Dolphins don't miss Saban

BY BARRY JACKSON

bjackson@MiamiHerald.com

With his history coaching defensive backs, Nick Saban scrutinized, pushed and prodded the Dolphins' cornerbacks and safeties with regularity. So do they miss the attention? Hardly.

In fact, several defensive backs at last weekend's minicamp admitted how much better -- and calmer -- working conditions are without him. Even cornerback Travis Daniels, who played for Saban at LSU and the Dolphins, called it a ''good'' change.

''It's easier to work without the tension,'' cornerback Andre' Goodman said. ``After a while, the atmosphere is bad and people are beating on you. You like to feel like everybody is at ease, and it didn't feel that way at all times last year. I knew I was prepared every Sunday because of the way [Saban] prepared us, but this makes business a whole lot more fun.''

Said safety Yeremiah Bell: ''It's a lot better. There's not as much yelling. With the yelling, guys get frustrated and their minds start to wander. Coach Saban was such a presence and demanding so much. Now guys have a chance to relax and really grab hold of'' coordinator Dom Capers' scheme.

Daniels compared playing for Saban to dealing with a ``father who is always telling you what to do . . . someone breathing down my neck every second.''

Meanwhile, Saban's complex pass defense scheme has ''been simplified a lot,'' Bell said. ``It's pretty much the same defense but fewer calls. They [removed] some things that were really confusing to players.''

For example, safety Renaldo Hill said last season there was one call that could mean three things, depending on the player's position. ``Now it means one thing.''

The Dolphins decided to keep intact their group of defensive backs, though Jason Allen moved from safety to cornerback. ''We think it's a group that can play winning football,'' GM Randy Mueller said. (FYI: There's concern about Goodman's recent shoulder injury, with an update expected by Friday, his agent said.)

The Dolphins finished fifth in pass defense in 2006, but the defensive backs had just five interceptions. Hill said the defensive backs don't want to merely knock down passes and are ''jumping down'' each other's ''throats'' if they squander a chance for a turnover in practice.

Coach Cam Cameron, Capers and secondary coaches Mel Phillips and Brett Maxie ''realize we can take it on ourselves to correct guys instead of coaches yelling,'' Hill said.

``We don't see why we can't be the best secondary in the league.''

CHATTER

• Though Ricky Williams is eligible for immediate reinstatement, the NFL is proceeding slowly on the matter while still regularly drug-testing him. The Williams camp doesn't expect a ruling until closer to June.

• Mueller last week again declined to say if the team wants Williams back, and he hasn't informed Williams, either. The Dolphins say not to read into the fact his locker was given to Lorenzo Booker, though that raised eyebrows.

• Turns out Bob Griese wasn't the only Dolphins Hall of Famer who called to congratulate John Beck after the draft. Larry Csonka reached out, too. ''I was so pumped,'' Beck said. 'We talked about football, hunting and fishing. I called my friend and said, `You won't believe who called me.' We always watch his outdoor show.''