The Dolphins need to "make a splash to renew their increasingly sagging reputation" in the South Florida market with their coaching search, and the next day or so is "going to be nail-biting time for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, general manager Jeff Ireland, advisor-in-chief Carl Peterson and Dolphins fans everywhere," according to Armando Salguero of the MIAMI HERALD. Former NFL coach Jeff Fisher is "very much in play and very much in demand and St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke wants him just as much as the Dolphins do." Season-ticket buyers, "already in short supply, will go AWOL in droves if the Dolphins don't land Fisher but try to sell you Joe Philbin or Dave Toub or one of the other lesser light candidates, as a good hire." The Dolphins "need Fisher joining the team," and they are "willing to change their structure, their culture." The team also is "willing to pay through the nose to do it." Salguero writes, "But guess what? The Rams are similarly desperate." Fisher is "the thing in Miami," but Rams ownership in St. Louis is "under similar pressure to show itself competent of hiring the biggest name on the block with failure signaling serious repercussions to its reputation, financial standing, etc ..." (MIAMIHERALD.com, 1/5). NFL.com's Albert Breer noted the Rams are "at the top of Fisher's list." The fact that Fisher is "represented by Marvin Demoff, [whose] son Kevin is the Rams' COO, only makes it more likely that he'll land in Missouri." But there is "one other factor at play here." That is the "shakeup in Chicago" (NFL.com, 1/3).
SEARCHING SIMULTANEOUSLY: NFL.com's Jason La Canfora reports the Dolphins are "leading two different but parallel" coaching searches. Peterson, who served as Chiefs President from '89-'08, has "long been rumored to take that same position in Miami and help restructure the organization." Sources said that if Peterson "can't grab Fisher, then the likelihood of him formally joining the Dolphins is minimal." Sources also said that Peterson "has no role whatsoever in the interviewing process of other candidates." Meanwhile, Ireland has "compiled a list of less-experienced and less-powerful candidates whom he's interviewing with Ross" (NFL.com, 1/4).
