It only took Tony Sparano 24 years to become an overnight sensation.
“I take my time,” he said once, his climb complete. “But I try to get it right.”
He toiled in coaching anonymity at the University of New Haven and Boston University and then as an assistant with four different NFL teams before getting his big break in Miami in 2008. And his first season leading a team as a pro head coach was the proverbial dream come true. He took over a Dolphins team that had gone 1-15 under one-year blunder Cam Cameron, and led it to an 11-5 season and AFC East title.