When the Miami Dolphins made the surprising move on Jan. 10 to fire former coach Brian Flores, many believed it had to mean there was a big-name coaching pursuit owner Steve Ross and the Dolphins were prepared to make.
According to a Monday morning report, there was one — just not who everyone thought in Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
The Dolphins once planned to pursue former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, according to Pro Football Talk, which also reported on Monday morning that Miami wanted to pair Payton with quarterback Tom Brady. Both Payton and Brady announced retirements this offseason.
The Dolphins declined to comment on the report.
The report said Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL that names the Dolphins scrapped the plan, but Payton announced his retirement roughly a week before Flores’ lawyers filed the suit. The Dolphins, at that point in time, were also preparing for a second round of interviews with eventual head coach Mike McDaniel and fellow finalist Kellen Moore, who remains the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive coordinator.
If the Dolphins were to pursue Payton while he was still under contract with the Saints before his retirement, the Dolphins first would have had to reach an agreement with the Saints for potential compensation for hiring Payton, per NFL rules. If an agreement were reached, the Dolphins then could work out an agreement directly with Payton.
The report also links Brady to a potential ownership stake in the future.
Leading the Saints since 2006, Payton accumulated a 161-97 record, including playoffs. He won a Super Bowl in 2009.
Ross, a Michigan alum and donor, shut down the idea of the Dolphins going after Harbaugh the same day Flores was fired, saying he would not be the one to take Harbaugh away from the Wolverines.
Flores’ lawsuit alleges racially discriminating hiring practices across the NFL against Black coaches seeking high-end roles. Against the Dolphins, Flores claims he was offered financial incentive to tank in the 2019 season, his first at the helm in Miami. He also alleged that he was pressured to tamper with an unnamed quarterback, which reports have said was Brady, before his 2020 free agency when he went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
