5 coaches the Miami Dolphins should not hire for the vacancy
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are going to hit head coaching search circuit any day now. They are lining up interviews but these five should be hard no’s.
We hear names like Jim Harbaugh and Brian Daboll. We hear Mike McDaniel and Jim Caldwell, even a Doug Pederson but we also hear other names as well and in some ways, they should make you stop and think.
Vance Joseph – Arizona DC
Joseph has been a coach with the Dolphins and he left after one season in the DC position to become the Denver Broncos head coach. In some ways, he fits the profile of a former HC that could use a second shot but at the same time, does he really deserve a second shot?
Of all the candidates that are available, Joseph may be the least ready to return to the role of HC. The problem and in may ways a reason why the Dolphins are becoming a team ready to give him that shot, is Chris Grier.
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Grier has a high respect for Joseph and he tends to favor those feelings. If Joseph is the next head coach, I would tend to believe that he and Grier will be looking for new jobs in another year or two. Stephen Ross needs to say no.
Dennis Allen – New Orleans DC
In many ways, Allen is a good head coaching candidate but there are legit questions about the staff he could build in Miami. His defense in New Orleans was good but was it so good that he should be propelled to another shot as a head coach? Probably not.
Allen got a raw deal in Oakland with the Raiders but I’m not so sure that given that situation prepared him any more to be a head coach again down the road. His two years with the Raiders was not good and he may not be the answer for the Dolphins either.
Byron Leftwich – Tampa OC
Leftwich had a decent NFL career with the Jaguars and if any team is going to give him a shot at an HC job, it should be them. There are a lot of people singing his praises for the work he has done with Jameis Winston and Tom Brady but his Super Bowl came with Brady who brought his own style of play to the Buccaneers. How much Leftwich had in that offensive success is anyones guess and my guess would be that it was more Tom Brady and Bruce Arians.
There will be a time for him to get his shot but it shouldn’t be this year and it shouldn’t be the Dolphins.
Josh McDaniels – NE OC
Is there a coach out there who has so much good going for him but still a lot of question marks? Can any team truly rely on him agreeing to take the job and not backing out or quitting later? If that isn’t enough, the Dolphins should write everyone off that has anything to do with the Patriots.
McDaniels, like the other head coaches who have coached before, ultimately failed but his ego is a big reason for his failure and if anyone believes that he has grown from that, they would be wrong. Bill Belichick doesn’t produce quality coaches outside of New England.
Kellen Moore – Dallas OC
This won’t sit well with many Dolphins fans but Moore shouldn’t be the next head coach of the Dolphins. He is young and has a good head on his shoulders but the “boy genius” as some have called him still needs more time before he is ready to take over a franchise.
Moore will one day get to be a head coach and he could develop into a very good one. If I were a betting man, I would say his best shot at the job would be in another two years, right now, it’s too early for him. He has been serving as the Cowboys OC since 2019 and this year the Cowboys had one of the best offenses in the league. I still think it might be too soon considering that his coaching resume only started a year before that as a QB coach for the Cowboys.