The report from Greg Cote of the Miami Herald that the Monday press conference of Dolphins coach Tony Sparano was cancelled has sparked the first full-blown hot-seat watch of the season. With the Dolphins entering the bye week, now is the perfect time to install an interim head coach. However, it apparently is too early to conclude that Sparano is a goner, based on the absence of a Monday press conference.
Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene advises that the press conference was canceled due to the “timing and logistics” of the team’s return from San Diego. Greene said that, after Sunday’s post-game press conference, Sparano told Greene that the coach wouldn’t have anything new to say on Monday, because he wouldn’t have had a chance to review the film or to update the status of quarterback Chad Henne.
Of course, none of this means that the axe won’t be falling on Sparano this week, especially with a bye coming up on Sunday. But the team’s position for now is that the cancellation of the press conference is unrelated to anything that may or may not be happening at the upper reaches of the organization.