Brian Billick thinks that he’s too old and expensive for the Jaguars. But he sees a potential fit farther south.
Billick tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that the former Ravens coach would be interested in the coaching job in Miami.
“The Dolphins are a marquee franchise,” Billick said. “But at the end of the day, it’s the structure of what they put together.”
While Billick was diplomatic and tactful, it’s clear that he has some concerns. “It has to be a partnership between the head coach, general manager and ownership with a very specific vision,” Billick said. “The Dolphins are probably a long way from formulating their plans.”
Jackson points out that Billick said earlier in the week on NFL Network that the coach/G.M. pairing is “a marriage,” and that the two men have to “forge that relationship.” Given the perception that G.M. Jeff Ireland betrayed former head coach Tony Sparano by accompanying owner Stephen Ross to California in an effort to hire Jim Harbaugh while Sparano was still employed, Billick and any coaching candidate will have concerns. Thus, the manner in which Ireland and Ross handle that situation could be more important than anything the coaching candidate says during the interview, even if/when Billick is pressed to explain how he was the only coach to lose to a 1-15 Dolphins team in 2007, supposedly costing Ross $40 million via the increased purchase price that Wayne Huizenga imposed after avoiding the ultimate bookend to the accomplishments of the 1972 Dolphins.
Still, if owner Stephen Ross is looking for a guy who has won a Super Bowl ring (as opposed to a “young Don Shula”), the list of available coaches is limited. Since the 2000 season, it’s Billick, Cowher, Gruden, and Dungy.
Dungy isn’t coming back. For Gruden and Cowher, the presence of Ireland likely will be a non-starter. And so this high-stakes edition of Match Game could all come down to Billick, whom Armando Salguero of the Herald has predicted will indeed be the next coach of the Dolphins.