Keeping Up with Dolphins Head Coach Candidates

More and more names of Miami Dolphins head coach candidates surfaced Tuesday, and three of them are former assistants with the team.

Among the coaches the Dolphins reportedly have received permission to interview are Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

Joseph served in the same capacity with the Dolphins in 2016 before he left to become head coach of the Denver Broncos, where he had an 11-21 record in two seasons.

Daboll was Dolphins offensive coordinator in 2011 under Tony Sparano, who was fired after 13 games that season.

Quinn served as defensive line coach under Nick Saban for his two seasons as Dolphins head coach in 2005-06.

The other candidates the Dolphins have requested permission to interview, per multiple reports, are Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.

McDaniel was among the candidates fired Dolphins head coach Brian Flores interviewed last offseason to become offensive coordinator before he decided to promote assistants George Godsey and Eric Studesville to co-coordinators along with retaining their posts as tight ends and running backs coach, respectively.

The list of coaches the Dolphins look to interview is likely to grow, and possibly by a lot, because we're at the beginning of the coaching search.

Remember that when the Dolphins hired Flores in 2019, they didn't do so until Feb. 4 because Flores was busy with the New England Patriots' Super Bowl run.

Other potential candidates for the Dolphins job would be former Colts and Lions coach Jim Caldwell, former Eagles coach and Dolphins quarterback Doug Pederson, former Dolphins interim head coach and current Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, and Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.

FLORES IN DEMAND?

Speaking of Flores, there are many national analysts who believe it won't be long before he gets a new head-coaching opportunity and he's already gotten one interview request, that with the Chicago Bears.

There currently are seven head-coaching openings in the NFL, including the Las Vegas Raiders, who are headed to the playoffs under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.

Other than the Dolphins, teams looking for a new coach are the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings.

With the number of openings, Flores could end up doing what Gase did in 2019 when he went from being fired by the Dolphins to getting hired by the Jets in a short span.