Sherman: 'I don't think we're that far away'

DAVIE — You get a charming story line like this in sports sometimes, Mike Sherman becoming Dolphins offensive coordinator and coming full-circle with his former English student, Joe Philbin.

Sherman remembers back more than three decades to Philbin as a "very introspective, very cerebral" student at Worcester (Mass.) Academy as they broke down books like Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio." Philbin remembers Sherman as being late for class on occasion.

But even as he was asked about this Wednesday, Sherman says almost as an aside, "I'm not sure I remember that much about him from then."

Sports are about the moment, Sherman seemed to be saying, as any career coach knows with enough wins to wear a ring, enough losses to be fired and enough moves for his wife to get a nervous tic, "Whenever she sees a moving van," he says.

So this move for him isn't about some Big Chill reunion for Sherman and Philbin, as nice as that is. It's about now, about winning. And Sherman related two interesting aspects of his visit with Philbin a few weeks ago that swayed his taking the job.

The first was watching video of the Dolphins' offense. He confirmed what the second half of the season showed a lot of people, what gave hesitation for change by the end.

"I don't think we're that far away,'' he said. "We'll have some very explosive potential with the talent we have on offense. We have to fill some holes, but overall we have some explosive players and that's exciting.

"If you have explosive players, you should have explosive plays."

The second thing Sherman needed to know was owner Steve Ross' commitment to winning. Philbin convinced him on Ross.

"He was adamant about the fact that Mr. Ross wants to bring a Super Bowl, bring a Lombardi Trophy to Miami,'' Sherman said. "He's very passionate about that."

Sherman called that, "a very telling statement, a convincing statement that led me to feel we have a chance to do that here with the current level we're able to add to this as well."

Don't all owners say that to new coaches?

"I've met some that haven't said that, to be honest,'' Sherman said.

Sherman, on top of Philbin, gives the offense the kind of experience that suggests it's in good hands. You never know. And it proved to be in fine hands after a slow, introductory start with the younger Brian Daboll last year.

What Philbin and Sherman offer immediately is more collective knowledge of two of the available quarterbacks than anyone else in the hunt. This is vital, as any Dolphins fan knows, considering it's the most vital of those "holes" Sherman mentioned.

Philbin worked with Matt Flynn for the past four years at Green Bay. Sherman coached Ryan Tannehill the last few years at Texas A&M, the final one as his quarterback.

All you're going to get out of Sherman on Tannehill is, "He's a good kid,'' because this is one of those state secrets worth keeping.

You get some other news. Sherman will be calling the plays. He believes in a balanced offense in these pass-happy times. He says there are some "hidden gems" among the offensive linemen. He'll wait to fill the playbook until all the players are in hand.

"The best offense is the one that makes best use of the players' talents,'' he said.

Sitting at the next table over during an interview session is his son-in-law, the new Dolphins assistant quarterback coach, Zac Taylor. There's a lot of interwoven stories with this new staff, as there was with the old one, as there is with most any one.

The bottom line is Sherman's past with Philbin is a nice story. But winning is the only thing anyone cares about at this level. And the new architect of the offense thinks this team is ready to win with a few offseason additions.

"I don't think anyone would have picked the Giants necessarily to win the Super Bowl this year," he said.

dhyde@tribune.com.

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Sherman: 'I don't think we're that far away'