With a general manager now in place, the Dolphins on Friday night called to express interest in former Ravens coach John Harbaugh and also requested interviews with three NFL assistant coaches, according to league sources.
As owner Stephen Ross and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan dive head-first into their head coaching search, Miami requested interviews with Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, the grandson of legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula.
Kubiak was set to interview with the Dolphins on Saturday.
The Dolphins also are expected to speak with former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, among several others, in the days ahead, a source said.
As of Saturday morning, no Dolphins interview with Harbaugh had been booked. But that could change at any time.
Harbaugh is spending a few days mulling his options and deciding how he wants to proceed. He would like to coach next season and begin interviewing with select teams next week.
The Giants have been a particularly aggressive suitor and at least nine other teams have called to express interest. But he won’t interview with every team that called. SI.com’s Albert Breer identified the Dolphins, Giants, Titans and Falcons as “the realistic landing spots.”
According to a source, Harbaugh is expected to consider numerous factors not limited to, but including, the quarterback situation, the team’s roster and salary cap situation and comfort level with management.
Owner Stephen Ross and the Harbaugh family have a longstanding relationship and Ross has shown the willingness to spend whatever it takes in various aspects of ownership.
But according to three sources with direct involvement, the Dolphins did not contact Harbaugh before firing Mike McDaniel out of respect to McDaniel and also because they wanted to pick a general manager before beginning a coaching search.
Harbaugh, 63, was fired by the Ravens on Tuesday after 18 years on the job. He won one Super Bowl (in February 2013 against the 49ers), finished with a 193-124 record (.609 winning percentage including playoffs) and guided the Ravens to six AFC North titles and four trips to the AFC Championship game.
Baltimore had only three losing seasons under Harbaugh — 2015, 2021 and 2025 — and his starting quarterback missed at least four games each of those seasons. Harbaugh’s 193 wins are 12th most in NFL history.
But the Dolphins’ coaching search will extend far beyond Harbaugh.
The Dolphins have asked to speak to Shula, who oversaw a Rams defense that finished 10th in points allowed at 20.4 this season. Shula, 39, began his coaching career at Ball State as an assistant linebackers coach in 2010, then was a graduate assistant at Indiana and spent two years as defensive coordinator at John Carroll in Ohio.
He was the Chargers’ defensive quality control coach in 2015 and 2016 and has been with the Rams since 2017, first working with linebackers and becoming the defensive coordinator before the 2024 season.
Kubiak, 38, became the first to interview with the Dolphins on Saturday. He has generated considerable interest among teams with coaching openings, having interviewed this past week for the head coaching jobs with the Ravens, Raiders and Falcons and also drawing interest from the Giants and Titans.
Kubiak, the son of former NFL coach Gary Kubiak, joined the Seahawks as offensive coordinator this season and Seattle ranked third in points per game (28.4) and No. 8 in yards (351.4). Similar to Mike McDaniel’s system in some ways, the Kubiak system relies on zone runs, particularly outside zone. It prioritizes athletic, mobile offensive linemen to open up lanes.
In large part because of head coaching turnover, Kubiak has coached for five different teams over the past five years: Seattle, New Orleans (offensive coordinator in 2024), San Francisco (passing game coordinator), Denver (passing game coordinator & quarterbacks coach), and Minnesota (offensive coordinator in 2021).
If the Dolphins wanted to speak with Kubiak, it needed to happen quickly because coaches on the two teams with first-round byes (Denver and Seattle) needed to interview with teams (and only virtually) by Monday or risk not being able to speak with them until after the Super Bowl, should their teams make it.
The Dolphins also reached out to Saleh, an accomplished defensive coordinator who was fired by the Jets five games into the 2024 season. He went 20-36 in three-plus seasons as Jets coach and spent the past year as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, a job he also had between 2017 and 2020.
Saleh, 46, is expected to interview in the coming days. He knows Sullivan; after Saleh was fired by the Jets, he spent the final 2 1/2 months of that 2024 season with the Packers, serving in a consultant role and helping Matt LaFleur with game planning.
The Dolphins also plan to speak with Stefanski, a respected offensive mind who was named Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2023 but was fired by the Browns this week after going 45-56 in six seasons.
Beyond the known five of interest to Miami (Harbaugh, Kubiak, Saleh, Shula and Stefanski), another name that looms as a potential candidate is Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who knows Sullivan well and has been asked to interview for head coaching jobs in Arizona, Atlanta and Tennessee.
Hafley was 22-26 as coach at Boston College from 2020 to 2023.
Other possible options include Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich (has served in that role for four years but doesn’t call the plays), former Packers and Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy (who will interview with the Giants on Tuesday), Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile (the Dolphins’ former linebackers coach who has experience working with Sullivan).
The Dolphins must interview two minority candidates in accordance with the league’s Rooney Rule, and both of those candidates must come from other teams (or be unemployed).
Longtime Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Packers reporter Tom Silverstein said Friday that the Packers might need to offer coach Matt LaFleur “$12-15 million per year to lure him into signing an extension. If the two sides can’t reach an agreement, it’s hard to believe Sullivan wouldn’t be interested in LaFleur. In order for Sullivan to get a crack at him, the Packers would have to fire LaFleur, agree to void the final year of the contract or ask for compensation from the Dolphins.”
But NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Saturday that the Packers and LaFleur would like to try to reach a contract extension, regardless of the outcome of the Packers-Bears playoff game on Saturday night.
Rules for search
The Dolphins can interview coaching candidates who are unemployed. But coaches who work for teams that are not in the playoffs can interview only virtually with teams until Jan. 19, when they can interview in person.
What if the Dolphins wish to interview a coach on a team that’s playing a playoff game this weekend? There are strict rules involving that.
Coaches of teams that lose this weekend can interview immediately, but only virtually before Jan. 19. For assistants whose teams advance this weekend, they can have a virtual interview beginning Tuesday, except for coaches on Houston and Pittsburgh, who must wait until Jan. 14 because they play Monday night.
No in-person interviews with coaches still in the playoffs would be permitted next week. In-person interviews are allowed only with coaches whose seasons are over.
No coach can sign a contract or agree to sign a contract until their season is complete.
A new rule limits interviews with still-active playoff coaches to a maximum of three hours per session. Teams must request permission to interview coaches under contract, and employer teams cannot deny requests for playoff-eligible coaches without cause.
McDaniel update
McDaniel is expected to interview for the Titans’ head coaching job. The Lions also have expressed interest in him for their offensive coordinator job.
Here’s my Saturday story with news on Troy Aikman’s role with the Dolphins in the coming weeks and his thoughts on working with the Dolphins; Stephen Ross’ comments on the hiring of Sullivan; player signings; and a big recognition for Jordyn Brooks.
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 11:10 AM.
Barry Jackson
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.
