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Dolphins' Tannenbaum pushed owner to hire Dan Quinn after 2014 season
October 11, 2015 9:04 am ET
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who fired head coach Joe Philbin last week after mulling doing so several times in the past, was insistent that Philbin remain in charge this offseason, which precluded making a switch in the winter. Mike Tannenbaum, who was formally brought in as Miami's vice president of football operations right after the conclusion of the 2014 season, had long championed the hiring of Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, sources said, but any pursuit of him was rendered moot by the owner.
Ross publically supported Philbin during the season with the Dolphins again sputtering and he was adamant about entering the 2015 season with him still in charge, despite the other changes being made around the organization and despite Tannenbaum's strong support of Quinn. Tannenbaum, who was an agent during his time between NFL stints, had Quinn as a client and obviously had to dissolve that relationship once he went from consulting for Ross to actually formally running his football operation.
Tannenbaum spent extensive time with Ross during last season, sources said, including going on road trips, and Tannenbaum's high regard for the coach was widely known throughout the league.
But the Dolphins never once contacted Quinn or made any attempts to hire the man who currently has the Falcons undefeated and one of the most surprising stories of the first quarter of the season. While the Falcons -- who badly wanted Quinn -- were aware of the relationship between Quinn and Tannenbaum, all of their research continued to point to Ross adhering to his edict on retaining Philbin and, while they did have some initial concern about that relationship possibly leading Quinn to Miami, it never manifested.
“We knew Ross could be loyal to a fault,” said one Falcons source, “and we know how highly Tannenbaum thinks of him. But we were pretty confident he was not going to Miami based on everything we heard, even with that strong connection between agent and coach.”
Hey, Ross! Please sell the team! This story is out now but keeping Tannehunbaum and allowing him to hire Magini will prove one thing, you are NOT a Miami Dolphins fan! I will burn every Dolphins item I own if Mangini is hired because I refuse to support the Ross owned Miami Jets!
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