Will Dolphins look at ex-Ravens coach John Harbaugh; Weaver interviewed elsewhere
The entire 2026 NFL coaching cycle has just been upended.
Longtime Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh is officially out of a job after the two sides parted ways Tuesday evening.
Harbaugh instantly becomes the top coaching candidate following 18 seasons with the Ravens. During that span, he has posted a 180-113 record and won 13 postseason games. Most importantly, he won a Super Bowl.
Although Mike McDaniel still remains coach of the Dolphins, it will be difficult for owner Stephen Ross to not consider Harbaugh. Not only do the two both have connections to the University of Michigan, where Ross attended and Harbaugh’s father was a longtime coach, the recently fired coach has a proven track record of winning, something that the Dolphins desperately need.
Dolphins DC gets head coach interviews
Anthony Weaver has once again emerged as a potential head coach candidate in the 2026 hiring cycle.
The Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and, most recently, Baltimore Ravens reached out to the Miami Dolphins with interview requests for the defensive coordinator. Weaver, of course, spent the first four years of his playing career as well as the three previous seasons (2021-23) with the Ravens before joining the Dolphins.
This comes roughly a year after the success of Weaver’s unit during the 2025 season led to interviews with the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears for their head coach openings.
Although his unit did not perform particularly well in 2026, ranking 22nd in total defense, 24th in points against and 17th on third down, anyone that has interacted with Weaver knows that his presence screams head coach. Besides, there were issues beyond his control — for example, the late signing of star cornerback Rasul Douglas just two weeks before the start of the season or the bounty relinquished to jump up in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft to select guard Jonah Savaiinaea— that sort of handicapped the chemistry of the defense. Throw in the three rookie defensive tackles that the team relied heavily on, and it’s no wonder why the defense struggled initially.
“I think whatever we assemble as a group defensively, we need an opportunity to grow earlier,” Weaver told reporters on Tuesday. “We need these people to be brought together earlier than they were. A lot of the guys that we ended up playing with either got here at the start of training camp, were kind of hurt in training camp, missed some camp, so a lot of the growth we were trying to do as a defense occurred early in the season. When you combine that with the youth movement we were trying to make, that’s what’s going to happen early. I think eventually it started to click for all of them in terms of what the expectation and what we were trying to get done, but we need to start to get that ball rolling earlier than August.”
One more GM candidate
The Dolphins reached out the Los Angeles Chargers to interview assistant general manager Chad Alexander, according to multiple reports
Alexander will be the eighth candidate in competition for the Dolphins’ open GM role. He spent 20 years working in personnel with the Baltimore Ravens and then five years as the Jets’ player personnel director before joining Los Angeles in May 2024.
“Alexander’s scouting acumen was known a decade ago in Baltimore, where he was hidden under a deep roster of Ravens scouts,” SI.com’s Albert Breer wrote in early 2025.
The other candidates include Philadelphia Eagles assistant GM Alec Halaby, San Francisco 49ers VP of Player Personnel Tariq Ahmad, 49ers assistant general manager RJ Gillen, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, Los Angeles Rams assistant GM John McKay, Green Bay Packers VP of Player Personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan and Dolphins interim GM Champ Kelly.
Futures contracts
The Dolphins signed six players to reserve/ future contracts.
Wide receiver AJ Henning, defensive tackle Alex Huntley, linebacker Derrick McLendon, linebacker K.C. Ossai, offensive lineman Josh Priebe and offensive lineman Kion Smith will remain in the aqua and orange through the 2026 season.
Of the six, four — Henning, Huntley, Ossai and Priebe — just wrapped up their rookie season on the practice squad. McLendon has spent the last two seasons on the practice squad prior to making his Dolphins debut during the season finale against the New England Patriots. Smith has gotten the most playing time, having appeared in 23 games and started two more with the Dolphins.
This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 5:53 PM.
