Marino Resigns From New Job With Dolphins

Five weeks after asking for an executive position with the Miami Dolphins and three weeks after accepting the senior vice president job created for him, Dan Marino resigned Tuesday.

As recently as Sunday, Marino denied reports saying he was having second thoughts about assuming control of the Dolphins’ football operations. But Tuesday he made an unannounced visit to team owner Wayne Huizenga’s office and quit, spurning attempts the owner made to change his mind.

“I heard about it on the television a couple of days ago, but I didn’t believe it,” Huizenga said. “Needless to say, we’re disappointed. Dan is a great guy, and we like him a lot. He would have been good for this organization.”

A telephone message left at Marino’s home was not returned.

“I have decided that it would not be in the best interests of either my family or the Dolphins to assume the role as the team’s senior vice president of football operations,” Marino said in a statement released by the team.

Marino played for the Dolphins from 1983-99 and took them to the 1985 Super Bowl, which they lost to San Francisco. He holds NFL records with 61,361 yards passing and 420 touchdown passes.

He planned to leave his analyst jobs at CBS Sports and HBO to come back to the Dolphins, beginning a full-time role next week. Marino had been part of at least one team personnel meeting but never took control of the football operations.

Huizenga also acknowledged that Marino’s sudden departure might present a public relations problem for the franchise, which has missed the playoffs the last two seasons and has many fans pleading for drastic change.

“I can’t worry about perception at this stage of the game,” Huizenga said.

“All we can do is put our best foot forward and see what happens.”

Huizenga said the Dolphins will begin searching for “a senior executive who has an extensive football background” to join Miami’s management team and oversee football operations.

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The New England Patriots held high their second Super Bowl trophy in three seasons before a raucous downtown Boston crowd, celebrating a championship that was as thrilling as the first one.

“We’re baaack!” quarterback Tom Brady told a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd in City Hall Plaza, standing with team owner Bob Kraft, Coach Bill Belichick and dozens of teammates amid a hail of red, white and blue confetti.

Brady and Kraft hoisted the twin Super Bowl trophies as they led a parade to City Hall before hundreds of thousands of fans.

In a repeat of the 2002 Super Bowl celebration, Kraft, Brady and Belichick did a victory dance for the crowd, egged on by All-Pro cornerback Ty Law.

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Washington Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs will have two assistant head coaches, and separate offensive and defensive coordinators, when he returns to the sidelines after an 11-year retirement.

Former Buffalo Coach Gregg Williams will be listed as “assistant head coach -- defense,” while Greg Blache is defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Blache spent the last five seasons as Chicago’s defensive coordinator.

Joe Bugel, who built “The Hogs” as offensive line coach under Gibbs in the 1980s, returns as “assistant head coach -- offense.” Don Breaux, the running backs coach during Gibbs’ first stint, is the offensive coordinator.

As expected, longtime NFL offensive guru Ernie Zampese will be a consultant for the offense. Stan Hixon, receivers coach at Louisiana State, will hold the same job with the Redskins. The only holdover from Steve Spurrier’s staff is defensive and special teams assistant Kirk Olivadotti.

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Steve Szabo was hired as the Buffalo Bills’ defensive backs coach after a season as a volunteer assistant with the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.... The Cincinnati Bengals are abandoning efforts to grow a natural grass field in Paul Brown Stadium. Despite underground heating and irrigation, a new mix of the sand and dirt base, and creation of their own turf farm, the Bengals have not been able to create a surface that will stand up to play in the 4-year-old stadium.