Dolphins coaching staff news and rumors

Figured I'd start a thread for any news on coaching interviews for McDaniel's staff.

Looks like Charles London will interview for the OC position.  I don't know much about him, but he is currently the Falcons' QB coach, and has extensive experience as a RB coach and offensive assistant with the Titans, Texans and Bears, as well as Penn State.  Supposedly he is credited with helping to turn Cordarelle Patterson into a major offensive weapon for the Falcons.  I assume he has never called plays, but from what I can see he has a good reputation as a coach.

Eric Bieniemy's contract with the Chiefs is apparently expiring. I haven't heard anything about Dolphins' interest in him, but I'd definitely kick the tires.

I'm going to assume that McDaniel will call plays for the offense.  Even though he's never done it, he's been around Shanahan long enough that I don't see it being a problem - I think it will be a natural role for him.

I'm holding my breath until a defensive coordinator is hired. The rest will take care of itself.

I prefer Fangio by a large degree over Boyer.

white1 wrote:I'm holding my breath until a defensive coordinator is hired.  The rest will take care of itself.  

I prefer Fangio by a large degree over Boyer.

Yes, I am not as concerned with the offensive staff - I trust that McDaniel will hire the right guys...even if some of them may be "unknowns". I read somewhere that McDaniel attends every coaching conference he can, so I bet he's got a long list of contacts and knows what he'll get.

But on defense, I want Fangio...anyone else would be a disappointment, IMO.

First hire I have seen confirmed (from Twitter):

Jon Embree is joining Mike McDaniel's staff with the #Dolphins as their assistant head coach and TEs coach, per source. Embree had the same role with the #49ers for the past five seasons.

Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
#Dolphins DBs coach Gerald Alexander is in Jacksonville today interviewing for the vacant DC position under Doug Pederson, source said. A former Jags player, Alexander has risen quickly.

I knew Alexander would be poached sooner or later...

white1 wrote:First hire I have seen confirmed (from Twitter):

Jon Embree is joining Mike McDaniel's staff with the #Dolphins as their assistant head coach and TEs coach, per source. Embree had the same role with the #49ers for the past five seasons.

Great hire from what I can tell. He has coached some excellent TEs in his college and NFL career: according to wikipedia - Christian Fauria, Matt Lepsis, Daniel Graham, Marcedes Lewis, Tony Gonzalez, Chris Cooley, Jordan Cameron and George Kittle. He was with the Niners the last 5 seasons.

JMP wrote:

Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
#Dolphins DBs coach Gerald Alexander is in Jacksonville today interviewing for the vacant DC position under Doug Pederson, source said. A former Jags player, Alexander has risen quickly.

I knew Alexander would be poached sooner or later...

Let that Flores lapdog walk, I say! We don't need any backstabbing betrayers on THIS staff! It's only a matter of time before he accuses Peterson of racism for hiring him, or something.

Jeremy Fowler
@JFowlerESPN
Dolphins special teams coordinator Danny Crossman is staying on Miami’s staff with new coach Mike McDaniel, per source.
4:12 PM · Feb 9, 2022

I'm OK with this. Without looking at stats, I feel like our coverage teams have generally been great under Crossman.

I keep hearing that 49ers WR coach Wes Welker will be following McDaniel to Miami...

McDaniel didn't wait for GA to get poached.... he fired him.

Curious decision. Is it possible he was "too loyal" to Flores or something?

white1 wrote:McDaniel didn't wait for GA to get poached.... he fired him.  

Curious decision.  Is it possible he was "too loyal" to Flores or something?

Um...ya think???

Again, what did I JUST say about not wanting Flores loyalists backstabbing, betraying and sabotaging the team? I'm now actually starting to think that maybe this McDaniel guy might be as smart as the rest of you say he is

If Alexander doesn't like it he can be the one coach who actually joins the "class action" suit and kill his coaching career too. Besides, maybe coaching's the real reason Iggy sucks, hmmm...Hey, that logic seems to make sense when it comes to the O-line, right?

white1 wrote:McDaniel didn't wait for GA to get poached.... he fired him.  

Curious decision.  Is it possible he was "too loyal" to Flores or something?

I do indeed think Alexander was a Flores sympathizer. But worse than that, his wife apparently posted a tweet saying that the defensive turnaround was due to Alexander's coaching! I don't think McDaniel wants that type of grandstanding and "me" attitude on his staff - it's all about collaboration, not trying to make yourself look good.

That said, I do think Alexander is a good coach - but in McDaniel I trust.

George Godsey moving on to Baltimore.  Good for him.  I never had a problem with him as OC...unfortunately for him, he was placed in an impossible situation.

Rumor that the Phins may add Curtis Johnson as an offensive assistant - possibly offensive coordinator?.  Very impressive resume - he's been with the Saints since 2017, was a WR coach for the Canes for almost a decade, and was the head coach at Tulane for a few years  among other things.  This would add a nice veteran presence to the offensive staff.

Vic Fangio is reportedly interviewing with the 49ers!

Could that mean that current DC DeMeco Ryans is heading to Miami??? Just pure speculation on my part, but why else would they interview Fangio?  

Ryans is an excellent young coach and would be a great addition for McDaniel.

EDIT: Seems like Fangio is interviewing for a consultant job - might do that for a year while he decides his next move. I guess we'll see how this plays out, but worth keeping an eye on.

JMP wrote:I do indeed think Alexander was a Flores sympathizer.  But worse than that, his wife apparently posted a tweet saying that the defensive turnaround was due to Alexander's coaching!

and we all know that the defense improved this season when Flores supposedly got involved and diminished Boyer's role. i suspect Flores was closer with Alexander and kept him involved - probably creating division between Boyer and Alexander. with Fangio now looking elsewhere for a job, i hope Ross and Grier are not sabotaging their newly hired coach by making (or strongly encouraging) him stick with Boyer.

mercury22nathan wrote:with Fangio now looking elsewhere for a job, i hope Ross and Grier are not sabotaging their newly hired coach by making (or strongly encouraging) him stick with Boyer.

And wouldn't you know it...Boyer is staying on as DC. Hopefully it wasn't because McDaniel was forced to keep him...I'd like to think that's not the case.

I'm disappointed, but the primary focus this offseason must be on fixing the offense - so I guess I can live with it. We'll see what Boyer can do on his own, without Flores to fall back on (or undermine him, as the case may be).

Boyer staying on is actually worse news for me than anything about the Flores suit so far

Could that mean that current DC DeMeco Ryans is heading to Miami??? Just pure speculation on my part, but why else would they interview Fangio? scratch

Ryans is an excellent young coach and would be a great addition for McDaniel.

EDIT: Seems like Fangio is interviewing for a consultant job - might do that for a year while he decides his next move. I guess we'll see how this plays out, but worth keeping an eye on.

Interesting. In reading about Fangio, apparently Ryans is one of the coaches that worked in his scheme and runs the same defense.

I'm not enthralled with retaining Boyer. The upside is the players already know his scheme, and obviously there won't be any collateral loss of talent were we to transition to a different scheme, more press man, more zone or wide-9 whatever.

One of the problems that HAS to be solved is stop with the blowouts against good offenses. Buffalo and Tennessee come to mind in particular. Of course, if your offense is running the ball well, maintaining good time of possession and scoring points it helps "turn loose" the defense so I'm not underestimating that effect either....

Boyer staying on is actually worse news for me than anything about the Flores suit so far

I wanted Fangio. That would have been a home-run hire for a young coach like McDaniel.

Boyer staying is better than a number of possible alternatives, like elevating a secondary coach from somewhere else, or LB coach or whatever to become a first-time defensive coordinator here in Miami. At the very least, he has two years experience, ran a good (sometimes very good, sometimes great) defense and he knows the players on the roster and exactly how they fit and what they can do.

Clearly, the offense is the key. Better offense, better time of possession, more points - that's one of the ways McDaniel can really help our defense. Give them more time to rest, give them the lead and turn loose the exotic blitz packages.

McDaniel sounded genuine to me yesterday and I believe him when he talked about the defense. I'm sure it was discussed during the interview process. He respects the defense, SF lost to Miami in 2020, and he came in clearly interested to maintain the performance on that side of the ball. So, I can't envision a bunch of arm-twisting to keep Boyer, I believe McDaniel chose to have stability there and build on what we have while he totally revamps the staff and scheme on offense.

Note on offense: The coach from New Orleans that is coming in for an interview, apparently is a stud. Omar covered him with the Canes, and rated him maybe the best coach he has ever covered - and he developed several Hall of Fame receivers. I'll look up the name.

New Orleans coach Curtis Johnson, interviewing for OC. This is the guy I was talking about:

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-sp-dolphins-curtis-johnson-offensive-coordinator-20220211-55s2gzm7crgchmz3pcir2ha4yq-story.html

Johnson would be an excellent hire IMO. A great veteran sounding board for a young head coach.

Barry Jackson
@flasportsbuzz
Per source, Austin Clark - who did good work with the Dolphins' defensive linemen - is expected to be retained by Mike McDaniel. DC Josh Boyer, who's being retained, and Clark worked well together. Decisions pending on some other assistants who haven't been told their status.
9:50 AM · Feb 11, 2022

I'm fine with Clark - seems like a good coach.

It's not looking good for diversity hires

Another interview for the OC position: Frank Smith from the Chargers.

https://dolphinswire.usatoday.com/2022/02/12/dolphins-interviewing-frank-smith-for-offensive-coordinator/

...according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Miami has added a third candidate to the mix in Los Angeles Chargers run game coordinator and offensive line coach Frank Smith.

Smith has spent just one year in his position with the Chargers after spending three seasons with the Chicago Bears and three seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders as the tight end coach in both stops.

With Smith as offensive line coach this year, the Chargers gave up the fourth-fewest sacks per game (1. and were 13th in pass-block win rate (61%).

With how important collaboration is to this head coach, general manager, and owner, they have to be sure that they find the right guy.

Imagine picking a staff with experience and willing to work toward the same goal.