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John Harbaugh Quickly Linked to Dolphins Job After Mike McDaniel Firing
John Harbaugh was fired by Baltimore on Monday following 18 mostly successful years. With Harbaugh leading the way the Ravens won a Super Bowl and six AFC North titles and had just three losing seasons. Now he's the most sought after free agent coach on the market.
The latest team to enter that market is the Miami Dolphins after owner Stephen Ross fired Mike McDaniel on Thursday morning. It did not take long for those two stories to be connected.
In fact, one NFL reporter, Josina Anderson, already said that the Dolphins were interested in Harbaugh before McDaniel was even fired. Of course, "affinity" and an actual conversation are two different things. And following the McDaniel firing, Adam Schefter said the team hadn't contacted Harbaugh or "made inquiries into other coaches."
Sources: Dolphins have not contacted John Harbaugh or made inquiries into other coaches. This was an independent decision apart from general manager. https://t.co/GMdaKJC3aR
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 8, 2026
Still, with all the interest surrounding Harbaugh throughout the league, people are going to wonder. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says that with all of Ross's "ties" to the Harbaughs, John "now looms as a key candidate" for the job.
With John Harbaugh available, and #Dolphins owner Stephen Ross' ties to the family, he now looms as a key candidate for Miami. A reason to fire a coach, with the thought that they could get Harbaugh.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 8, 2026
Ross's ties to the Harbaugh family appear to be that the owner interviewed Jim Harbugh back in 2011. Ross never made him an offer and he ended up coaching the 49ers before heading back to Michigan. Ross went to Michigan and is a donor, but Harbaugh is now coaching another NFL team and isn't allowed on campus anymore so it's unclear how close they've remained.
The only thing we do know for certain is that Harbaugh doesn't have a job and the Dolphins have a job opening. As of right now, those things are unrelated.
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Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.