Tony Sparano is still the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
That didn’t stop owner Stephen Ross from meeting with Jim Harbaugh about the job before Harbaugh signed on with the 49ers and it isn’t stopping him from trying to talk to another possible replacement. Albert Breer of the NFL Network is reporting that Ross has reached out to Bill Cowher’s agent about Cowher’s interest in taking over the reins of the team. Earlier this week, Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com reported that Ross had spoken with intermediaries about Cowher and Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reported that Cowher has “planted seeds” that he’d be interested in the Miami job.
Breer’s report comes with a caveat. Cowher has reportedly told his agent and others that he will not speak to a team without a head coaching vacancy. That can be remedied fairly quickly, of course, and this week’s news that Sparano’s house in Miami is up for sale is a sign that he could be an empty nester in more ways than one.
While Cowher wouldn’t take over the Dolphins job in the middle of the season, firing Sparano would give the team to get a head start of discussions with Cowher about their job. That would give them a jump on other teams that might be making coaching changes in the offseason with an eye toward bringing Cowher into their organization. With Cowher believed to be interested in a situation that offers him a chance to win immediately, the Dolphins might not benefit from being first in the hunt but it probably wouldn’t hurt their chances all that much.
Expect to hear much more about Cowher to the Dolphins in the weeks to come, even if Brandon Marshall’s guarantee comes to fruition in the Meadowlands.