Dolphins coach search generally on right track

Suppose for a second that the worst happens. Suppose Jeff Fisher picks the Rams over the Dolphins. What next?

Obviously, the Dolphins will move on. They'll continue to search for the 10th head coach in their storied history among a list of candidates little-known to the common fan.

No, that doesn't sound like a great Plan B.

But take heart because at least the Dolphins search for a star head coach also seemingly has identified the right people out of the list of so-called lesser lights. Consider that today the Cincinnati Bengals granted permission to the Tampa Bay Bucs to interview defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

Well, Zimmer is on the Dolphins radar. He interviewed this week. The Dolphins had Mike Mularkey on their radar but he was hired as the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach. The Dolphins interviewed Todd Bowles and he is on the Oakland Raiders radar. Obviously the Dolphins want Fisher and so do the Rams.

The Dolphins may eventually show interest in Mike Sherman and he has already interviewed in Tampa.

The point is the Dolphins aren't operating completely off the reservation here. Their search has identified candidates that have also been identified by other teams. I grant you Miami's search has also included a couple of guys that have drawn no interest elsewhere -- Chicago special teams coach Dave Toub and Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin. (There were reports the Chiefs wanted to interview Philbin but I have not been able to confirm the interview ever happened.)

And yes, the Dolphins have looked away from a couple of guys -- most notably Carolina's Rob Chudzinki, Green Bay's Dom Capers and Winston Moss -- who have drawn interest elsewhere.

But my expectation is if Fisher goes to St. Louis, Miami's list will expand and could include Chudzinski, who has interviewed in Jacksonville, St. Louis and will talk to Tampa Bay.

So I have a comfort level that thinking other teams know something the Dolphins do not is not an accurate representation of what is happening.

If the Dolphins miss out on Fisher, I hope Miami's wide net gets wider still. I hope Moss gets a loook because, as someone told me recently, he seems to be made of the same kind of stuff that Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin is made of.

Meanwhile, I feel comfortable the Dolphins are generally on the right track.

Generally.

Comments

[Yesterday's Gone]

Greg Williams as dc, also signals should Fisher choose the Dolphins, the 3-4 defense is officially scrapped in Miami.

The only question that will be left to be answered is who will play mlb?

[finfaneurope]

Fisher already is assembling a coaching staff, which might include Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and Titans linebackers coach and former Arizona head coach Dave McGinnis. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said Brian Schottenheimer, dropped by the Jets this week, is on Fisher’s radar for his offensive coordinator job

[robert in az]

The Hell with Fisher if he wanted the job he would have taken it. Give Chud or Moss a chance to interview they won't wait so long they are hungry to coach. Time to move on.

[AndyNJ]

Yesterday's Gone,

You're right about. I can agree with you on that. I remember the infamous drops from 2010 too. Sean Smith had like 7 or 8 I think. Regardless scheme or personel a change may be a good thing because the current D seems to have peaked to a good D but not spectacular. Granted like you said a few more game changers wouldn't hurt.

[LOL]

Give Fisher some time. Joining the Dolphins is like marrying a pig.

[Yesterday's Gone]

I guess scrapping the 3-4 means Solia wont be resigned or franchised again if Fisher chooses Miami. Still we'll need to find two burly DT's to play the 4-3 defense.

Maybe we should give Jimmy Johnson a call with that. Boy did we have two really good one with him, Tim Bowens and Darryl Gardener.

[John in Springs]

The thing that's starting to concern me is that the college all-star games (East-West Shrine, Sr. Bowl etc. are going to be starting up real soon and without a head coach/staff we are going to miss out on some serious scouting opportunities.

Come on boss-Ross, put a deadline on the deal it's time for Fisher to fish or cut bait already!

[AndyNJ]

Yesterday's Gone,

You don't think Dansby could play MLB in a 4-3? He played both MLB and OLB in AZ. I can't say for sure which he was more effective at. I know the year they went to the Super Bowl he split time between the 2 and eventually finished at OLB. I think AZ ran some sort of hybrid D that year though when Whisenhunt took over.

I think he is veratile enough to be equally effective in a 4-3 or 3-4 at MLB. Your thoughts?

[PA finfan]

I like the idea of giving Fisher a deadline, my worry is that alot of the guys we interviewed are being interviewed by other teams and if we wait too long, we may miss out on our "no. 2" guy, if we even have one. But I remember a post from a few days ago, saying maybe Fisher is waiting to see what happens with the Colt's HC, since they have a new guy in charge. That situation may be even more attractive to Fisher than even St Louis. No, I think the deadline is the way to go, light a fire under his asp.

[finfaneurope]

Although I will catch a lot of crap. I will say it, I realy was not ready to give up on the current staff. Actually I was kinda on the fence with Sparano. I felt they should ahve started with Ireland, let the season play out. Then look forward either with or without Sparano. Sometimes I dont think he got a fair shake. yes he made mistakes. But we all seem to forget 1) what a friggen mess this organization was when Parcells and company got here.2) This coaching staff was given the talent, and had to work with what they had. Thats kinda rough when your given players like Henne and Columbo. I know reports can be mis leading, but most all reports pointed in the same direction IRELAND.

[Yesterday's Gone]

AndyNJ,

Yes Dansby has experience playing mlb, so does our other ilb. It would just be a matter of who moves outside.

I expect Wake may stay at olb too, so however it ends up, it looks wlike we would have a nice linebacker unit in the 4-3. Odrick maybe better as a 4-3 DE too.

[Ron]

Lets hope Fisher can make up his mind about plays and players faster than this. Hey you got fired and you have had a average career, you are not and will never be a Don Shula.

[SEARCH THIS!!!]

Time for Fisher to sh*t or get off the pot. Tell him to sign the dotted line & workout the details later. If Ross is willing to do whatever it takes to land him, this should not be an issue.

If Fisher isn't happy, he can pull a Belly with the Jets. Will we look stupid? Sure. Then again, don't we already?

[Blog Fodder]

Maybe the reason that Fisher has not accepted an offer or admitted to receiving an offer is that as soon as he does, he would be considered an official representative of the Dolphins or Rams and would be forced to go through proper league channels in order to gauge the interest of prospective coordinators and assistants.

I don't know the validity of this, but as it stands right now, Jeff Fisher represents Jeff Fisher only, and this may be side-stepping a lot of red tape in his staff building process.

[Yesterday's Gone]

Guys,

I was upset about what seems forever for Fisher to make up his mind too. That eased when I found he's also assembling a coaching staff. The guy really wants to hit the ground running wherever he chooses.

Now it seems, like Armando blogged, part of the negotiations will be about the staffed he'll already have assembled too.

Like it or not, when was the last Miami seemed to have any kind of leadership that "PLANNED AHEAD"?

[finfaneurope]

Can see your point on that too YG

[AndyNJ]

YG,

I agree Odrick seems to versatile enough to play 4-3 DE and move inside on passing downs. I do think Wake would hold up fine as a DE in a 4-3 as well. He is big and strong like 6'3 255 maybe 250 but there are many under sized DEs in 4-3 in the league. In a 4-3 at OLB he would be forced to cover TEs or RBs in space. Imagine being in man coverage and he is on the weakside and Gronkowski or Dustin Keller goes in motion he would get abused.

[Pittsburgh Jim]

All of the leaks about Fisher favoring the Dolphins are coming from Fishers camp - what does this tell you? He is just using the Dolphins to leverage the Rams job. Forget about Fisher - Todd Bowles is the best choice as the next coach of the Dolphins.

[AndyNJ]

YG,

Great post @ 1:25!

[Craig M]

Blog Fodder,

Not sure who you are or how long you've been here but you make a LOT of really good points. Always a little bit outside the box, always well thought out and not the same old crap that 95 percent of the guys here are regurgitating every frickin' day.

Bravo to you my friend.....and thanks for bringing a little intelligence to this blog.

[Yesterday's Gone]

I gotta admit, Fisher seems "very organized" in his approached to his next hc gig.

The key ingredient this franchised has missed the most is being "organized" in the football portion of operations.

[Craig M]

What Blog Fodder is saying makes a LOT of sense. Go back and re-read it. In a nutshell, Fisher can do whatever he wants until he becomes a memember of one team and at that point anybody under contract that he talks to it becomes tampering.

Well thought out man....

[JS in LA]

YG,
I'll agree with you here. I won't be a bit upset if FIsher is just trying to get things lined up properly, and he really has already made up his mind assuming the things he wants are the things being negotiated.
But if he's hedging because he really isn't sure what he likes better ... then that worries me.
I'm a Fisher guy, no doubt, but I'm an ancy as anyone here.
Hope it gets resolved soon one way or another.

[pancanfinfan]

Why not mike nolan? Keep the 3-4 and have a guy who was HC once and would probably do some things differently now. The answer could be right under their noses...assuming he wants to do it again.

[SEARCH THIS!!!]

Yesterday, you have a point. However, theres a 50/50 chance we're waiting on Fisher to assemble a staff for the Rams. While other teams land some of our potential back up candidates.

This franchise hardly needs another black eye. That embarassment may be the kock out blow. I can understand Fisher wanting everything in place & security for his guys. But, first things first.

[Craig M]

Gregg Williams is a Hell of a defensive co-ordinator. Not sure why some guys are running him down. He's as good a co-ordinator as Nolan, just different styles. New Orleans was 8-8 and going nowhere before Williams came on board and he was the biggest difference why they became Super Bowl Champions the next year. He was their best FA add. His defences in New Orleans give up a lot of points and yards because of the style of offence the tema plays. Quick, long strikes....as a result the defence is on the field more than they would be here. He was great in Washington too.

I'm a big Mike Nolan fan but the dropoff to Williams would be inconsequential, even if move back to a 4-3, which Fisher prefers to play.

[JS in LA]

I do take solice in the fact that virtually every head coaching circus (and the big ones always seem to be) has begun and maintained across the board denials/non-offers/and the "sources" almost always being right.
So this seems par. Just drug out.

[Yesterday's Gone]

AndyNJ,

Hell, one of the greates undersized 4-3 DE's in NFL history played right here in Miami. He played at 260lbs in an era of mammoths. His name?

J-A-S-O-N T-A-Y-L-O-R

[Blog Fodder]

Craig M,

thank you for that.

[AndyNJ]

YG,

Very true on JT. Im out guys! 3 day weekend!

[nc mike]

Iam puzzled why Pete Carmichael doesn't come up more. He's done a great job in NO.

[Craig M]

Blog Fodder,

I don't need the details but have you been around for a while? Under another name maybe?

Keep it up man....good stuff!

[Yesterday's Gone]

Search This,

I realize the Fisher decision could go either way. But being one of only two teams he's even considering, its just the cost of doing business in Fisherville.

Like youy said, its 50/50, hopefully we're on the business end of the 50 he chooses. Nothing in life's fully guaranteed. Well, almost nothing, still gotta pay taxes this year. LOL

[Craig M]

La Canfora,

Just LOVES ripping the Dolphins. He's been on the Fisher to St. Louis bandwagon since day one. Be thankful he's not Fisher's agent and advising him what to do.

He must have grown up a Jet or Pats fan, cause this guy loves to tear into the 'Phins.

[Yesterday's Gone]

Blog Fodder,

@ 1:24 PM, great post. Goes back to what I said earlier. When was the last time we had football leadership that actually:

"PLANNED AHEAD"?

[odinseye]

Somebody mentioned missing out on the East West shrine game earlier, that's just ONE of many legitimate concerns. We're missing out on a lot twiddling our thumbs waiting for Ms. Fisher.

Look how many other Head Coaches and Coordinators have already found new jobs. Yet, thanks to Ms. Fisher, either us or St. Louis is going to miss out big time.

This is so self centered and on a power/ego trip, he's throwing peoples careers, fan bases and franchises under the bus.

You can't tell me this doucheBag doesn't realize it either. It's simply a disgustingly self centered way of going about your business.

Winston Moss is looking more and more appealing to me. I was all for Fisher, up until this past weeks antics and ego trip.

Also, earlier about the 4-3 talk. Wake played defensive end in Canada rewriting their record books in two seasons.

Odrick and Misi also played DE during their college years(I'm pretty sure. So I don't see any problems for our D-Line converting over to a 4-3.

The Linebacking Corp on the other hand will be a different story.

PS: Buddy Ryan should have punched Ms. Fisher instead of Gilbride! Hire Moss and Just Say NO to FEMALE Head Coaches in the NFL!

[SEARCH THIS!!!]

You don't have to pay your taxes, but, I would if I was you!

I don't know that he's worth it at this point. Yea, he's a respected name, coached under tough circumstances, etc...but we're at a standstill.

The Rams are interviewing people & have them lined up. Wwe interviewed some but, at this point, we're idle. Philbin is pretty much off the board. Once other teams start making decisions & coaches start getting hired, where will we be?

Still waiting for Fisher? If he can't choose & put his name on the dotted line, help him out by hiring someone else.

[TheOtherRick]

Cornerbacks; if they could catch they would be wide receivers. :)

[Yesterday's Gone]

After finding what Fisher's doing behind the scenes. It actually makes me want him even more.

Youre not coming close to competing against Bellichick in the afc east without a guy who plans ahead. That's exactly what Bellichick does. We always seem to be at least 1-2yrs behind in our preparation to beat him lately.

[Craig M]

yg,

You're doing your 'flip-flop' thing again. Yesterday you were tired of Fisher's act and 'officially on the Todd Bowles bandwagon'.

Geez man......that didn't last long.

[Yesterday's Gone]

East-West Shrine game? Come on guys!

The primary stars of the game will be 1st-2nd rd draftee and are well known commodities anyway. Fisher will either be there or watching on tv, just like all the other staffs that arent actually coaching that game.

What's happening right now effects the "shrine game" in any way, shape or form.

[Blog Fodder]

Craig M,

for what it's worth, I've been following this blog for about a year now, and, initially, changed my name almost every post. Not because I didn't want to be accountable for my comments, but because I would have some fun with the name. When I was going through my phase of being really disgusted with the lack of conditioning and freakishly high occurrence of hamstring issues, I would post as 'MyHammie DullPains' or 'Moon over MyHammie'.

Now I post under just the one, and have to really fight off the urge to use something snarky from time to time.

I've been a dolphins faithful since 1970 and just want to see them win again.

[JS in LA]

Blog Fodder explained the point I was making well. There's a reason that all these coach hiring circuses are done with blanket denials, and non-offers. I don't know the reason, but Blog Fodder's explanation is as reasonable as any I've heard. So if that's the case then GOOD.
Urban Meyer never heard of Ohio State (lol) before he actaully signed the contract. And then all of a sudden promises were made, and people were all on the same page. So behind the scenes was a necessity for his hiring too.
Hoping you guys are right.

[KM]

If Moss is the next Mike Tomlin, then I'm sure we'll pass on him like we passed on the first Mike Tomlin - to take Cam Cam.

[ctphins]

Like I said for the past couple of days he is lining up his ducks and also checking to see who is going to leak info first.. I think the deal is done and the fine print is being hammered out. With whom I don't know. But if Fisher wants a challenge the AFC East is it.

[Yesterday's Gone]

CraigM,

There you go again, new info forms new ideas. Glad you arent one of America's top generals responsible for protecting our citizens during war.

"New information" would mean absolutely nothing to you. You'll continue to operate under "old intelligence" and all of us would be completely screwed.

Many would needlessly die under your socalled "anti-flip flop" policy. Geesh that fool. LOL

[Yesterday's Gone]

FISHER CHOOSES RAMS!

[JS in LA]

...One encouraging sign that the "behind-the-scenes" Fisher has already made up his mind - angle:
The Rams have scheduled interviews now, and we're not.

[Yesterday's Gone]

FIRE IRELAND NOW!

[ctphins]

good rams r the team!!

[PA finfan]

Fisher signs with St Louis

[Yesterday's Gone]

ANOTHER DECADE OF INFERIOR FOOTBALL CONTINUES. BELLICHICK JUST REPORTED DOING BACKFLIPS AND CARTWHEELS!

[JS in LA]

Can someone post the bleedin' article if you're so darned sure Fisher is Rams bound? I'm not seeing anything.

[ray]

You guys are free to celebrate. I recognize this is a disastrous day for the Miami Dolphins franchise.

[ctphins]

disatrous day??????? WHAT??

[Yesterday's Gone]

JSLA,

ESPN JUST REPORTED FISHER TO RAMS LIVE.

[ddill2]

F*ck Fisher

[what a blow hard]

THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM

A BLOW HARD HAS BEEN DETECTED IN YOUR AREA

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

[ddill2]

It is pretty sad when a coach picks the rams over your team

[ctphins]

now lets get a coach that can bring us back into the hunt.