MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins offensive line coach Butch Barry is thrilled to be back in Miami. How long he stays will depend on how much he can change in a town whose only constant is underwhelming offensive line play.
Barry — who in February replaced Matt Applebaum — met with reporters on Thursday for the first time since taking the job. The former University of Miami OL coach touched on his return to South Florida, how Liam Eichenberg has played at center with Connor Williams holding out, and his early exit from Denver.
In December, the Broncos fired Barry before he could complete even his first season there — a move that, based on reports out of Denver, was popular with the players that Barry coached.
Q&A With New Miami Dolphins OL Coach Butch Barry
The following is a transcript of an interview with Barry on behalf of South Florida reporters conducted by PFN Thursday.
What’s it like to be back in Miami?
“It feels good. It feels really good. It’s a place I’ve always appreciated and enjoyed being at, so it’s really good to be back.”
What are some of your best memories of being here?
“Well, I mean, obviously just the area, the weather. I have some really good memories with my family, and there’s some other people I’ve worked with in the past. They’re really good people. I enjoyed being with them.”
So, how did Butch Barry-to-the-Dolphins come together?
“Well, kind of dates back a few years, a few years now. I got to know [Mike McDaniel] in 2020 when I was in Green Bay. He was in San Fran. And then I got hired there in 2021 obviously we worked together for a full year.
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“I think it was a process that we really just hit it off, and a lot of things within the game and how it’s played and how we view the game to be played is very similar. It’s a relationship that keeps cultivating every opportunity we get.”
What are your guiding principles of coaching offensive line? Like what is your bedrock philosophy?
“So, I mean, everything starts with us attacking the line of scrimmage and being aggressive with our approach in the run game and protection. So we want to run off the ball and with direct angles, and we want to have a pocket that’s really firm for the quarterbacks to have the ability to step up. So that’s the foundational principles that we’re always going to stand by and then work from there and everything else.”
With Connor Williams holding out, you’ve given Liam Eichenberg work at center. What can get gain from that experience?
“So there’s a lot of things that go into that question, I think, because when you take an offensive line, there’s multiple people that have to be in leadership roles, OK? And so this gives more opportunities for people to be leaders and to exhibit how we want to do things and have a standard and control and to push that obviously, as a coaching staff, we’re setting that, and then they’re implementing that.
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“So I think that when things like that happen, it gives you those opportunities to have other people step up to the plate and obviously step up to the plate by position too, in a way. So now you’ve got another guy who hasn’t really had a lot of exposure to that position go out there and help this offense execute at a pretty high level throughout the offseason and do some really good things for us.”
Do you see Liam long-term as a left guard, or does he have a real chance to be the center for this team?
“I think that it’s great cross-reference reps, and he’s done everything in the right way to be the left guard also. So he’s done a lot of really good things. Obviously, what I found out early in my career is you cannot have enough people that know how to pull the ball. And I mean, it doesn’t matter what level it was years ago, I was a Division II football coach, and I had to go to my fourth center in a game, right? And if you don’t have a guy ready to pull the ball, you can’t play the game. So every one of those opportunities is huge.”
Austin Jackson is another player that we’re looking for a step forward this year. How has he handled this offseason?
“I mean, he’s been awesome to work with. He really has. And he’s been very intentional in everything that we try to do. He’s taking the approach, the process, the standard that we’re trying to go about it, and he’s embraced it. And look, it’s not going to be perfect. No player plays the perfect game. No player has the perfect practice. But he has intentionality in everything he’s trying to do. And he comes with an emphasis every day.
“Every day, he has an emphasis on what he wants to get better at. And that’s as a coach, that’s all you can ever ask for just to go back in time a little bit the way things went in Denver in 2022.”
What did you learn from the Denver experience?
“I think it’s always a great opportunity to be in front of players and understand what players are wanting and needing to be at their best. And players have to be coachable, and you have to work yourself around what makes them be their best, right?
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“Because our job is to fulfill dreams for the players. That’s why you get into coaching, to help players fulfill their dreams. And so you have to know how to maneuver yourself within the room to make the most out of that.”
And you feel like that was a learning experience?
“Yes, absolutely.”