Miami Dolphins HC search could lead to Harbaugh or Joseph

The Miami Dolphins haven’t done much in the last few days of their head coaching search, at least not that we know of but is Jim Harbaugh the option?

There is so much going on around the NFL but it is the Miami Dolphins that could be screwing this all up for themselves. The question is where does Jim Harbaugh come into the picture or is there a different “worst” case scenario at play here?

Jim Harbaugh is far from a worse case scenario and if we are being honest, he might be the best coach for the Dolphins. If we start our focus here, we have to look at a few things, specifically, Stephen Ross’ unashamed love for Michigan.

Ross said during the Brian Flores firing press conference that he would not take Harbaugh out of Michigan. It was then reported later that Harbaugh may have reached out to Ross telling him he was ready to come back to the NFL. Today, Ian Rapoport said that the Dolphins 2nd round of interviews would take place next week.

We also know that Harbaugh has been working the recruitment trail. National Signing Day is on February 2nd. It is extremely hard to believe that Ross would hire or even interview Harbaugh with public knowledge and screw up the recruitment process for his alma mater.

If the Dolphins are targeting Harbaugh we won’t find out until February 3rd at the earliest. It’s a crap way to do business in terms of getting kids zeroed in on playing for Harbaugh but would it really surprise anyone at all?

Many, including myself, are pointing to the fact that Miami has conducted no second interviews with any candidate. This includes Brian Daboll who has had a 2nd interview with the Giants. There is no reason at all for Miami to be holding off on Daboll if he were the target, the top target as many have suggested.

The Bills are out of the playoffs so the Dolphins could name him their head coach immediately. If they are indeed holding out 2nd interviews until next week, they really may not be that high on Daboll.

That brings us to Mike McDaniel who is still in the playoffs. If the 49ers win on Sunday, that wait will continue until after the Super Bowl if they get beat, Miami could add him early next week. This makes sense completely but again, the Daboll stuff isn’t going away and many insiders are saying that Daboll is the guy. So again, why wait?

If McDaniel is the guy Miami wants they have not choice and it would make sense not to have a second interview with Daboll. It was reported today that McDaniel has put his home in San Francisco on the market. An indication that he either has a job lined up or expects be on the move.

This, however, is the Miami Dolphins and we can’t discount them screwing it all up.

Chris Grier, reportedly, wants Vance Joseph and the two have a good relationship. There was a rumor last week that Grier wanted to hire Joseph but that Ross wouldn’t sign off on it this early. If Grier is dragging his feet with interviews, or if Ross can’t be in Miami to do them now because of his business in New York, Miami could be faced with a situation that sees Daboll land with the Giants, McDaniel going somewhere else, Harbaugh staying at Michigan, leaving the Dolphins with only on real option…Joseph.

Miami it seems, can wait on Joseph. He doesn’t have to be their top choice, just Griers. All Grier needs is for other coaches to get hired elsewhere and then present Ross with the only option left.

Is this a conspiracy theory? Absolutely but if we connect all the dots that we know of so far, the picture being created may still lead to something most don’t want.

Daboll is available but Miami isn’t making any moves despite interest from other teams. Harbaugh is available but Ross won’t take him out of Michigan at least until NSD. McDaniel is still in the playoffs and if it is him, then that would explain Daboll. If it is not, Miami is banking on either Harbaugh or Joseph as the fallback.

Simply, we have no idea what they are doing but nothing that Ross and Grier have done in the past make us feel certain that they won’t screw it up.