Candidate for WR Coach Opening Emerges

The Miami Dolphins still are looking to replace Wes Welker as wide receivers coach, and we've now got our first reported candidate.

The Dolphins have interviewed Dallas Cowboys pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach Robert Prince, according to ESPN Dolphins reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques.

While Prince has no prior working relationship with head coach Mike McDaniel, he did work with Dolphins QB coach/pass game coordinator Darrell Bevell with the Detroit Lions in 2019-20 when Bevell was the team's offensive coordinator.

And after Bevell was named interim head coach to close out the 2020 season, Prince replaced him and served as acting head coach for one game when Bevell and other Lions coaches were out because of a COVID-19 outbreak (the Lions lost against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 47-7, after Matthew Stafford was injured in the first quarter).

Prince has been with the Cowboys the past three seasons, but finds himself in limbo after head coach Mike McCarthy's contract ran out after the 2024 season.

Prior to coaching with the Cowboys, Prince spent one season in the same capacity with the Houston Texans and seven years with the Lions. Prince's first NFL coaching stops were with the Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and Seattle Seahawks.

Interestingly, Prince was born in Okinawa, Japan.

The wide receiver coach position is one of two currently open on the Dolphins coach staff, along with special teams coordinator following the firing of Danny Crossman.

THE ANTHONY WEAVER WATCH

The Dolphins conceivably could be looking for a new defensive coordinator as well if Anthony Weaver winds up becoming head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

After his in-person interview in New Orleans had to be rescheduled because of the rare snow storm in that city, Weaver now reportedly will be meeting with Saints brass Friday.

He's among a handful of candidates scheduled to get in-person interviews in the coming days, along with Mike Kafka, Joe Brady, Kellen Moore and the aforementioned Mike McCarthy.

PRO BOWL NOTE

The announcement of Pro Bowl replacement players has begun, and one of those involved former Dolphins linebacker Kyle Van Noy.

Van Noy, who played one season with the Dolphins after signing as a free agent in 2020 and abruptly being released the next offseason, will replace T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who bowed out because of an injury.

This will be a first Pro Bowl appearance for Van Noy, who had a career-high 12.5 sacks for the Baltimore Ravens this season. Van Noy had six sacks in 14 games for the Dolphins in that 2020 season.