The Miami Dolphins interviewed a number of coaches for the open position after Brian Flores was fired, including Mike McDaniel, who eventually accepted the job. However, PFT’s Mike Florio reported earlier in the week that the Dolphins wanted to add Sean Payton to the list of candidates.
Payton, who had been the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, retired in late January after 16 seasons. Because he was still under contract when he retired, any team that wanted to speak to Payton had to go through the Saints to do so.
On Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier confirmed that the team had interest in speaking with Payton about their open position but were blocked from doing so.
The Dolphins quickly moved on, and just over a week later they had their new head coach.
However, Florio’s other report on Monday about the Dolphins having interest in Tom Brady to be their quarterback was shot down by Grier.
The team continues to say the right things publicly to support their quarterback, but it is interesting that they are willing to admit that there was at least one option for head coach that they didn’t get to interview before hiring McDaniel.
