Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley has had success as a head coach before, leading the Chiefs to a 10-6 record and the AFC West title during his second season in Kansas City. Now, due no doubt to his work with Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the Pittsburgh offense, Haley could ascend to the head coaching ranks once again, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reports that Haley has support from Dolphins officials and is expected to receive “ample consideration” for the position.
Per La Canfora, Bill Parcells — known to have the ear of Dolphins owner Stephen Ross — is highly supportive of Haley, who workd under Parcells with both the Jets and the Cowboys. Many of Ross’ recent hires, including football czar Mike Tannenbaum, have come from the Parcells “coaching tree,” as La Canfora notes, so the interest in Haley would not come as a surprise.
Haley, 48, posted a pedestrian 19-26 overall record with the Chiefs, but his success as a offensive play-caller is hard to question. He helped lead the Cardinals to the Super Bowl following the 2008 season, and has molded Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and others into one of the best offenses in the league. Pittsburgh’s offense has improved each season under Haley, topping out as the second-best unit in 2014, per Football Outsiders’ DVOA.
One obvious impediment to Haley landing in Miami is the presence of interim head coach Dan Campbell, and more specifically, how the Dolphins play for the remainder of the season. The club has won its first two games under Campbell, including a 44-26 drubbing of the Texans today. It’s hard to judge a locker room from the outside, but it’s clear the Miami is playing with a renewed energy. If that continues for the duration of the year, it will be hard for the Dolphins front office to not retain Campbell.