NFL: Miami Dolphins to keep Tony Sparano as head coach
Jim Harbaugh had been the leading man for the job of head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
The Stanford Cardinals coach and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross met on Thursday in San Francisco about the job in Miami.
Now sources say that they have decided to keep head Coach Tony Sparano after talks between Harbaugh and the Dolphins broke off.
They had said that money was not an object and would be willing to make Harbaugh the highest paid coach in the league, placing his salary at around $7 to $8 million.
Ross did continue the meeting later on Thursday with David Dunn, Harbaugh’s agent, but it seems as if it did not go well.
Ross wants to be clear with his intentions for Harbaugh. He went to California with high hopes that Harbaugh would take up his offer of coaching the Dolphins. He hoped for Harbaugh to fly with him to Miami in his private jet. He wanted to publicly introduce
him as his new head coach.
For Harbaugh, going back to Stanford is still a viable option. He may go back to Coach Andrew Luck in 2011 along with the rest of the strong Cardinals team. He may take up the offer to go pro next year if he still has options.
Luck would have been the number one draft pick in the country if he decided to enter the 2011 NFL Draft but he decided that he would rather stay in school and play during his junior year.
A late season drop in the Dolphins’ performance put Sparano’s job in danger. His contract has one year left on it and was working with the team while Ross had flown from Miami to San Francisco to try and woo Harbaugh into coming to Miami.
Before the season started, Ross had expected to reach the Super Bowl. However, this is the eighth time in nine years that they have failed to make the playoffs. Hopefully, things might change for them soon.
Stay tuned!
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