Miami Dolphins Coaching Search Update, Wild-Card Weekend Lessons, and Roster Notes
All seven of the coaches that multiple reports have identified as being candidates that the Miami Dolphins want to interview for their head-coaching opening were involved in the first round of the NFL playoffs this weekend, though two of them will be working Monday night.
More than that, Arizona defensive coordinator (and former Dolphins assistant) Vance Joseph will be facing off directly against another reported candidate, Rams offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.
The other five all were involved in games that might have boosted their stock as head coach candidates, none more so than coordinators Brian Daboll and Leslie Frazier of the Buffalo Bills.
Per multiple reports, a contingent of Dolphins officials was in Buffalo on Sunday to interview both Daboll and Frazier, less than 24 hours after the Bills routed the New England Patriots, 47-17, at Highmark Stadium.
This is where we note that the Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars are the only teams this offseason who are not announcing completed interviews for head coach and general manager openings.
The Chicago Bears, for example, already have announced six completed interviews, and those included Daboll and former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, and Frazier is expected to have an interview as well later this week.
Daboll was a hot candidate last year and that certainly hasn’t changed, which means the Dolphins are going to have competition if he’s their top choice.
A lot has been made of his prior relationship with Tua Tagovailoa from their one year together at the University of Alabama and it’s certainly possible his final decision will come down to his desire to work with Tua again, or lack thereof if he ultimately decides that Bears quarterback Justin Fields offers more intriguing possibilities.
THE COWBOYS CONNECTION
It was another disappointing playoff loss for the Dallas Cowboys, and one that left major question marks everywhere on their coaching staff.
While he has yet to be formally interviewed, Quinn is considered a leading candidate to take over as Denver head coach, while Moore has long been considered a hotshot candidate.
But who knows what’s going to happen with head coach Mike McCarthy after the Cowboys were penalized 14 times and ended the game time running out after he signed off on a quarterback draw from the 41-yard line with 14 seconds left and no timeouts.
Then again, it was Moore who called the play, which isn’t exactly a great mark on his resume, though not likely to quash his head-coaching hopes.
Bottom line here, though, is that Dallas is a situation that bears watching because owner Jerry Jones could be looking at losing one or both of his coordinators and he may decide he won’t let that happen and keep one of them instead of McCarthy after the bitterly disappointing playoff loss.
On the other side in Dallas on Sunday, 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel saw his offense have a typical 49ers performance, which is to say very well balanced between the run and the passing game.
REGGIE McKENZIE AND THE BEARS
Along with looking for a new head coach, the Bears are looking for a new general manager and they announced Friday they had interviewed former Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland.
On Sunday came news, via SI NFL writer Albert Breer, that they were going to interview current Dolphins senior personnel executive Reggie McKenzie for that post.
McKenzie served as Raiders GM before joining the Dolphins, and his being hired by the Bears would give Miami compensatory draft picks in the third round each of the next two years, based on the NFL’s new rules involving minority candidates being hired by other teams.
So that’s one to keep an eye on.
DOLPHINS ROSTER NUGGETS
Practice squad contracts expired Monday morning, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, which means that 14 Dolphins players instantly became “street free agents,” eligible to sign with any team at any time.
The complete list: CB Damon Arnette, DT Andrew Billings, RB Gerrid Doaks, T Roderick Johnson, DT Benito Jones, QB Jake Luton, LB Wynton McManus, WR Kirk Merritt, CB Chris Milton, C Spencer Pulley, G Durval Queiroz Neto, C Cameron Tom, WR Tommylee Lewis, RB Jordan Scarlett.
The names that stand out here clearly are Arnette, the former Raiders first-round pick who was brought in late in the season; Billings, the former Bengals starter who never was activated from the practice squad despite spending two months with the Dolphins; Doaks, the rookie seventh-round pick who also never got a shot in a regular season game; Queiroz, who just finished his third season on the Dolphins practice squad after arriving from Brazil; and Lewis, who served as the kick returner for two games before sustaining a season-ending hip injury against New Orleans.
Four practice squad players were signed last week to reserve/futures contract and will be with the Dolphins for the start of the offseason program: WR Cody Core, CB Javaris Davis, T Adam Pankey and T Kion Smith.
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