The List: Candidates for the Soon-to-be-Open Dolphins Coaching Position

That’s 62 games OVER .500. That’s a lot of division titles and playoff appearances. That is an over .600 winning percentage.

That is the kind of professionalism, experience, and maturity Miami needs right now at head coach.

After the disaster that was Brian Flores and then Mike McDaniel, someone who is a no-nonsense football guy to right the ship, sign me up.

McCarthy is a boring hire, great. I WANT BORING!

Steve Sarkisian: If McCarthy is my clubhouse leader, this guy is a close second.

Head coaching experience at Washington, USC, and Texas (above .500 at every stop), and he was an OC for the Falcons as well in between all of those stops.

A skilled play caller with head coaching experience and the potential to become an NFL head coach.

The issue here with Sark is that he has it made at Texas, and why would you leave?

In the NIL era, with the money Texas boosters provide him, he has no salary cap and can buy the best players each year.

So, to get him to leave, you will need to pay him like a Top 3 head coach, which probably wouldn’t be a problem for Ross. But at the first sign of trouble, Sark is gonna high tail it back to the college game.

I think he is an outstanding football mind, and if he is even entertaining coaching on the NFL level, you must be all in on him as he is a guy who could have a 10+ year run as a great NFL coach.

Todd Monken: The Ravens OC who is 59 years old, was the head coach at Southern Miss from 2013-2015, and is very well respected around the league.

An offensive-minded coach who has bounced back and forth between big-time college programs like LSU and Georgia, as well as been in the NFL with Jacksonville, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and Baltimore.

If the plan is to replace Tua (and it will be) and to draft a young quarterback to develop and build an offense around, then Monken should be high on the list. He is the right mix of great offensive mind, with NFL experience, and previous head coaching experience on a major level.

Long Shots

Deion Sanders: Don’t laugh, Deion is dying to get out of Colorado now that his kids no longer play for him. He would love to secure a big-time job in the SEC or Big Ten, and he also wouldn’t hesitate to consider the NFL if he received an offer. This is Deion we are talking about.

The players would respect him; he would put together an all-star staff for big-name coaches and former players who probably shouldn’t be in the roles he would put them in.

You want to talk about a culture change, sometimes going so far outside the box that you immediately wipe away all of the bad overnight with one bold move.

This would be that bold move.

Now look, you would have to tell Deion we aren’t trading multiple picks for his son to come here and play quarterback. Which probably would be a deal breaker on Deion’s end, honestly. And you have to ensure that his health issues won’t prevent him from putting in the hours necessary to do the job at the required level.

However, if you want a culture change, Deion is the ultimate candidate for a culture change hire.

Kirby Smart: Like Sarkisian above, why would he leave Georgia? I don’t know, he has it made there with NIL and all the money rolling into that school.

With that said, if he has dreams of coaching in the NFL, you have to at least talk to him.

Leader of men, would have a great staff, knows college talent well, so for a few years, he would be a great voice on draft night.

His sideline demeanor is a bit tough to take. He is gonna have to dial that down from a 10 to a 2 and realize he is dealing with adults here, not kids out of high school. And I’m sure his buddy Nick Saban will smarten him up on that if he did want to make the jump.

Jon Gruden: A popular name with a lot of Dolphins fans online. Here is the deal: he has previous head coaching experience and is someone who would come in and change the culture right away.

The problem is Ross isn’t going to make this move. Ross Founded RISE. CLICK HERE to learn more about it. It’s a nonprofit organization that educates the sports community on how to combat racial discrimination and champion social justice. Being the founder of that, and with those John Gruden emails that got exposed, I don’t see Ross hiring him.

Gruden probably deserves another chance in the league; he has served his punishment. I don’t see it in Miami, though.

Joe Brady: I don’t think he is leaving Buffalo, but Brady being from Pembrook Pines, FL, maybe Miami is the one job that gets him out of Buffalo.

He is only 35 years old, he has zero head coaching experience, and he will be one of the one or two HOT ASSISTANT coaches that get a ton of head coaching interviews this offseason.

Can he run an offense that doesn’t have a future Hall of Fame QB like Josh Allen at quarterback? That is the risk.

I mean, Adam Gase was great with Peyton Manning. He came to Miami with Tannehill, and it was a disaster.

That’s what scares me away from Brady.

But could I see Stephen Ross falling in love with a young coach from South Florida, coming home to lead the Dolphins? Yeah, yeah, I could. And that scares me.

Unlikely, but ya never know, this is the Dolphins

Bill Belichick: I don’t see the Dolphins hiring the guy who will break Don Shula‘s record. I can’t see it happening. With that said, there are some positives to making a move like this.

One, he hates the Patriots so much now that the grudge he has against Robert Kraft and that organization will fuel him to destroy them. And he has always owned the Jets and hates them as well.

Hate is a hell of a motivator, and nobody has more hate than Bill Belichick right now towards a team inside the AFC East.

With that said, I don’t want to put up with the 24-year-old girlfriend, or having his kids on his staff, or him wanting to have total control and not listening to a GM.

With that said, he is the greatest NFL coach of all time (sorry, it’s true) and he wants to return to the league to get that record. And the record would stay in the Dolphins-Family….nah.

Ross would have to be really desperate to make the call and make this move.

Like REALLY desperate.

Nick Saban: Welcome Home?! Saban is at that age where it’s about legacy. He’s out of coaching and has a nice TV job (although he looks miserable on TV each week).

He is annoyed with the college game and how NIL has evened out the playing field.

The only negative mark on his resume is his time with the Miami Dolphins. If Saban could go back to the NFL, build a winner, win a Super Bowl, with his college resume, he would go down as the greatest football coach of all time.

And why not make it right in Miami? When he was here last time, it was Wayne Huizenga and others running the show, and most of them are dead.

He has never worked for Stephen Ross.

Now, the only way Saban returns to the NFL is if he goes to an established team that already has a franchise quarterback in place, but if Miami ends up with the #1 overall pick in the 2026 draft, and Saban can hand-pick his starting quarterback?

I’m just saying.

Crazier things have happened. However, this would be really crazy!

Anthony Weaver: If this season continues to go as badly as it’s going through two weeks, there is no way you can promote from within.

But again, this is the Miami Dolphins. And would they have a horrible 3 or 4 win season, fire everyone, but keep one of the coordinators whose side of the ball was awful and a big part of the reason they are a 3 or 4 win team, and promote him up, have him fail up, and make him the head coach?

Oh god, tell me they won’t!

That’s my list as of today. And. Yes, there are names I have left off, like Steve Spagnuolo, the DC of the Chiefs. But as of today, those are some logical names that I think may be in play.

As we move forward in the coming weeks and months, I am sure this list will expand somewhat, and some names may drop off for various reasons.

However, the Dolphins are about to embark on a search for a new head coach, and we see the handwriting on the wall.

So buckle up and be prepared for Rumorville to be in full force, with names being linked to this job.