Tua Tagovailoa’s former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Alabama has emerged as the odds-on favorite to land the Miami Dolphins coaching job.
Brian Daboll, the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator who recruited and coached Tagovailoa with the Crimson Tide in 2017, is being given 3/1 odds by BetOnline.ag and BetMGM.
Doug Pederson, who led the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl victory in 2018, and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy are being given 5/1 odds by BetOnline.ag. However, neither of them are on the Dolphins’ known list of seven coaching candidates that they have requested interviews for.
Daboll, who was the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator in 2011 under the late Tony Sparano, interviewed with the Dolphins on Sunday — a day after Buffalo trounced the New England Patriots 47-17 in a wild-card playoff game. Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who has previous NFL head coaching experience with the Minnesota Vikings (2011-13), also interviewed with the Dolphins on Sunday.
Daboll appears to be in high demand. According to BetMGM’s odds for other teams with coaching vacancies, he also is the 3/1 favorite for the New York Giants, 6/1 for the Vikings and 13/2 for the Chicago Bears.
With eight head coaching openings in the NFL, both Daboll and Frazier have been linked to more than one of those teams. Along with the Bears, Vikings and Giants, the Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and Las Vegas Raiders are also searching for new coaches.
The Bears interviewed the 46-year-old Daboll on Sunday, the team announced.
Daboll’s relationship with Tagovailoa could go a long way after the Dolphins’ commitment to move forward with the former Heisman Trophy winner and No. 5 pick became known over the weekend.
Dolphins owner Steve Ross, in his comments last week amid parting ways with Brian Flores, said quarterback decisions played “no role.”
“I have a lot of confidence in Tua. The next head coach will work with him — or whoever else,” Ross said. “I have watched him grow. I think he’s a fine young man.”
Ross added he has “no plans” to reignite trade talks for embattled Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Like Flores, Daboll is also a member of the Bill Belichick coaching tree and was an assistant with the New England Patriots for 11 seasons. He got his NFL start as a defensive assistant with New England in 2000. Between that experience and flipping to wide receivers coach from 2002-06, he was part of the Patriots’ first run of three Super Bowls in four seasons under Belichick. He later returned as tight ends coach in New England from 2013-16, winning two more Super Bowls to bring his total to five.
Daboll has been Buffalo’s offensive coordinator the past four seasons and was the AP Assistant Coach of the Year in 2020 as he helped quarterback Josh Allen to a Pro Bowl season. Over the last two seasons, Allen has thrown for 8,951 yards and 73 touchdowns.
Daboll’s other coordinator stops have been with the Chiefs (2012) and Cleveland Browns (2009-10). He also was the New York Jets quarterbacks coach (2007-08) when Brett Favre was with the team.
Daboll began his career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State on Nick Saban’s staff (1998-99) and rejoined Saban at Alabama in 2017.
In that 2017 season, Tagovailoa was a backup most of the year as a freshman before relieving starter Jalen Hurts in the title game and leading a furious comeback against Georgia for an overtime victory.
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment