When Tony Sparano was introduced as the Dolphins' eighth coach in January, he was virtually unknown to even the most ardent Football fans other than having a name similar to the TV mafia boss on the HBO series.
Nearly a year has passed and Sparano is two wins from supervising the greatest turnaround in NFL history in taking the 1-15 Dolphins to 8-5 and into a three-way tie atop the AFC East. And his name is now firmly in the conversation for NFL Coach of the Year.
The only Dolphins coach to capture this honor was Don Shula for his 1972 Perfect Season.
Unfortunately for Sparano, his competition is deeper than Saturday's Heisman Trophy group. He wouldn't even be a lock if the award was for Rookie Coach of the Year because of the excellent jobs being done by John Harbaugh in Baltimore, Mike Smith in Atlanta, Jim Zorn in Washington and even interim coach Mike Singletary with the 49ers.
The last rookie coach to win was the Saints' Sean Payton in 2006.
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