Miami Herald:Right call might be making no calls

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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/football/7315256.htm

Right call might be making no calls

To Dave Wannstedt, a head coach is too busy to call plays effectively, yet that's what the Redskins' Steve Spurrier plans to do.

BY ARMANDO SALGUERO

asalguero@herald.com

Dave Wannstedt's football expertise always has been defense. When he took over the Chicago Bears, that's where he concentrated his efforts. Aside from his duties as coach, Wannstedt drew up the defensive game plan, sat in on defensive meetings and called the defensive plays each Sunday.

Now, Wannstedt wishes he hadn't done that.

''It's hard, it's too much,'' Wannstedt said Thursday. ``I remember talking to [former Dolphins offensive coordinator and former Dallas Cowboys coach] Chan Gailey. He did the offense in Dallas, and he said that was the one thing he would not do again.

``It's not that you can't do it. It's just that something is going to get neglected.''

That's exactly what Wannstedt and the Dolphins hope happens to the Washington Redskins on Sunday night when coach Steve Spurrier once again takes over the play-calling for his offense.

BACK IN CHARGE: Washington head coach Steve Spurrier will resume calling plays on offense for the Redskins.

After two weeks of allowing offensive coordinator Hue Jackson to run the offense, this week Spurrier decided to take back those duties.

''I'm just getting involved,'' Spurrier said. ``Hue will be involved also. I just need to be more involved. I need to be talking to the quarterback. Hue will still be very involved in the play-calling. We'll both do it. That's how a lot of teams do it. They have a primary play-caller and then another guy.''

Most coaches, in fact, don't take over the offensive or defensive play-calling unless the units are in crisis. The Giants offense was sputtering last season when Jim Fassel assumed the play-calling.

The team advanced to the playoffs.

STRETCHED THIN?

Even if a coach saves the offense or defense by doing his coordinator's job, he almost certainly neglects his own duties, Wannstedt believes.

''Today, I spent two hours talking with [Dolphins personnel boss] Rick Spielman, and we were talking about personnel issues,'' Wannstedt said. ``[if I were a defensive coordinator], I would completely forget about the offense. And I'm in every special teams meeting, and so then I wouldn't be able to be in those meetings. There's only so much time in the day to cover everything you need to cover.

``It's tough. A lot of guys do it. But I think it's difficult.''

Spurrier's self-imposed reassignment will pit his offensive strategies against Dolphins defensive coordinator Jim Bates. It's a match Bates eagerly anticipates.

''Steve has a great mind and has been a great play-caller for a long time,'' Bates said. ``So that's great. When I was the head coach for the [uSFL's] San Antonio Gunslingers, he was the head coach for the Tampa Bay Bandits and our teams played each other. They won the football game, but it was a very competitive game.

``So he's 1-0 against me.''

Bates takes that record pretty seriously. So seriously, Bates thought about the record for a couple of minutes and remembered that in 1989, when he was linebackers coach at the University of Tennessee, the Volunteers defense thwarted Spurrier's Duke offense in a victory.

So Bates' record against Spurrier is actually 1-1.

SIMILAR OFFENSE

Looking to gain the personal advantage, Bates has studied Washington's tendencies with Jackson and Spurrier calling the plays. He hasn't noticed any difference.

''It won't change a whole lot,'' Bates said. ``Maybe they run a little more with Hue calling the plays. But earlier this year, even with Steve calling the plays, he's run it more than in the past.''

The Dolphins don't seem nearly as concerned about which coach will call the plays as which quarterback will be asked to execute them. Wearing a protective boot, Redskins starter Patrick Ramsey missed practice for the second consecutive day Thursday with a foot injury. But the Dolphins are wary, wondering if he still will play ahead of Tim Hasselbeck, who has not started a game in his two-year NFL career.

''You've got to take a look at both, but we don't have as much on Hasselbeck,'' linebacker Zach Thomas said. ``With Ramsey, we're preparing for him. They're both right-handed, so that's good. It doesn't change too much of the game plan. You prepare for what they've been doing and go from there.''