Is Chasing Harbaugh a No-Brainer for Dolphins?

The Baltimore Ravens fired the former Super Bowl champion head coach.

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, left, and Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh attend the NFL Annual League Meeting at The Breakers in 2025. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins have to make a run at John Harbaugh, right?

When multiple reports Tuesday night indicated that some teams with a head coach in place reached out to John Harbaugh's agent very soon after he became available, naturally, the assumption was that the Dolphins were one of those teams.

That notion was only reinforced by a Josina Anderson tweet suggesting that Dolphins ownership had "shown an affinity" for Harbaugh.

I'm told that #Dolphins ownership has expressed an affinity for John Harbaugh recently, per league source.

We'll see if that appeal materializes into an opportunity, as the seat is not currently vacant.

Harbaugh will have multiple conversations at his door step. https://t.co/bixgyHSwIc

— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) January 6, 2026

Ross, as we know, is a big fan of Jim Harbaugh, so that he would be fond of John as well certainly makes sense.

The question is whether that affinity will turn into an all-out pursuit of Harbaugh, who automatically became the most notable head coach candidate the second he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens after 18 seasons on the job.

Harbaugh certainly has an impressive resume, complete with a Super Bowl title in the 2012 season and a .614 career winning percentage that ranks 14th in NFL history among coaches with at least 100 regular season wins.

He had only three losing seasons in his 18 years with Baltimore, the most recent coming this season when rookie kicker Tyler Loop was wide right on a field goal attempt that could have given the Ravens the AFC North title.

HOW HARD SHOULD THE DOLPHINS GO AFTER HARBAUGH?

The Dolphins, of course, have a head coach, that being Mike McDaniel, who just finished his fourth season at the helm.

There has been no statement from owner Stephen Ross amid questions about McDaniel's job security over the final two months of the regular season that McDaniel definitely was coming back, but then again, he's under contract for the next three years, so there really has been no need for a statement.

McDaniel, for his part, said of his job status that he's the Dolphins head coach until he's "told otherwise."

Whatever anybody thinks about McDaniel, there's no universe where anyone would argue the point that Harbaugh would represent an upgrade — if the Dolphins can swing it.

From that standpoint, it's probably a no-brainer that the Dolphins should hire Harbaugh if they can beat out other teams for his services. It won't be easy or cheap because Harbaugh will be in heavy demand.

And that cost won't be strictly how big a contract Harbaugh will look to get, but also how much power he might want.

This is important to note because the Dolphins are in the midst of a GM search, one that, interestingly enough, saw the name Chad Alexander added to the interview list Tuesday. Alexander is the assistant GM of the Los Angeles Chargers, but he also spent a lot of time in Baltimore working with Harbaugh.

So maybe there's a package deal there for the Dolphins.

WHY WOULD HARBAUGH CHOOSE MIAMI?

Exactly where Harbaugh lands is a big mystery, and it could be any one of the teams without a head coach — Arizona, Atlanta, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York Giants or Tennessee — or even one that would dump its current head coach for the chance to land him.

The Dolphins have some drawbacks that include an uncertain quarterback situation, but there are some positives as well, including a generous owner, the chance to have a say in his GM or maybe even demand personnel authority, no state income tax and, on a personal level, proximity to Tampa and the University of South Florida, where his daughter Alison is a member of the lacrosse team.

For the Dolphins, the appeal is clear, but what happens if the Dolphins make a run at Harbaugh and come up short?

Where does that leave them with McDaniel?

And couldn't the argument be made that if the Dolphins are ready to dump McDaniel if they can get Harbaugh, they should see it as a sign that McDaniel isn't the solution after all?

If the thought is that McDaniel should keep his job, but not if somebody more established comes along, then maybe the Dolphins should just take a shot with a first-time head coach with promise, even if they won't know what they'll get for sure.

Again, there's no one who would suggest McDaniel is a better coach than Harbaugh, but how quickly could Harbaugh help the Dolphins turn things around, given a bad cap situation in 2026 and, again, the shaky quarterback situation because he won't have Lamar Jackson to run the offense anymore?

Let's also not forget that no coach has ever won the Super Bowl with two different teams, and if that's the ultimate goal — and it should be — then history says the Dolphins won't get there with Harbaugh.

Then again, the Dolphins haven't won a playoff game since 2000, so maybe the goal for now should be simply to win one of those — and Harbaugh did that just last year when the Ravens handled the Pittsburgh Steelers before losing a heartbreaker against the Buffalo Bills when tight end Mark Andrews dropped a two-point conversion pass.

Hiring Harbaugh would break a pattern for Ross, whose head coach hires — Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, Brian Flores, McDaniel — all have been first-timers and younger than the 63-year-old Harbaugh.

That pattern hasn't produced the desired results, so maybe it's time to try a new approach.

One thing is for sure: it certainly wouldn't be status quo, and it most definitely would re-energize a fan base that's pretty down on the organization at the moment.

That might be the best reason of all for Ross to go all out to get Harbaugh.