Fins Finish Interviewing Jeff Fisher
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – When Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross talked about his next head coach; he said he wanted a big name coach ready to take the team to the next level.
Unfortunately for Dolphins fans, the biggest name coaches, Bill Cowher and Jon Gruden, have taken a look at the Fins and said no thanks.
That leaves former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher as the biggest fish in the sea and one that will cost a team a lot of money to hire.
The Fins interviewed Fisher Tuesday, which will be Fisher's first interview with any team.
The team wasted no expense by flying Fisher into the team's facility in Davie on owner Stephen Ross' private helicopter.
Perhaps as an omen of things to come, Stephen Ross' friend Carl Peterson was involved in Fisher's interview.
That could spell trouble on two fronts.
First, Fisher may not be receptive to an environment where Peterson's power could come by undercutting Ireland, even if it's in an indirect manner.
The Fins had the same problem during their last head coaching search when Ireland undercut Tony Sparano when he went to interview Jim Harbaugh.
Second, if Peterson is involved in the interviewing process, it could give credence to a report from NFL.com on Monday.
According to NFL.com's Jason LaCanfora, several general managers believe Peterson will eventually be calling the shots in Miami and that Ireland could be fired at some point.
According to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald, Fisher left sometime after lunch.
The 54-year-old former coach has been to the Super Bowl in 1999 and won at least 10 games six times in his coaching career in Tennessee.
For his career, Fisher is 142-120 as a head coach. He won one AFC Championship and won the AFC South four times during his tenure in Tennessee.
Fisher's teams were typically tough, ran the football well, and played good defense.
The former coach also oversaw the development of Steve McNair from a raw athletic quarterback in college to a Super Bowl starting quarterback in the NFL.
For the Fins, they will have to blow Fisher away with an offer in order to secure his services.
He's rumored to be high on the St. Louis Rams job where the team has a franchise quarterback and several other pieces in place to start rebuilding the once proud franchise.
In addition, the Rams' chief operating officer Kevin Demoff is the son of Fisher's long-time agent Marvin Demoff.
