Dolphins Coaching Search Thoughts, Questions and Observations
Daboll took the Giants offer before he was scheduled for a second interview with the Dolphins, according to reports, which brings up questions from both sides here.
From the Dolphins standpoint, the obvious centers around just how much they liked Daboll. If they had him as their top target, as had been suggested, why would they not have had a second interview with him this week? Especially if they knew he was having a second interview with the Giants and had a strong connection with new GM Joe Schoen from their four years together in Buffalo?
From the other side, were the Giants Daboll's clear first choice all along or did he take the offer and not wait for his second Dolphins interview for fear of missing out?
If Daboll favored the Giants, the timing of a second Dolphins interview wouldn't have mattered, but under that scenario why did he prefer that opportunity? Was it the opportunity to work with Schoen? The ability to stay in the Northeast (he went to high school and college in New York)? A better chance to succeed (the Giants have won two Super Bowls since the Dolphins' last playoff win)? Preferring to work with quarterback Daniel Jones as opposed to Tua Tagovailoa? All of the above? None of the above?
Daboll has yet to have his introductory press conference with the Giants and we certainly don't expect him to say anything derogatory about the Dolphins, but it's possible he could shed some light, particularly if he dwells on the idea of being able to stay in the New York-New Jersey area.
Here's another potential scenario, and that's the idea that maybe the Dolphins are making their head coach opening less than totally appealing — particularly to somebody with options — if we believe the reports that they want their new coach to work with Tagovailoa and they'd like to keep most of the defensive staff in place.
The Giants did publicly commit to Jones in their press conference Thursday, but there's been no suggestion the new coach would have to keep most of the defensive coaching staff intact.
If a young candidate wants a head-coaching job badly enough, those restrictions aren't a new issue, but this is again where Daboll had other options.
That brings us to the other two candidates scheduled, per reports, for a second interview next week: Mike McDaniel and Kellen Moore.
Would either of them or both be OK with the reported parameters put in place by the Dolphins because they want a shot at becoming a first-time NFL head coach?
Let's understand they wouldn't be the first head coach candidates to turn down an opportunity to return to what they might perceive as much better situations, and let's not forget that Moore coordinated the highest-scoring offense in the NFL, while McDaniel was the offensive coordinator for the offense that averaged the most yards per play in 2021.
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RELATED: The Pros and Cons of Mike McDaniel as a Head Coach Candidate
RELATED: The Pros and Cons of Kellen Moore as a Head Coach Candidate
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While Moore is only 32 and would become the youngest head coach in the NFL, we should remember that Sean McVay was 31 when the Los Angeles Rams hired him, he's averaged 11 wins in his five seasons and he's a win away from going to the Super Bowl for the second time.
It also says the Dolphins (read: Stephen Ross and Chris Grier) think all that's needed is for an offensive specialist to come in and fix the side of the ball that really held the team back in 2021. That, of course, assumes the defense will pick up where it left off last season, but now without Brian Flores, who unquestionably played a major role in its success the past two seasons — if he wasn't the overwhelming reason for that success.
This sounds an awful lot like the hiring of Adam Gase, who clearly was an offensive specialist — to the point where he was regularly seen drawing plays during games while the Dolphins defense was on the field.
The argument could be made that this approach worked in the short term for the Dolphins because they did make the playoffs in Gase's first year. But things went south after that, which led us to Flores.
The key here is whether the defense, which has yet to show it can be dominant against elite offenses, will be able to maintain its level of performance with Flores no longer around.
IS HARBAUGH REALLY IN PLAY?
And, yes, we're going to come back to Jim Harbaugh because nothing has changed from this standpoint after we've mentioned all along not to dismiss that possibility that he'll be the next head coach of the Dolphins.
The buzz hasn't changed that Harbaugh really wants to return to the NFL and proof arrived Saturday afternoon with Pro Football Talk reporting, via sources, that Harbaugh was interviewing for the Minnesota Vikings head coach opening.
So there's that and then there's the fact that everybody knows how much Ross likes him — partly because Ross isn't shy about saying it out loud.
And this is where we revisit Ross' statement about Harbaugh at the press conference to discuss Flores' firing: "Jim Harbaugh, I love Jim Harbaugh. He had the opportunity once before to come to the Miami Dolphins. But he’s at the University of Michigan, as everybody really knows. That is the school that I graduated from and I’m very involved in it, and I’m not going to be the person that takes Jim Harbaugh from the University of Michigan. I hope he stays there. He is a great coach.”
OK, but as we've mentioned before, what if Harbaugh eventually declares that he wants to return to the NFL? Or he uses Harbaugh's interview with the Vikings as evidence of Harbaugh's wishes? Then Ross can say he's not "taking" Harbaugh from the University of Michigan. We've also got National Signing Day on Wednesday and now maybe the Dolphins coaching search drags past that day, Harbaugh is hired, and Ross can feel better for not having disrupted Michigan's recruiting efforts for this year.
Farfetched? Maybe, but remember when it was suggested that Harbaugh was leaking his interest in returning to the NFL to get more money from Michigan after taking a pay cut last year? Well, there has been no contract redo.
Is it a matter of Michigan simply calling Harbaugh's bluff or taking its time to do it? Or is it possible that Harbaugh truly wants to get back to the NFL?
Of course, the next question becomes: If it does end up that Harbaugh is the guy that the Dolphins hire, do the same rules apply to him in terms of working with Tua and keeping the defensive coaching staff intact?
This isn't, after all, a first-time head coach, but rather a proven NFL head coach who had great success with the San Francisco 49ers in his first job and also has the public admiration of the owner.
The answers to all those questions should be coming in the next several days.
