Habib: Stephen Ross moved heaven, Earth for Jim Harbaugh in 2011. Don't discount another fling

Word had just begun to spread throughout South Florida that the Dolphins no longer had a head coach when a second wave of news broke Monday morning. Yes, Brian Flores had been fired, but no, Jim Harbaugh was not going to replace him.

In a sport in which offenses love to use tempo, the speed with which these two pieces of information followed one another was impressive. So too the breadth of the Harbaugh denial, traveling down a pipeline from sources to both reporters who regularly cover the Dolphins and “insiders” who handle the entire league.

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Within a couple of hours, the back channels were replaced by the direct approach. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, addressing reporters for the first time in two years, said under no circumstances would he be the one to pry Harbaugh from the University of Michigan, the alma mater they share and the school Ross staunchly supports financially.

Ross may well live up to his promise. There’s nothing to indicate it’s not what Ross firmly intends.

And it still does not mean that the next time Ross addresses reporters, the 14th head coach of the Miami Dolphins he introduces is not named Jim Harbaugh.

Whether it was to Stanford, the San Francisco 49ers or Michigan, Harbaugh, 58, has enough clout to dictate his moves. With word spreading that he’s itching to return to the NFL, Ross wouldn’t have to lure him away from the Wolverines. Harbaugh can do it himself. If that happens, is there any way Ross could resist?

Hardly, as anyone who lived through six days in January 2011 can recall.

Books have been written about The Bronx Zoo that was the New York Yankees in the Billy Martin/George Steinbrenner era, but at least for one week, the Dolphins gave the Bombers a run in the melodrama department.

The infamous lowlight arrived Wednesday, Jan. 5, via an ESPN report: Ross was heading to the Bay Area “to make an urgent pitch” to Harbaugh. For days, there had been speculation Ross was casting eyes at Harbaugh, but now, he was jetting across the country to do it.

This was big news. Not just because Ross had checkbook in hand and was prepared to make Harbaugh richer than any football coach ever, but because he had one other thing in hand.

He still had a coach.

If the Dolphins suddenly had an opening, it was news to Tony Sparano and to the NFL world, where it was unheard of to chase a new coach without first firing the old one.

So many oddities in one week

While that’s Exhibit A in this bizarre saga, there remain enough exhibits to satisfy countless other letters of the alphabet.

There was Jason Taylor and Ricky Williams blasting Sparano on radio.

There was the friendship between Sparano and general manager Jeff Ireland that was ripped to shreds.

There was one newspaper tracking Ross’ private jet down to the very detail that it was about to land at an airport 21.9 miles from Harbaugh’s house.

There was the strange case of the third person on the flight with Ross and Ireland who wasn’t supposed to be part of the Dolphins’ organization, but was (at least for one of Ross’ most important decisions as owner).

There was Harbaugh managing to spend the prior week in Miami, preparing for the Orange Bowl, yet somehow escaping Dolphins speculation the entire time.

And there was the Dolphins and Ross getting hammered in local media when the effort failed, leading to the classic Sun-Sentinel headline SNAKES ON A PLANE.

Why it's pertinent today

Ancient history? Not exactly.

Although Sparano was given a make-good raise to smooth things over, it wasn’t long before the Dolphins were looking for a new coach.

Just like today.

The offensive line — then and now — needed all kinds of help. Questions surrounded what to do at quarterback, although to be fair, there are only limited parallels between then (Tyler Thigpen, Chad Henne) and now (Tua Tagovailoa).

But the bigger question in 2011 was what to make of dysfunction within the organization, which manifested itself in just one playoff appearance in the previous nine seasons.

Care to guess how many playoff appearances the Dolphins have made in the nine most recent seasons?

One.

Ross let Flores go in his ongoing attempt to have the Dolphins operating in “collaborative” fashion. He said different people rub people in different ways. Harbaugh has never been accused of being a people person, so if it is accurate that Ross won’t consider him, this may be why.

But his admiration for Harbaugh, who took the Wolverines to the playoff semifinals this season, is no secret.

Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011, arrived with Sparano and the Dolphins closing out a 7-9 season with a 38-7 loss at New England. Oddly, Ross did not attend a game in which the Dolphins quit on Sparano, one columnist wrote.

The next night, however, Ross was seen on the field, talking with Harbaugh before Stanford beat Virginia Tech 40-12 in the Orange Bowl in what was expected to be the final collegiate game for Harbaugh’s quarterback, Andrew Luck. Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he thought his brother had taken Michigan off the table, so if Jim planned to leave Palo Alto, it would be for the NFL.

Heat's on Ross to make a deal

The heat was turned up on Ross to seal the deal after “multiple conversations” with Harbaugh, NFL Network reported. Bill Cowher had cut off talks with the Dolphins, reportedly sticking with TV work after Ross insisted on keeping Ireland and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Jon Gruden, too, was remaining on TV.

Sparano had met for three hours early in the week with Ross and CEO Mike Dee to lay out his rebuilding plan, but by midweek, NFL.com wrote it would be “hard for Sparano to survive.”

Thursday morning’s newspapers were abuzz with the “urgent pitch” news, which included the tidbit that former Kansas City Chiefs executive Carl Peterson, a confidante of Ross’, also was on the plane despite Ross saying he wasn’t hiring Peterson. Ireland’s presence fractured his friendship with Sparano.

In California, it was time to talk money. Lots of it. Ross reportedly was pitching as much as $60 million over eight years to Harbaugh.

Meanwhile in South Florida, problems. Taylor and Williams spoke on WQAM and criticized Sparano for “micromanaging,” although given a few days to reconsider, Williams had misgivings.

“I just finished meditating & I realized my comments about Tony showed a lapse in loving kindness towards him,” Williams tweeted. “I expect more of myself.”

The end of the workweek brought a big never mind, disappointment and lambasting by local columnists, who agreed the pursuit ranked among the most embarrassing periods for the franchise.

Harbaugh was agreeing to jump to the NFL — but it was to coach the 49ers. He wouldn’t have to move his family. He would make $25 million over five years — $5 million per year, compared to $7.5 million Ross had in mind.

Ross knew he’d been naive in thinking no one would learn about his cross-country flight. He also knew it was a faux pas to not fire Sparano before attempting to replace him. Some wonder why coaches are afforded that courtesy. This season, there was a parallel of sorts on the players’ side as the Dolphins explored trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson while grooming Tagovailoa, their 2020 first-round pick.

Sparano received a bump in pay and was retained, but after a 4-9 start the next season, he was fired.

At least twice in the next eight years, there were rumblings Ross might chase Harbaugh again, but nothing materialized.

Ross: Sparano never got over it

Speaking on Miami’s 790-The Ticket in April 2013, Ross blasted Sparano.

“He could never put it behind him,” Ross said. “I don’t think he was the right head coach for the Miami Dolphins. I didn’t hire him. We’re a much better organization today than then.”

Ross said he was excited about first-round pick Dion Jordan, a defensive end who reminded team execs of Taylor and DeMarcus Ware. Jordan had three sacks in two seasons with the Dolphins.

Ross was looking forward to a second season with coach Joe Philbin. But Philbin would end up 24-28 in three-plus seasons as Dolphins coach, with no winning seasons.

“This organization is functioning the best since the (Don) Shula days,” Ross said at the time. “(Because) I picked the head coach with Jeff Ireland. People see this organization is really on the uptick.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jim Harbaugh eyes NFL: Will Miami Dolphins' Stephen Ross go for him?