Where John Harbaugh Availability Should Have Factored In Mike McDaniel Firing And Where It Didn't
Owner Stephen Ross seeks total reset for first time since 2009 as team remains without playoff win during his tenure.
There were multiple things that had to go exactly wrong to get Mike McDaniel fired as the Miami Dolphins head coach. And practically all of them came to pass.
Dolphins Looking At Total Reset
The Dolphins fired their head coach on Thursday after four seasons on the job. After what owner Stephen Ross called a "careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended," Ross told McDaniel of his fate on Thursday morning.
Ross is now looking for a total reset with the organization he's calling "comprehensive change," and that would happen for the first time since he became owner in 2009.
Since that time, he's been the master of half-measures within the Dolphins' leadership structure — sometimes firing a head coach but keeping a GM, sometimes firing the GM and hiring a new one to work with the incumbent head coach.
So, the Dolphins may avoid the trademark Ross shotgun wedding this year.
But the owner, whose team is 128-138 without a playoff win during his tenure, had to be pushed by both circumstances and opportunity to get here.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ross: 'I Love Mike'
Because Ross really, really liked McDaniel.
"I love Mike and want to thank him for his hard work, commitment, and energy he brought to our organization," Ross said in a statement released by the club.
It is that "love" that gave McDaniel a chance and hope of keeping his job. But he was simply swamped by his environment.
- That included Tua Tagovailoa falling off the proverbial table this season, meaning that the biggest accomplishment of McDaniel's tenure — the development of a previously unremarkable quarterback on his rookie contract — left the Dolphins with an unremarkable quarterback who got a huge contract.
- That included three losses in the final four games this season, including a blowout in the season finale, which combined with six more losses in the first seven games. McDaniel didn't think the last month would seal his fate and, on its own, and it probably didn't. But it hurt.
- And then Tuesday happened.
Former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Enter John Harbaugh To The Mix
The Baltimore Ravens fired John Harbaugh on Tuesday.
And that was that.
The Dolphins will deny this until they're aqua in the face. They'll say and, in fact, have already leaked to compliant reporters that Harbaugh's availability had nothing to do with the McDaniel decision. But that's only half true.
No, the Dolphins didn't fire McDaniel because Harbaugh became available. That would be crazy because no one knows what Harbaugh is likely to do.
But it is another matter altogether to not consider the possibility of Harbaugh (and other candidates, frankly) while deciding McDaniel's status. Only unserious team leadership would ignore those possibilities internally in exchange for a more informed decision on McDaniel.
It would be dumb if Ross didn't do that because that would mean, amid having a coach in a tenuous situation, that he didn't consider the availability of what was out there in the hiring cycle. That would be as dumb as cutting a player without having any replacement strategy.
And Ross is not dumb. He actually was among the first to identify the Harbaugh family as future NFL royalty when, in January of 2011, he tried to convince Jim Harbaugh to take the Dolphins job.
Stephen Ross played a role in getting Jim Harbaugh to Michigan. (Credit: Getty Images)
Ross Chasing Super Bowl Winner
Ross does not know John on the same level he knows of Jim. But he knows the genes, the philosophy, the leadership and, obviously, the Super Bowl winning success. That moves Ross because he has been reaching for some Super Bowl credentials for years.
He reached for Brian Flores as coach when he was the hottest coaching prospect on the Patriots Super Bowl dynasty in 2019. He tried to convince Tom Brady to come to Miami a couple of times. He also once tried to hire Super Bowl winning coach Sean Payton.
That history is affecting the Dolphins' search now. And it is kind of weird how past mistakes could be driving another mistake.
That long-ago attempt to hire Jim Harbaugh resulted in an embarrassing episode for Ross, who got publicly scorched for trying to hire a head coach while then-coach Tony Sparano was still on the job. It was Ross' welcome to the NFL moment that he hasn't forgotten.
Stephen Ross reacts after the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium. (Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Dolphins Being Careful Is A Trap
So this week, the Dolphins have leaked multiple times that there has been no contact with John Harbaugh to avoid making it seem like Ross was repeating his first major NFL move for which he got ripped.
The problem is, 15 years later, the NFL climate has changed. Fans, the media, everyone is now aware what Ross did openly in 2011 is routinely done by clubs surreptitiously. They're just smart enough not to get found out.
There are reports Harbaugh was contacted by nine teams when there were only six openings, not counting the Ravens. There are currently seven. The Dolphins have leaked they weren't one of those.
So, if the Dolphins indeed didn't reach out to Harbaugh as Ross was considering firing McDaniel, they're already lagging behind others in a widely competitive situation.
There was literally no negative to contacting Harbaugh's camp to gauge interest even while McDaniel remained with the club, unless Ross was once again flying to a Harbaugh home and having his private jet tracked like happened in 2011.
Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos and head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Los Angeles Chargers. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Ross Was Fined For Sean Payton Contact
The hope Dolphins fans can hold out for is that Ross — who has a history of breaking rules in tampering with Brady and Payton when their rights belonged to the Patriots and Saints, respectively — was trying to play by the book and be fair to his coach, but at the same time not putting his team at a competitive disadvantage.
The hope, indeed the expectation, is that he ordered second-party contact that relayed Miami's interest without possibly making Ross into a villain.
That status as a non-villain in the home market comes and goes for NFL owners. Baltimore's Steve Bisciotti might become familiar with that.
And Ross might also if he doesn't land John Harbaugh.