The Miami Dolphins have a head coach, but they are still potentially in the market to hire John Harbaugh for their lead coaching position.
According to NFL insider Josina Anderson, the Dolphins have reached out to Harbaugh about their head-coaching role, even though Mike McDaniel remains the Miami head coach as of Wednesday.
Harbaugh was, of course, fired by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday. Harbaugh, who will turn 64 in September, boasts a 180-113 record as a head coach with a 34-31 win over his brother Jim’s San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
The Dolphins went 7-10, just a game behind the Ravens in the AFC standings, and fired general manager Chris Grier midseason.
The Miami Dolphins Are Interested In Making John Harbaugh Their Head Coach
Hypothetically, most teams would at least consider firing their head coach when a candidate like Harbaugh becomes available. But the Dolphins seem to be putting that theory into real-world practice.
McDaniel was, of course, spared on Black Monday despite rumors of his potential demise throughout Miami’s disappointing, sub-.500 season. The 42-year-old offensive wunderkind is 15-19 over his past two years after he went 20-14 and made the playoffs in his first two seasons as Dolphins head coach.
Still, Miami’s offense has struggled amid quarterback issues, namely to incumbent starter Tua Tagovailoa, who was benched for rookie, seventh-round draft pick Quinn Ewers, who started the final three games. The Dolphins finished 26th in the NFL in yards per game (300.7) and 25th in points per game (20.4) over the past two seasons.
Harbaugh seems like an immediate upgrade over McDaniel as a head coach, though maybe not from an entertainment standpoint, especially since Harbaugh has more playoff wins (13) than the Dolphins have in the past 50 years (10).
The Dolphins Could Also Add Todd Monken As Their Offensive Coordinator If They Hire John Harbaugh
Anderson reported the Dolphins’ interest in Harbaugh on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday and included a nugget that could be extra compelling to Dolphins fans worried about Harbaugh’s ability as a tactician.
“It’s my understanding Todd Monken could have a path to still be Harbaugh’s [offensive coordinator] (withstanding other opportunities) if Monken departs Baltimore with the arrival of the #Ravens new head coach,” Anderson reported.
Monken has been Harbaugh’s right-hand man calling the shots for the Baltimore offense for the past three seasons. Under Monken, Lamar Jackson won consecutive PFWA MVP awards in 2023 and 2024 — Josh Allen won the Associated Press MVP award in 2024 — and the Ravens finished in the top-6 in the league in yards and points.
Dolphins fans could be leery of Harbaugh’s lack of postseason success, especially lately. The Ravens squandered home-field advantage in their AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 and blew multiple late-game leads in a de facto playoff game against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night.
Yet, according to Anderson, the Dolphins may need to clean up the looming Tagovailoa situation, since there are no shortage of QB-competent teams also bidding for Harbaugh’s services. The Dolphins could be stuck with a massive dead-cap hit if they release Tagovailoa, and his struggles could cause Harbaugh to go elsewhere.
“It’s also my understanding though that team quarterback situation will be a big factor [for Harbaugh] in this ongoing decision and evaluation process,” Anderson posted.
Insider Shares Update on Dolphins’ Interest in Former Ravens HC John Harbaugh