Ranking the Dolphins head coaching candidates

Since the Miami Dolphins fired head coach Brian Flores on the Monday following the end of the regular season, they’ve been searching for the next option to take up that role.

This week, the Dolphins are interviewing seven assistants from around the league to fill that void with varying levels of experience. Some have been head coaches before and others have years of assistant coaching under their belts.

With the knowledge we have about Miami wanting their next coach to be invested in Tua Tagovailoa as the quarterback, it’s obvious that some of these men would be a better fit over the others.

Here are the rankings of the Dolphins’ seven head coaching candidates:

7. Thomas Brown

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Brown could end up being a really great head coach down the line, but with only two years of NFL coaching experience, that’s not exactly the direction the Dolphins should want to go right now.

6. Leslie Frazier

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Frazier’s time in Minnesota was highlighted by Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel playing a majority of the games. However, since being in Buffalo, he’s led them to a second-ranked and first-ranked scoring defense in two of the last three seasons. It would be interesting to see what his staff would look like in Miami.

5. Dan Quinn

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Quinn made a Super Bowl run with the Falcons and has been really solid as a defensive coordinator. The reason he’s so low on this list is defensive coordinator might be what he’s best at. Once the Falcons lost Kyle Shanahan to the 49ers, the Falcons began to fall off the cliff. Quinn could be a good option if he grabs another top option to run the offense.

4. Vance Joseph

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Joseph’s stint with the Broncos wasn’t the best, but his quarterbacks during that time were Trevor Siemian, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Drew Lock, and Brandon Allen. That’s not exactly the best group of guys. Tagovailoa could be the best of those names. If the Dolphins bring him in, like the other defensive coordinator candidates, they’d have to find a great offensive coordinator to run this offense.

3. Kellen Moore

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Here starts the run on offensive coaches. Moore has helped Dak Prescott and the Cowboys reach two of their better seasons in recent memory, but they’ve yet to bust through and make a playoff run. The question would be whether or not he’s successful because of the pieces around him, and that’s fair.

2. Mike McDaniel

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McDaniel has become the media darling during this coaching search, as a different clip of him goes viral every other day. He has plenty of NFL experience, as he’s been with the Shanahan family since coming into the league as an intern in 2005. If he can bring that system to Miami, it could be one that Tagovailoa would thrive in.

1. Brian Daboll

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Daboll has played a big part in the jump that the Bills’ offense has made in the last few years, as he’s helped Josh Allen really become one of the league’s best quarterbacks. Throw in the fact that he’s worked with the Dolphins and Tagovailoa before, and there’s a pretty good case for Daboll to be the guy.

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