During ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin was at or near the top of Miami's candidates to fill their vacant head coaching position. Philbin, dealing with the loss of his son, is expected to be at Lambeau Field when the Packers host the New York Giants on Sunday. According to NFL Network's Jason La Canfora, the Oakland Raiders also want to interview Philbin for their head coaching position as well.
Where Philbin's future takes him could hold much of the cards with what happens in Miami, if Schefter's report is true. Zimmer impressed Miami's front office enough that they may request a second interview.
Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald inches speculation further that Miami favors Zimmer:
I heard the idea floated Saturday that Zimmer is headed to the Dolphins because he is familiar to Jeff Ireland and he's a good coach and he also had a solid interview in New York last week when he met with the Dolphins.
Miami favored Jeff Fisher, waiting on his decision on whom to coach. Schefter reported that Fisher was even leaning towards the Dolphins "80-20" on Wednesday night.
However, the Dolphins and Fisher could not agree on the structure of the organization, league sources said. Fisher was willing to make some compromises, but the Dolphins wanted Ireland to remain as the No. 1 man in the organization, and ultimately, it helped unseal any potential deal with the Dolphins, according to the sources.
[Note to Bengals fans: You want a new head coach with serious name recongition and this is a great example of why that would never happen with Mike Brown owning the team]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were also granted an interview with Zimmer.