said. “We don’t know what he’s about to do.
“We just know there’s points involved and we know we’ve got to compete. So once he says, ‘Boom, boom, we’re doing this, this, and that for the points,’ it’s time to get active.”
Free safety Michael Thomas acknowledged the offense’s victory on Wednesday, but he didn’t seem too concerned.
“We let them win one day,” Thomas said with a smile. “We were trying to boost their morale, so they got rewarded with black jerseys. That’s all it is. They got one. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut.
“We’ll see today, though.”
Campbell likes the competition he’s sparked in practice, and the light trash talk that’s resulted.
“Some of the guys I talked to, specifically defense, they were the ones who were really, really excited,” Campbell said.
“And so since they didn’t win, and the offense came out in black today, they were talking about how they looked like ‘The Replacements,’ the offense. So they were messing with them. So they’re jealous. It was good.”