So why is Kevin Coyle still serving as the defensive coordinator of the Dolphins? Possibly because Jim Schwartz opted not to take the job.
During Tuesday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio, Jeff Darlington of NFL Media talked about the possibility of the former Lions coach and, more recently, Bills defensive coordinator joining the Dolphins in that capacity. Schwartz would have been an ideal choice, given that he coached defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh from 2010 through 2013.
After Suh signed with the Dolphins in March, Schwartz said there was no risk of a drop in play. “He certainly had the talent and the commitment to back up that contract,” Schwartz said at the time. “I don’t think there is a lot of risk for him having a decline in play.
But Schwartz declined to coach Suh again. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Dolphins “touched base” with Schwartz, and he “decided to stay where he is.” Schwartz currently is serving as a consultant for the league’s officiating department.
It’s unclear whether the current role diminishes his buyout from the Bills, who let him go after only one season of running the team’s defense. Taking the job in Miami definitely would have chewed directly into the money he’s getting through the end of his Buffalo contract, which means he would have been working for free in South Florida.
Schwartz and Dolphins executive V.P. of football operations Mike Tannenbaum worked together nearly for free in Cleveland in the ’90s, and they actually were roommates for a short time. That connection wasn’t strong enough to lure Schwartz to Miami, where he may have had an opportunity to demonstrate through on-the-job performance that he should be considered for the full-time position come 2016.
Schwartz saying “no thanks,” then, may have been good news for interim coach Dan Campbell, who surely hopes to do enough to shed the “interim” label. It definitely was good news for Coyle, who likely would have been shed from the organization if Schwartz had agreed to join the team.