No Dolphins head coach candidate will walk into their interview knowing what once made Miami great better than the newest name to enter the chat

The Dolphins requested to interview a Shula for the head coaching job.

Kyle Crabbs — NFL National Writer

Jan 10, 2026 2:02 PM EST

The Miami Dolphins‘ head coaching search has started to go public. Miami first had a pair of veteran head coaches reported to be a part of the search in former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and former Ravens coach John Harbaugh. Then came the news that Miami was sneaking in a buzzer-beating virtual interview with one of the league’s hottest offensive coordinators, Klint Kubiak. Had Miami not secured that interview on Saturday, they would have had to wait at least a week to contact him again.

But if the criteria for a coach includes “familiarity with successful football in South Florida”, you can call off the search. The latest requested candidate for the Dolphins to interview is going to dominate the competition there. Miami has filed a request for Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula — who is the grandson of Don.

Dolphins request interview with Don Shula’s grandson, Chris, for head coaching vacancy

The Shula name is self-explanatory in South Florida. You want to talk about sports greatness, dominance, and the gold standard? “Shula”. Don Shula still holds the NFL’s all-time record for wins, presumably fending off Bill Belichick’s push for the record as Belichick has been vanquished to the college ranks and is a non-factor in this year’s hiring cycle. Good riddance.

And now, generations of football players later, the name “Shula” is back in the conversation in Miami. D0n’s grandson, Chris, has been Sean McVay’s defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. He was born in Miami, played high school football for St. Thomas Aquinas and then played his college football at Miami…of Ohio. There, he was teammates with one “Sean McVay”, the start of a friendship that has grown into a professional arrangement that helps run the Los Angeles Rams.

Chris Shula didn’t take the lazy route to coaching in the NFL. It would have been easy to, too. Instead, he was a grad assistant as Indiana, then the defensive coordinator at John Carroll before getting a call from his position coach from his college playing career to join the Los Angeles Chargers’ staff as an assistant.

That coach who called him to pull him up to the NFL? Current Miami Dolphins special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman.

Shula then joined the Chargers for two seasons before reuniting with McVay as the team’s assistant linebackers coach. He’s incrementally worked his way up the coaching ladder in Los Angeles, successfully securing the defensive coordinator position when Raheem Morris left to take the Atlanta Falcons’ head coaching position. Los Angeles finished the 2025 regular season 10th in scoring defense, 5th in takeaways, 12th in net yards per attempt, and third in red zone defense.

All of this was achieved with a defensive unit that ranked 31st in the NFL in cash spending on defense. Shula’s defense in Los Angeles is littered with players on rookie contracts. It isn’t just high draft picks like EDGE Jared Verse, either. There’s names like Quentin Lake, a home-grown and developed star who was a late-round draft choice in 2022. Those success stories are Shula’s greatest achievement (thus far) with the Rams.

It’s hard to predict what kind of perspective Shula’s connection to the Dolphins will be viewed as when he interviews for the position, never mind if he actually got the job. This won’t be the first time he interviews, however. He was a candidate for the defensive coordinator position that was ultimately filled by Anthony Weaver back in 2024.

One thing you can can bet for certain? No candidate will enter their interview for the head coaching position more prepared to talk about the legacy of this organization or what was required to forge the standard Dolphins fans are accustomed to. Shula saw that up close and in person. So if that’s a part of this calculus, go ahead and slot this candidate to the top of the charts.