Why Daboll Would Choose Miami Over Giants ... Or Not
While there have been a dozen or so names mentioned as candidates to fill the eight current NFL head coach openings, it's become apparent that the two hottest names are Dan Quinn and Brian Daboll, two coordinators who have been identified among the seven candidates the Miami Dolphins interviewed last week.
When it comes to Daboll, he's believed to be a leading contender to replace Joe Judge as head coach of the New York Giants and he's also considered among the favorites to replace Brian Flores as Dolphins head coach partly because of his prior connections to the Dolphins and to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
So, yes, the possibility does exist that Daboll could wind up with his choice of becoming head coach of the Dolphins or head coach of the Giants.
Let's break down the factors that could help him decide if it came to that:
WHY DABOLL WOULD CHOOSE MIAMI
-- As mentioned above, Daboll has some familiarity with the Dolphins, having served as offensive coordinator under Tony Sparano during the 2011 season. Current GM Chris Grier was the Dolphins' director of college scouting at that time.
-- Also as mentioned above, Daboll worked with Tagovailoa before when he was offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama in 2017, and therefore would have familiarity with his quarterback and know how to get the most out of the 2020 fifth overall pick.
-- Taking the Dolphins job would allow Daboll to remain in the AFC East, where he has a lot of experience, not only from his time with the Dolphins and Bills but also from his two seasons with the Jets (2007-08) and his 11 seasons with the Patriots (2000-06, 2013-16).
-- Daboll would take over the team with the most salary cap space heading into the 2022 offseason, which obviously would offer the opportunity to upgrade the roster, particularly on offense.
-- The Dolphins also have two first-round picks in 2023.
-- Daboll would take over a team coming off consecutive winning records, a team that went 8-1 in its final nine games in 2021 and with very good defensive personnel already in place.
-- Looking at it from a financial perspective, it should be noted that Florida often is a preferred destination because it has no state income tax.
WHY DABOLL WOULD CHOOSE THE GIANTS
-- Maybe Daboll has had enough of the AFC East, particularly since he knows taking the Dolphins job would mean he has to face Josh Allen twice a year and he's seen up close what Allen can do.
-- While they were together in 2017, let's remember that Tua was the backup to Jalen Hurts that season. And also maybe Daboll's one year with Tagovailoa will serve as a negative in his decision because maybe he's worried about his NFL ceiling, a concern that would not be helped by the fact he's worked closely with the physically freakish Allen for the past four years.
-- Along those lines, Daboll might look at the NFC East as being more winnable quicker because Buffalo has the look of a team that could dominate the AFC East for a while — Dallas is the closest thing to that kind of team in the NFC East but doesn't necessarily look like a team built to last.
-- While the Giants roster has holes, New York has the fifth and seventh overall picks in the 2022 NFL draft and therefore should be able to add two immediate-impact players, while the Dolphins won't pick in the first round until at least 29th. The Giants also have two third-round picks, one of which ironically came from the Dolphins when they traded to move up in the second round of the 2021 draft to select tackle Liam Eichenberg.
-- The Giants just hired Joe Schoen as the general manager and he spent the past five seasons working with Daboll as the assistant GM for the Bills, so there's an obvious connection there.
-- While Daboll was born in Canada, he attended high school in New York and later the University of Rochester (also in New York), so he's got deeper ties to the Northeast than South Florida.
