Mike Tomlin’s resignation threatens to reshape the Dolphins’ head coaching search — but one Steelers outcome could quietly work in Miami’s favor
The Mike Tomlin news could be a major wrench for the Dolphins…or nothing at all.
Welcome to the wildest NFL offseason in recent memory. The league’s regular season ended nine days ago — one day for every NFL franchise that now needs a head coach. It’s pure, unbridled chaos and the Miami Dolphins are firmly in the thick of it. The Dolphins weren’t a part of the early salvo of coaching changes but they did get an early jump on staffing changes when they moved on from former general manager Chris Grier and several other personnel executives mid-season. Mike McDaniel did, eventually, get cut loose. He’s just one of many coaches.
The latest domino to fall brings major chaos. Sure, it was a big deal with the Ravens moved on from former head coach John Harbaugh. But now? The Pittsburgh Steelers have a head coach opening, as well. Mike Tomlin is out in Pittsburgh and the impact on the Dolphins’ coaching vacancy could be massive. Or, alternatively it could have no impact at all if the Steelers opt to go in one direction in particular.
The best case scenario for the Dolphins as another legacy franchise suddenly has a head coaching vacancy
Let’s address the elephant in the room first and foremost. Tomlin stepped down with years remaining on his contract and appears to have hefty offers from media outlets to spend the 2026 season out of coaching. You may hear some murmurs about Miami exploring Tomlin’s availability but it doesn’t appear to be a “right place, right time” intersection with Tomlin’s career path. They’d need to trade assets to Pittsburgh, too. It’s probably not going to happen.
But what is going to happen is the Steelers are going to need to find and hire a new head coach. It could be bad news for Miami, as the stability of an organization that has had three head coaches since the merger five decades ago is, frankly unprecedented. It will surely be viewed as an attractive landing spot as a result.
It could push Miami down the queue in the pecking order of hires. But what if it doesn’t? There’s one connection with a coaching candidate that Miami should be rooting to see Pittsburgh turn to. His name is ‘Brian Flores’.
Current NFL head coaching vacancies
- Miami Dolphins
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Tennessee Titans
- Las Vegas Raiders
- New York Giants
- Atlanta Falcons
- Arizona Cardinals
Flores, after leaving the Dolphins in 2021, spent a season in Pittsburgh as a senior defensive assistant in 2022 under Tomlin before getting the defensive coordinator gig in Minnesota. And there’s one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty — the Miami Dolphins will not be losing out on a preferred head coach candidate if the Steelers pluck Flores off the pile to fill Tomlin’s shoes. That will be a net gain for Miami’s outlook, given just how badly burned the bridges were between the franchise and Flores when he was dismissed from the team and subsequently filed a lawsuit against the organization the following summer.
Pittsburgh filling the ninth opening of the cycle with a coach who would not, under any circumstances, come to Miami is one thing. That same candidate being someone the Dolphins would, absolutely under no circumstances, have zero interest in for their job at the same time makes him the perfect coach to fill the role.
The Steelers’ head coaching search is just getting rolling, as Tomlin informed the team of his decision today. But the rooting path for Pittsburgh is painfully obvious from a Miami Dolphins standpoint. Pick up the phone and call Brian Flores!
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