MIAMI GARDENS — You can’t miss Dolphins wide receivers coach Robert Prince at practice. A spry 60-year-old, Prince is regularly seen sprinting from drill to drill. He’s the personification of energy. He’s been that way for a while. And he puts his athleticism on display in a variety of ways.
This is a guy who truly should find time for rest this week while the surging Dolphins (4-7), who have won back-to-back games and three of their last four, are on a bye.
It was only a couple of months ago that Prince, in his first year with the Dolphins and his 18th season in the NFL, did a cartwheel followed by a backflip (a roundoff backflip) at a practice, much to the delight and amazement of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Prince, who was born in Okinawa, Japan, and lived there until he was 7 years old, was seen break dancing during the Dolphins’ raucous locker room celebration after their 30-13 win over Buffalo.
But before both of those activities, in July 2024, Prince won the 60-meter hurdles in 9.06 seconds and finished second in the pentathlon at the USATF (United States of America Track and Field) Masters Indoor Championships.
The wide receivers are well aware of those finishes.
“He definitely let us know that,” Waddle said.
Prince’s accomplishments reflect his enthusiasm. Whatever he’s doing, Prince’s energy can’t be ignored.
“He’s sprinting downfield any time we make a play at practice,” Waddle said with a smile. “He’ll be the first person we see, so we have a lot of jokes for ‘RP.’ We love him.”
Prince’s energetic style evolved from the beginnings of his coaching career. In the 1994-95 seasons, Prince was offensive coordinator at Fort Lewis (Co.) College. Gus Bradley, the ex-Jacksonville Jaguars coach (2013-16) and current San Francisco 49ers assistant head coach, was defensive coordinator. He’s also an energetic sort.
“I had to kind of match his energy on our side,” Prince said about Bradley. “And I always thought, playing, ‘How would I want to have been coached?’
“I want to be coached by a guy that brought energy. And I always say, ‘Hey, you know what? You’re going to know when I like it, and you’re going to know when I don’t like it. So I’ve always kind of tried to keep that energy, and that’s how I try to coach.”
Prince has impressive versatility. He’s served as an assistant quarterbacks coach, running backs coach and tight ends coach in the NFL.
He’s worked with big-name players such as Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson, the Hall of Famer, when he was wide receiver coach for the Lions (2014-20) and Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick when Prince was assistant quarterbacks coach for the Falcons (2006).
Prince, who replaced former receivers coach Wes Welker, came to the Dolphins from Dallas (2022-24), where he helped CeeDee Lamb earn three consecutive Pro Bowl berths.
Prince’s coaching has Waddle playing at a high level despite Hill’s absence with a season-ending knee injury sustained in Week 4.
Waddle has 49 receptions for a team-best 722 yards and a team-best five touchdowns. In the seven games since Hill’s injury, Waddle has five games of at least 80 yards receiving, three games of at least 95 yards receiving and one 100-yard game.
There’s not much more proven talent in the receivers room among Malik Washington, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Dee Eskridge, Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Tahj Washington. That’s why running back De’Von Achane is the team leader in receptions with 54.
Regardless, Prince gets his point across.
Early in training camp, Hill described Prince as somewhat of an exacting taskmaster, a coach who emphasized precision route-running and hard work over speed or touchdown celebrations.
“Coach RP has been great,” Hill said during training camp. “From the moment he has gotten here, he has been getting on me and Waddle’s nerves. I think it’s great, though. That accountability piece is something that we needed, and then also (he’s) pushing us every day.”
As for Prince’s newfound track career, that’s as interesting as the man himself. It started when he was coaching in Dallas. He reunited with a high school friend who competed in USATF Master’s events. Prince’s friend wanted to compete in hurdles.
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“And I said, ‘Well, I was a decathlete in college. I could teach you how to hurdle,’ ” Prince said. “So we’d go out on the weekends, and I’d teach him how to hurdle.”
When the friend suggested Prince should compete, Prince looked at the schedule for the national meet and discovered he’d be on spring break. So he trained for six weeks and produced a good result. He’s unsure whether he’ll do it again next year.
“But maybe it’ll be something that when I retire,” he said, “maybe that’ll be my next deal.”
We know one thing for sure, Prince won’t lack the energy to compete.
