Dolphins Coaching Search Update and Thoughts
As the Miami Dolphins' search for a new head coach continues, the list of candidates they reportedly have requested permission to interview has reached seven.
The latest, according to a report by NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, involved Los Angeles Rams running backs coach/assistant head coach Thomas Brown.
He joins current defensive coordinators Dan Quinn of the Cowboys, Leslie Frazier of the Bills and Vance Joseph of the Broncos, as well as offensive coordinators Brian Daboll of the Bills, Kellen Moore of the Cowboys and Mike McDaniel of the San Francisco 49ers.
WHAT ARE THE DOLPHINS LOOKING FOR?
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross suggested in his press conference to discuss the firing of Brian Flores after three seasons that prior head-coaching experience was a plus, though it a must if the organization found the right candidate.
And if we're going to go by the hiring pattern since Ross became majority owner in 2009, it's very clear that prior head-coaching experience is not a deal-breaker.
There have been three head coaches hired under Ross' watch, and it represented a first time as NFL head coach for all three of them: Joe Philbin, Adam Gase and Brian Flores.
Even the two interim coaches in that span didn't have prior head-coaching experience, that being Todd Bowles in 2011 and Dan Campbell in 2015.
So going by those precedents, it might seem at this point that Daboll, Moore, McDaniel and Brown would be more likely candidates, another reason being that it's the team's offense that needs more fixing at this time than the defense.
The last two hirings also favored youth, as both Gase and Flores were 37 when they joined the Dolphins organization — though Flores was three weeks away from turning 38.
Using that criteria, that would be Daboll at a disadvantage considering he's 46, but the other three fit the pattern — Moore is 33, Brown is 35, McDaniel is 38.
Why the pattern?
Maybe Ross is looking to find the next young hotshot coach who becomes a big-time success, somebody like Mike Tomlin, who the Dolphins interviewed in 2007 before Ross' watch and have watched become a rousing success in Pittsburgh.
Or somebody like Sean McVay, a wiz kid who took the Rams to the Super Bowl in his second season shortly after turning 33.
THE OFFENSIVE CANDIDATES
To be sure, there's something to like about all the offensive-minded candidates.
Daboll deserves a lot of credit for turning Josh Allen into a wildly athletic but wildly erratic quarterback into an MVP type of player. Daboll also has familiarity with QB Tua Tagovailoa from his one year as Alabama offensive coordinator in 2017 when Tua was a freshman.
McDaniel deserves credit for his role in the 49ers' punishing running game, which helped San Francisco get to the Super Bowl in the 2019 season.
Moore has been seen as a coaching star for a while now, and he certainly could relate to Tua Tagovailoa as a smaller quarterback who happens to be left-handed — because before Tua, Moore had been the last lefty to throw a regular season pass, that happening in 2015.
Lastly, there's Brown, who played a role in 2020 second-round pick Cam Akers' rapid development but more importantly no doubt has benefited from being around McVay, much like one-time Dolphins offensive coordinator Zac Taylor before he became head coach of the Bengals, who are in the playoffs in his third season on the job.
THE FORMER NFL HEAD COACHES
The down side to hiring a first-time NFL head coach is the unknown, and maybe it played out in the way Gase was so obsessed with the offense that the defense almost felt like an afterthought and in the way Flores' personality could become a problem in terms of dealing with those around him once he became a head coach.
To that end, perhaps coaches like Quinn, Frazier and Joseph represent safer options, though it again goes against Ross' pattern.
The other point that needs to be made is that it's highly likely more names will be added to the list, with options figuring to include former head coaches like Bowles, Jim Caldwell and Doug Pederson and more highly touted offensive coordinator types like Byron Leftwich.
