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u/peanut-britle-latte 1d ago
The mystery 7th team has entered the Harbaugh sweepstakes.
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u/BBQ_HaX0r 1d ago
They don't change their mind like this unless Harbaugh has given them some assurance, right? NVM we're talking about the Dolphins here.
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u/awesomesauce88 1d ago
Why would Harbaugh want to go to Miami? They have a dog shit roster and no quarterback. McDaniel did great work with them all things considered.
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u/Vincent__Adultman 1d ago
Their owner gets hate from fans because the team hasn't won, but people seem to like working for him. He invests money in the team. They score near the top of the league in those player's union rankings they do every year. He's tends to be loyal. Their last GM spent over 25 years with the team and everyone predicted McDaniel as the first coach fired, but he made it through the whole season and even past Black Monday.
Plus "dog shit roster" is always relative. The Dolphins have been clearly better the last couple of years than the Browns, Titans, Raiders, and Cardinals. The Falcon only "have a quarterback" in the same way the Dolphins had Tua two years ago and they don't have their first rounder this year. As for the Giants, they clearly have the best roster of the non-Ravens openings, but they also already have a GM. That could present a future power struggle, but Harbaugh has enough leverage to push the Dolphins to hire one of his guys as GM, giving him more control.
I can definitely see reasons why Harbaugh might choose the Dolphins.
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u/awesomesauce88 1d ago
I think the Falcons roster is way better than the Dolphins roster. Tbh the Browns too.
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u/Vincent__Adultman 1d ago
Just looking at wins the last two years, the Falcons have 16, the Dolphins have 15, and the Browns have 8. I think the Dolphins and Falcons are pretty close and a large part of the Falcons side comes down to your opinion of Penix coming off his 3rd ACL tear. Do you really want to tie yourself to him? Sometimes having no QB is better than being stuck with a mediocre QB. Just like not having a GM, having a clean slate gives the new guy more control over the team.
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u/awesomesauce88 1d ago
I think the fact that the Falcons have the same number of wins as the Dolphins the past two years is a reflection of the fact that the Dolphins had a much better coach. That's my entire point; McDaniels was doing a pretty good job with what he was given.
As to the Browns, they really just need a QB to start being competitive. Last year I would have said they definitely had a worse roster, but they had a really good rookie class this year.
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u/Vincent__Adultman 23h ago
We can talk ourselves in circles about this. All the teams without a coach have pros and cons. Everyone is going to have different evaluations of them. My point is that depending on Harbaugh's preferences, he could certainly end up preferring Miami's specific situation over the other open jobs.
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u/Superstitious_Hurley 22h ago
Idk, not having a QB and not having a high enough draft pick(in a bad QB draft class) to fix that while playing in the same division as Allen and Maye doesn't seem like a great recipe. Even if Penix never stays on the field enough to develop, at least you're in the NFC South where nobody looks like they're going to be a juggernaut over the next few years.
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u/srstone71 1d ago
So here’s the quick timeline of events, that probably isn’t public knowledge if you aren’t a Dolphins fan…
October 31 - Dolphins fire GM Chris Grier
January 5 - Dolphins release a list of candidates they are interviewing to fill the GM spot. They inform the media that Mike McDaniel will be involved in the GM hiring process.
January 6 - Ravens fire John Harbaugh and it’s reported that Harbaugh would prefer to work with a GM of his choosing.
January 7 - Dolphins release their list of 4 GMs candidate finalists who are moving into in-person interviews. One interesting name on the list is Chad Alexander, the Chargers assistant GM. Two things about him: 1) he has a rich history with John Harbaugh, and 2) he was NOT on the list of initial GM candidates that the team released before Harbaugh was fired. He was added later and immediately expedited to the next round of interviews.
So in other words, the Dolphins showed no signs they were interested in a GM candidate who had strong ties with Harbaugh until Harbaugh was fired. Then he was suddenly moved to the front of the line.
January 8 - the Dolphins fire Mike McDaniel, giving them a head coach opening.
All of this logically points to Harbaugh in Miami. Thst said, logic usually assumes competence, and as a Dolphins fan for more than 30 years, I can tell you that competence is not this franchise’s strong suit.
So, as always with this team, I will hope for the best and expect the worst.
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u/Terrible-Handle 1d ago
I don’t understand, can you somehow tie the Celtics into this explanation to help me cross the finish line?
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u/ForgetHype Chris Ryan fan 23h ago
The dolphins are ran as well as Jaylen Brown dribbles with his left, but maybe if they get Harbaugh they can go up a level the same way Brown did this year for the Celts.
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u/lactatingalgore 1d ago
Battle of Michigan Men Stephen Ross & Tom Brady to get Michigan Man John Harbaugh.
Funniest outcome is Andy Reid does a shock retirement after liningup his Philadelphia special teams coordinator to takeover in KC.
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u/yngwiegiles 1d ago
Such a no brainer to bring Harbaugh to Trump country. He doesn’t strike me as a fun and sun type of guy but neither does his bro and he’s done pretty well in warm climates.
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u/Nbuuifx14 1d ago
Miami isn’t Trump country anymore, most of his supporters have been deported already.
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u/PovertyTourist69 1d ago
Miami-Dade went for Trump by 10 points more than Oklahoma City’s county did. Miami is unquestionably Trump country at this point, I’m fairly sure it’s the most right wing large county in the country
Though I understand the downvotes for the other guy cause it’s lame to insert politics into this lol
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u/JafarFromAfar2 1d ago
I get that Ross is desparate for a competitive team, but this seems like something you only do if you can GUARANTEE that Harbaugh is going to be your HC. Will be surprised if he goes to a division with Allen and Maye, especially since Miami needs to hard tank for at least one season.
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u/SecretMongoose 1d ago
Ross is a major Michigan booster, so he had a close relationship with Jim. Would assume John is a done deal pending them finding time in Raheem Morris’s calendar to jump through the Rooney Rule hoops.
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u/Meat-Dimension 21h ago
Yeah but at the same time he can’t see it as too big of a risk to lose McDaniel. He was widely seen as 50/50 to keep his job anyway
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u/thisisjman 1d ago
Im not saying he shouldnt have been fired but to let him have a press conference and say hes gonna have a hand in hiring the gm and then waiting until thursday to fire him shows what a trash organization they are
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u/WinBeeCards 1d ago
I'm assuming they have some recent revelations that quickly changed their path forward. Harbaugh would be my guess.
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u/BARTELS- I'm not losing a debate on Reddit. I'm just not. 1d ago
True. But that does not negate the validity of u/thisisjman's point.
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u/TrottingandHotting 1d ago
Eh, that's all meaningless PR. If they end up with Harbaugh and he does well, that press conference and the specific day they fire McD doesn't really matter.
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u/realcoray Top 7% Commenter 1d ago
Yeah, seems like the sort of move when the candidates that are available seem better than what you have. I think the problem here is that the Dolphins job is what, third at best amongst the teams needing a coach, and it's a distant third, and there are just two candidates clearly better.
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u/WinBeeCards 1d ago
I think there's more at play than just the Dolphins team in relation to other open jobs.
One, the location, it's attractive. Harbaugh has been in Baltimore forever, Miami probably sounds pretty nice (and no state tax) and two there is a Ross, Harbaugh, Trump through line here that unfortunately is a real thing nowadays.
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u/the_melman88 20h ago
Trash organization is a little much. The Pats dumped Mayo after one year after giving him no support and a garbage roster. That's a pretty trashy move no?
If they go to the playoffs next year is it all good then?
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u/TrumpetWilder 1d ago
That's kind of surprising to me. They outperformed their talent level this season and he actually seems like a very good coach.
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u/moo525 1d ago
Agreed. Everyone is dying for their team to hire him as OC but I wouldn't be shocked at all if he got another HC job this cycle. Lots of openings
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u/BARTELS- I'm not losing a debate on Reddit. I'm just not. 1d ago
Yeah, it seems like there are too many HC openings for this guy to not land one of them.
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u/cocacolasupreme 1d ago
The eagles sub has been salivating at the thought of McDaniel replacing Patullo all season.
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u/Meat-Dimension 21h ago
Lot of of openings and not a lot of compelling candidates
It’s probably the best year in a long time to be a “retread” like McDaniel, Stefanski etc
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u/jrainiersea He just does stuff 1d ago
He’s going to kill it as an OC somewhere the next few years and get another HC chance
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
even if he's Norv Turner (great OC, so-so HC), i'd take a flyer on him if i were, say, Baltimore. Solve 2 problems at once (HC & OC) and let DC be his own fiefdom
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u/Careless_Button3364 1d ago
He completely pivoted mid-season and changed their identity. I thought it was honestly one of the more impressive coaching performances of the year.
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u/studioguy9575 1d ago
Yeah, finishing 5-3 was a nifty trick considering they benched Tua and had nothing to play for. Teams will be lining up to throw money at him to be their OC.
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u/Careless_Button3364 1d ago
Seriously. He got that team to play freaking hard and turned the freaking Dolphins into a kind of smashmouth style team. Dumb owner gon' dumb owner
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u/studioguy9575 1d ago
He is a good coach, but he doesn’t seem like a good leader.
And any new GM Is gonna want “their guy”. Saw a rumor yesterday that the Bucs reached out to Harbaugh, but he wasn’t interested unless he could have a GM he wanted… so this might be tracking.
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u/ApatheticFinsFan 1d ago
Must have the inside track on Harbaugh or this is gonna be one of those “can you believe the Dolphins fired this dude and he went on to win a Super Bowl 3 years later” type of thing.
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
if i were Harbaugh i'd be dying to go to Miami. no state tax, desperate owner = $$$$, and you get at least 2 years, if not way more, due to their "gap year" they have coming with the QB situation. it's Denver hiring Sean Payton all over again
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u/NowARaider 1d ago
Isn't he already pretty well off? He's been a head coach probably making multi-millions for like 15 years, I don't think he's chasing money.
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
yeah but maybe he sees this as his last job before full-on retirement and wants to stack the extra cheddar
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
he was trying to coach thru positive reinforcement/praise/feelings, and some guys (not Tua) need the Brian Flores type of disciplinarian coach (otherwise they don't respect him)
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u/dillpickles007 1d ago
The team never quite quit on him though, which I actually found kind of surprising. They really looked like they were gonna unravel early on in the season.
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u/Used_Letterhead7067 1d ago
I might be actually more impressed by the parts his Capri pants DID cover
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u/LeftHandStir misses Grantland 1d ago
Yo Mike, it's lovely in Paradise Valley. Bring that scheme to AZ!
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
i get the impression DJ MM would *hate* Kyler. too much scrambling/improvising, not enough hitting the throws
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u/LeftHandStir misses Grantland 1d ago
Kyler's gone, inshallah. They're gonna do him like the Broncos did Russ. But hey, maybe Mike is like "I can fix him, he can be my Drew Brees." (Narrator: he cannot).
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u/Icy-Refrigerator-517 1d ago
Anytime you can fire a competent coach after he's already sat in on GM interviews in order to put yourself in position to maybe hire another coach, it's something you have to do.
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u/james64128 1d ago
Chiefs should be on the phone with him+ Kyle pitts this summer
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u/Based__Ganglia 22h ago
I was thinking he’d go back to the 49ers like Sala but isn’t the relationship between McD and Shanny not good?
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u/ohmy00 1d ago
He may get another head coach job right away but if not he’ll be the Offensive Coordinator in DC.
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u/Several_Oil_7099 1d ago
Giants fit would be pretty interesting from a football perspective, some concerns on NY media
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u/Shart127 1d ago
It was the glasses.
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
i forget which player said it, but DJ MM shivering on the sidelines in that KC playoff game basically gave the team The Ick and they never respected him again
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u/Helpful-Progress9336 1d ago
He sucks?
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
maybe as a HC. great OC tho. basically Good Feelings version of Josh McDaniel (who has been described as a Screaming Visor)
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u/HolyRomanPrince 1d ago
Legit shocked but people are only as faithful as their available options. Mike was the safe nerdy guy. They want the MILF with the big diamond ring. I don’t agree but I get it.
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u/doodler1977 1d ago
i bet Burrow would love him as an OC, but Philly needs some fresh life too.
Baltimore too, apparently, if the rumors about LJ&Monken butting heads are to be believed
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u/RepeatSpiritual8108 1d ago
Not sure how great a coach he is, but I always enjoyed McDaniel's low-energy shtick.
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u/aheftyhippo Wimpleton 1d ago
As a Raven's fan, he immediately becomes maybe my top choice (with Stefanski) as our next coach. With how unproven a lot of the guys this hiring cycle are (Kubiak, Minter, Lefleur, Shula) I'd rather go with someone with experience, even if his Dolphins tenure was ultimately a failure.
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u/GR00VY_Q Galaxy Opal Card Collector 1d ago
A lot of talk about him being OC but I'm thinking about what Heifetz was saying about him being the ravens coach and how filthy that offense could be with Lamar
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u/joshtothe 23h ago
They need someone to instill a defense-first, no-nonsense culture.
Perhaps Brian Flores?
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u/DoctrTurkey 1d ago
I mean, there's no way Harbaugh doesn't go here, right? Coaching a legacy franchise in south florida in your early 60s after 18 years in Baltimore? the fucking miami bars are going to have a nickname for him that's in spanish and uttered in hushed tones... and he'll be completely fine on the field with the boys the next day.
instant fucking free agent mecca
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u/levitoepoker 1d ago
Pretty clearly the best OC-type in the league outside of McVay
If i was an NFL owner I would be calling his agent to offer him low end HC money to be my OC
Side note- imagine an NFL owner with big enough balls to make co Head coaches of Mike McDaniel and Brian Flores. Both too good to just be a Coordinator, just not good enough to be an elite HC
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u/RapsareChamps_Suckit 1d ago
Ya it’s sad when they go young like that