Why Rizzi Would Be a Great Replacement (Even Though It's Not Likely)

Long before he became known as one of the top special teams coaches in the NFL, Darren Rizzi earned some attention with a sideline outburst during a Miami Dolphins prime-time game on national television.

Berating one of his players for a discipline mistake that resulted in an unnecessary roughness penalty, Rizzi showed his demonstrative personality in that one instance, and it hasn't been the last time in a career that took him to the New Orleans Saints.

It's relevant to bring up now because the Dolphins are in the market for a new special teams coordinator after moving on from Danny Crossman after five seasons and Rizzi would be a high-quality replacement if he doesn't land a head-coaching position after finishing out the 2024 season as the Saints' interim head coach.

Rizzi's resume speaks for itself, with nine top 10 finishes in 13 seasons in the NFL special teams rankings compiled every year by Rick Gosselin through an analysis of 22 different statistical categories.

The Dolphins, meanwhile had one top 10 finish and three finishes in the bottom third of the league (25th or lower) in Crossman's first four seasons.

Being able to bring back Rizzi would be an absolute win for the Dolphins by all accounts, but this is where we need to pause to point out it's unlikely to happen.

For one thing, Rizzi isn't likely to be lacking for options if he doesn't land a head-coaching gig because in addition to his great special teams work he was an associate head coach for the Dolphins for two seasons (2017-18) and assistant head coach for the Saints for three seasons (2022-24) before replacing Dennis Allen during the just-completed season.

Rizzi also interviewed for the Dolphins' head-coaching opening in 2019 before the job went to Brian Flores, and it may be that returning to an organization that bypassed him for the top job isn't something appealing to him.

There's also no previous working relationship between Rizzi and head coach Mike McDaniel, which often is a factor in choosing new assistant coaches.

Lastly, and perhaps just as important as anything else, there could be a clashing of styles here because Rizzi is old school, in your face and McDaniel clearly is not.

It would be a lot easier, for example, to see Rizzi work with somebody like Dan Campbell or Mike Vrabel than somebody like McDaniel.

IF NOT DARREN RIZZI, WHO COULD BE THE NEXT DOLPHINS SPECIAL TEAMS COACH?

If we're looking for coaches with connections to McDaniel, one name to watch is Chris Tabor, whose last NFL job was interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2023.

He was out of the NFL in 2024, but before that spent more than a dozen years as a special teams coordinator, including time with the Cleveland Browns when Mike McDaniel was an assistant on the coaching staff.

The 2014 Browns coaching staff, under head coach Mike Pettine, included not only McDaniel and Tabor, but also defensive line coach Anthony Weaver, who just finished his first season as Dolphins defensive coordinator.

Another candidate could be Ronnie Bradford, who joined the Dolphins coaching staff last season as senior special teams assistant and spent time as special teams coordinator with the Denver Broncos from 2004-06, intertwining with McDaniel's first season in the NFL as a coaching intern with the Broncos in 2005.