The Miami Dolphins hope new vision will lead to HC success

The Miami Dolphins are hoping a new vision will lead to success.  Chris Grier is tasked with finding the right coach to turn it around.

With what is deemed by most as the bottom of the head coaching vacancies, can Chris Grier get a fair shot at a quality coach?

So here we sit, another rebuild in the making, another QB decision, another head coaching search and another pissed off fan base. I could calmly handle a rebuild from a retirement issue after a long competitive tenure, or even a tweak to the staff due to an earned promotion in  the ranks to another team. But every three years and being the laughing-stock of the NFL, well it’s getting hard to stomach.

The Miami Dolphins are in a seemingly difficult situation that I’m not sure there going to be able to climb out of for quite some time, unfortunately. They are not the coveted franchise they once were, frankly, I’m not sure there are even in the top fifty percent of the league as far as desire to be a part of, both for players and coaching prospects.

This has become a major problem. Owner, Stephen Ross has big pockets, that’s not a secret, but sometimes that just don’t cut it. Sometimes a big fat check cannot persuade quality, and as we most likely will find out here in the near future, the Miami Dolphins could be looking at the bottom of the coaching pile to fill their void.

Countless football analyst have Miami ranked at the bottom of the current eight teams searching for a head coach, this is due to the QB situation and the amount of blue chip personnel on the team. There is a lot of holes that need to be address on the both sides of the ball. Then you add in that Chris Grier, who was just promoted as the VP/GM and will have final say over the roster, salaries and all football related decisions, that removes any perk of letting the head coach have decisions over his roster and creates just one more derogatory check for this coaching position.

So what will this Miami franchise do? Well, if Chris Grier is as smart as he has told Mr. Ross he is then he better interview everyone everywhere and do his do diligence, because I seriously doubt that the top guys will really pursue this available coaching vacancy with any real motivation to take the position unless Chris Grier is a reincarnation of John H. Patterson (Google him).

Who are the top options?

VIC FANGIO – The Current Chicago Bears Defensive coordinator.

Since 1979 Vic Fangio has been associated with the defensive side of the ball his entire coaching career. He has been a defensive coordinator most of his NFL career with multiple teams. He has worked for some very good NFL head coaches and used those experiences to learn and grow. Dom Capers, Brian Billick, the Harbaugh brothers, Jim Mora and the latest Matt Nagy. Not a bad group to learn from. Vic Fangio runs a 3-4 scheme, but has no problem adjusting it to what ever fits his personnel. He understands how to use his guys, he always builds a tough defense and if necessary will incorporate a 3-4/4-3 hybrid of sorts to keep his play makers in a position to excel at their strengths. Age is a little concern, as he is 60 years old, but i don’t look much into that personally. There are older coaches in the NFL currently.

MIKE McCARTHY – Former Green Bay Packers head coach.

Everyone understands why Mike McCarthy was one of the winningest head coaches over the last 13 years. Does the names of Bret Favre and Aaron Rodgers mean anything to you. Mike McCarthy is an offensive coach. He was always a big QB guy, working with many elite QB’s throughout his career. McCarthy has a Superbowl championship under his belt and definitely knows how to get an offense in the endzone. His record as a head coach is outstanding and rarely fielded a team under .500. He is very creative with his play calling (usually he doubles as the offensive coordinator) and knows how to take advantage of miss matches on a football field and rarely has any drama associated with his teams (Exception… Favre/Rodgers mess).

BRUCE ARIANS – Retired Head coach from the Arizona Cardinals.

Another offensive coach, Although Bruce has retired from the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL in 2017, there have been some grumblings that he might have some interest to come back for the right team. Bruce Arians has been very successful his entire career and is another coach that can get his offense in scoring positions and is really respected by his players. He is a strong hard nose coach that is a fantastic motivator. He has also learned from a great coaching tree, Bill Cowher, Butch Davis, Marty Schottenhiemer and Mike Tomlin are just a few. The question is his interest to come out of retirement legit?

ERIC BIENIEMY – Current offensive coordinator for Kansas City Chiefs

Eric Bieniemy has become the hot new head coaching prospect due to his offensive success this year in Kansas City. He is a first year offensive Coordinator but has very little experience compared to other coaching candidates. He has been a running backs coach for most of his short coaching career, but was an offensive coordinator for the University of Colorado. He is an offensive coach and is a first year NFL offensive coordinator, but has worked excellent with Patrick Mahomes this season to create a high-powered, record-setting offense. I have my concerns with Eric Bieniemy’s lack of experience and his ability to put together a quality staff around him.

JOSH McDANIELS – Current New England Patriots offensive Coordinator

I think everyone knows who Josh McDaniels is. The current mastermind behind Tom Brady’s offense. Once considered the replacement for head coach Bill Belichick and a young offensive guru, once again rumors are flying that Josh McDaniels want to lead his own team. He is a young offensive coach, who had a brief stint in Denver in 2009 and 2010. Things didn’t quite work out there so he eventually returned to New England to be Bill Belichick’s padawan, and learn some more. His name is always in demand every year, but it just seems he is holding out there in New England to be Belichick’s successor, we shall see.

Some other NFL coaching names worth mentioning are John Harbaugh, Hue Jackson, John DeFilippo, Jim Caldwell and Jack Del Rio. College coaching names that have been associated with interest are Jim Harbaugh (Mich), Urban Meyer (OSU), Kliff Kingsbury (USC) and Matt Rhule (Baylor) are just a few who have been linked to NFL interest.

Of course there are the current/former Miami Dolphins coaching staff candidates, former interim head coach Dan Campbell and current special teams/asst. head coach Darrin Rizzi. I’ll be following this up with another editorial for those two. They are the dark horse candidates who in recent days have started to gain traction at least in the eyes of the players and the fan base.

So be patient Miami Dolphins fans and realize you may not have a legitimate shot at landing one of the bigger named guys, due to what a mess this franchise has become in the last 15 years. Put faith in the new leader Chris Grier’s process and hope his vision for the future works out a lot better than the previous ones, because something definitely needs to change in South Beach.

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