No Excuses Stephen Ross: Go Get John Harbaugh

Dolphins Must Go ALL IN to Land John Harbaugh

This is what Stephen Ross was hoping for.

He got his wish.

A big-name head coach was let go by a team, which now gives him a reason to possibly fire Mike McDaniel and go on a chase to land a big fish as his head coach.

And better yet, it’s someone with the Harbaugh name.

Ross chased brother Jim Harbaugh the moment he purchased the Dolphins; we all know how that ended.

Ross, a Michigan man who financially supports Michigan sports (i.e., football), helped pay for Jim Harbaugh’s contract while he was the Wolverines’ head coach.

And it got Mr. Ross a national championship a few years ago.

Well, this isn’t Jim, but it’s brother John, and Ross has his moment right now to land his big fish.

It’s been clear in the past 48 hours, with Miami not commenting on the future of Mike McDaniel, that the Dolphins are leading from behind.

Not endorsing Mike or going public with a statement that he is safe and staying on as the head coach, but they threw Mike out there in front of a podium to face the firing squad on Monday with no answers, and had him talk like he still has his job, which he does.

But Miami hasn’t commented on this because they were waiting to see who else would be fired.

Mike Tomlin, maybe?

John Harbaugh?

Well, here we are now, Harbaugh is on the open market as the Ravens let him go.

WILL MIAMI LAND HARBAUGH?

Now, do I expect Stephen Ross to go out and hire John Harbaugh?

Unfortunately, NO!

But he needs to try.

Step 1: Fire Mike McDaniel.

If Mr. Ross learned anything some 20 years ago or so, it’s that you can’t talk to a head coaching candidate until you fire the one you got.

I know some think you don’t have to do this, but given how badly it blew up in Stephen Ross’s face the first time, he needs to fire McDaniel and then put on a full-court press for John Harbaugh.

Doing it any other way will make Ross look like a bigger clown than he already is.

Step 2: Blank Check

The Dolphins have nothing to offer John Harbaugh other than money and the South Florida lifestyle.

The Dolphins roster sucks.

The Dolphins don’t have a franchise quarterback.

The Dolphins’ salary cap situation is a mess that will take at least 2 years to clean up.

The Dolphins have five picks in the Top 100 this year. Still, compared to the Browns having two first-round picks, or the Jets having five first-round picks over two seasons, or the Raiders having the #1 overall pick of the draft, or the Giants having a franchise QB in place and a Top five pick, or the Titans having Cam Ward last years #1 pick in place, Miami’s situation is by far the worst out of all of these situations.

So, how do you overcome that? MONEY!

Lots, and Lots and Lots of money

Money and power.

So, Miami will have to overspend and make Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in NFL history, and they probably need to give him some power.

Let him hire his own GM that he wants to work with.

Let Harbaugh have final say over the 53-man roster.

Miami is not in a position of leverage; they have none, so they have to give something up here.

CONCLUSION

Mr. Ross has a moment in time to right every wrong he has had as the Miami Dolphins owner.

It is going to cost a lot of money, and Ross moving on from Mike McDaniel.

I know the fans are okay with not having Mike here, even if Ross whiffs on Harbaugh, but Stephen Ross has to be ok with it.

If Stephen Ross can get to that point and is willing to break the bank, and if he is willing to shift the Dolphins’ front office structure from “collaboration” to a top-down approach with John Harbaugh in charge, then the Dolphins have a chance.

Not a great chance, but a chance nonetheless to land John Harbaugh.