[jwplayer Jcf6FGZC-ThvAeFxT]
The 2021 Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator search is starting to feel like a never-ending saga. Chan Gailey, who served as the Dolphins play caller on offense for the 2020 season, resigned from the team just a few days after the end of the regular season. And in the weeks that have followed, the Dolphins have spent their sweet time trying to find the right coach to step into the role. But they have yet to fill the void. And once the team cot to Senior Bowl week and there was no hire announced, it felt apparent that perhaps the Dolphins decided to use the Senior Bowl week as an evaluation tool for their in-house candidates.
But the Senior Bowl wrapped up last Saturday afternoon. It’s now Tuesday. And there’s still no announced hire. Perhaps the Dolphins have already made the decision but simply haven’t announced it. But until they do, speculation will continue to run that this vacancy is still wide open. And with that speculation comes questions on which coaches still “unavailable” may also be in consideration to take the gig.
Enter Tampa Bay’s Harold Goodwin. Goodwin, who serves as the Buccaneers running game coordinator and assistant head coach, has been a staple of Bruce Arians-led coaching staffs for the majority of his NFL coaching career. Having served as the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator from 2013-2017 under Arians, Goodwin also has the high level experience that Brian Flores has coveted in some of his previous senior offensive coaching hires (Jim Caldwell in 2019 and Chan Gailey in 2020). There are some interesting dots to connect.
But, alas, as is the case with much of the other speculation, be it around Buffalo QB coach Ken Dorsey or anyone else, there’s not much of a trail. Goodwin, in the build up to the Super Bowl this weekend, told Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald that he has not heard from the Dolphins.
Harold Goodwin makes a lot of sense as the Dolphins' next OC, but he told me this morning the team has not yet contacted him about the opening.
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) February 1, 2021
This isn’t to say he’s not in the running — Flores and the Dolphins may be extending him the common courtesy of letting him focus on the championship game before putting a promotion into his line of sight. If the Dolphins do indeed have interest in Goodwin, there should be plenty of optimism for what he can bring to the table. He was a part of two top-6 scoring offenses during his stretch in Arizona before serving as the assistant head coach of two consecutive top-3 scoring offenses in Tampa Bay between 2019 and 2020.
But unless Miami ends the suspense in the coming days, we’ll need to see the big game play out before we’re able to get any clarity on if Goodwin is a prime Dolphins candidate.