Miami Dolphins Coaching Candidates Update

The Miami Dolphins' search for a new head coach continued yesterday, as the team interviewed Chicago Bears' special teams coach Dave Toub. Toub got the now customary ride in owner Stephen Ross' helicopter to the team facility today, after having dinner last night with team officials. He spent the day touring the facility and speaking with Ross and general manager Jeff Ireland. Missing from today's interview was "advisor" Carl Peterson, who was the driving force behind the Jeff Fisher interview yesterday. Peterson, reportedly, had a previous commitment that kept him from the interview today.

Toub is a relative unknown among Miami Dolphins fans, but is a well known, and regarded, coach among football personnel. ESPNChicago.com writer Michael Wright spoke with Jesse Agler from AM 940-WINZ yesterday, and explained that, if the Bears were to move on from current head coach Lovie Smith, their first interview would be Toub.

Meanwhile, the Peterson situation continues to be a cloudy mess. On Tuesday afternoon, the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero was once again stating that Peterson would be "named the Dolphins president in the coming days or weeks." Yesterday morning, David Hyde of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported "Carl Peterson will not be football czar for the Dolphins." Hyde continues to state that, while Peterson is advising Ross and Ireland right now, he will not be formally employed by the team, despite his long time friendship and business partnerships with Ross.

So, clearly, Peterson will and/or won't be named the Dolphins Vice President of Football Operations, the job once held by Bill Parcells. And, the report from yesterday that Peterson and Ireland were running separate searches competing against each other may or may not be true. It's all so clear.

Then, there's the St. Louis Rams, who are apparently pursuing the former Tennessee Titans' coach Fisher just as hard as the Dolphins'. Fisher is expected to be interviewing with the Rams on Thursday. Late last night, Mike Silver from Yahoo! Sports tweeted:

Kroenke's home is in Denver.

But, should the Dolphins even have interest in Fisher? According to Foxsports.com senior NFL writer Alex Marvez, maybe not. Marvez appeared on 560-WQAM with Joe Rose yesterday, stating:

"Last year, the owner comes out and saus, 'Hey, I want to go back to the days of Dan Marino and play exciting football.' No one has told Stephen Ross that Jeff Fisher does not play exciting football. 'Shhhhh! Don't tell him.' The guy's a power running football coach. It's Tony Sparano, but with a mustache, OK?"

Clearly, Marvez does not approve of Fisher in Miami.

But, according to a Yahoo! article Silver wrote yesterday, the Dolphins lead in the sweepstakes to land Fisher.

"Fisher, according to a source familiar with his thinking, left South Florida on Tuesday with stone crabs in his stomach and a very positive impression of Ross and the Dolphins' organization," wrote Silver.

"Forget all the noise out there about Fisher, who left the Titans last January after a 16-plus season run, being primarily motivated by the presence of a franchise quarterback or insisting upon personnel control. His most important consideration is his comfort with an organization and a belief that its ownership is motivated to win and aggressively focused on that goal - and Ross, during Fisher's recent visit, made a convincing case.

"In addition to coming away with a favorable impression of Ross, Fisher believes he could easily work with Peterson - who may accept a formal role of team president in the near future - and Ireland, the team's holdover GM. He goes way back with both men."

According to Salguero, the Dolphins are not going to lose out on Fisher due to a money issue.

"The Dolphins are prepared to make Jeff Fisher the best financial offer of any team vying for the coach this winter, an NFL source told the Miami Herald and a source close to owner Stephen Ross confirmed.

"Ross is not eager to overpay to land Fisher or anyone else as he searches for a head coach. But the Dolphins owner is willing to best any offer that might come from St. Louis or Tampa Bay or any other team wanting to hire the former Tennessee Titans coach."

The Rams aren't just looking at Fisher, however. According to an NFL Network report, St. Louis is looking to the Dolphins as a potential source for the young GM they would like, as well as a possible backup plan if Fisher does not pan out. The Rams interviewed the Miami Director of Player Personnel Brian Gaine yesterday. According to an Omar Kelly tweet, Gaine is the guy directly under Jeff Ireland and is "very good at his job."

Thomas is a reported for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

So, now we settle in and await word from Fisher on where he is going to go. As of now, there are no reported interviews scheduled for the Dolphins today. We'll see what news breaks throughout the rest of the day.