Right Place, Right Time

Make no mistake: Saban has taken control. Only 20 players from 2004 remain on the roster. Saban reviewed every aspect of the team's operations, with an eye to instilling order, discipline and attention to detail. Players were forbidden from wearing hats in meeting rooms; shoes had to be tied during Saturday pregame walk-throughs. The practice facility is papered with motivational axioms. Last year Saban stunned veterans by running them through 40-yard sprints after the second practice of training camp, to test which players had come prepared.

"It's very different from anything I had experienced in the NFL," says defensive tackle Kevin Carter, 32, an 11-year NFL veteran who signed with Saban as a free agent before the 2005 season. "Everything is done a certain way; everything is done quickly. I don't like all of it, but we're going to win a lot of games. I knew that the first time I met Coach Saban."

Adds Taylor, "He wants the little things done right. Does every little thing equal wins and losses? No. Some things are just to do them. I love Nick, and I love what he's doing here. Tying your shoes at walk-through? That's just for the sake of doing it. But you do it because that's what the man wants, and right now this team is pretty damn good in a lot of areas."

Saban works much like the Kent State graduate assistant that he was 33 years ago, except with a bigger salary. "I see him out there coaching his butt off with the DBs," says Fryzel. "He tells me, 'Hell, Denny, once I'm out there coaching, I don't care if it's an 18-year-old college freshman or an All-Pro under the helmet.' That's Nick."

This is also Nick: defense. He attends every defensive team meeting and spends much of practice working with the defensive backs. The core of the Dolphins' overhaul lies in the defensive schemes that Saban learned under George Perles as a Michigan State assistant from 1983 to '87 then modified under Belichick and during his college days. The package is a base 3--4 that sometimes morphs into a 4--3 and features myriad variations and blitzes. Saban force-fed the entire playbook to the Dolphins a year ago, and confusion reigned until late in the season.

"It's a great scheme, but last year was like a circus," says Thomas, who was moved from middle linebacker in a 4--3 to inside linebacker in a 3--4. Likewise, Taylor went from defensive end in a 4--3 to playing what is often an outside linebacker in the new system. "He told me right away that I was going to have to check my ego at the door," says Taylor.

There will be more tweaks this season. Saban hired former Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans coach Dom Capers to run the defense, a move that forced defensive coach Will Muschamp to leave just one year after Saban brought him from LSU. "Nick does what's best for the organization at all times," says Muschamp, who moved to Auburn as defensive coordinator. "No ill will toward Nick. Dom Capers was an outstanding hire, but I want to call defenses, so it was no longer a good fit for me."

The coordinator change was one of numerous personnel issues that kept Saban busy off the field and further transformed the face of the Dolphins. Most notoriously, running back Ricky Williams was suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy for the fourth time and is now playing in the Canadian Football League. "I feel like in some ways we failed in giving Ricky the help and support he needed, because he's not here right now," says Saban, who expects Williams to be back with Miami next year.

Even more significant was Saban's upgrade at quarterback. He traded a second-round draft choice to the Minnesota Vikings for Daunte Culpepper and a conditional sixth-round pick to the Detroit Lions for Joey Harrington. Both are rehabbing: Culpepper his right knee after surgery in November and Harrington his psyche after four tough years as the would-be savior in Detroit. Culpepper will be the starter. Last month he told reporters that his goal is to start the exhibition opener on Aug. 12. "That's the perfect world," he said.

In June the 29-year-old Culpepper surprised teammates by running full speed on rollouts and even dived on a loose ball in a no-pads scrimmage. "I've had a lot of quarterbacks here," says wideout Chris Chambers, who has caught 315 passes for 39 touchdowns in five seasons with Miami. "But Daunte brings us to an elite level. I've been used to running 40, 50 yards and then slowing down. That's not going to happen anymore because Daunte can throw the ball down the field."