Dolphins hire defensive backs coach as team mulls multiple personnel decisions in secondary
The Miami Dolphins are hiring Curt Kuntz as a defensive backs coach, a club source told The Miami Herald on Monday.
Kuntz, who has spent the past seven years as the head coach at Struthers High School in Ohio, has never coached on the NFL level before but is expected to begin work with the Dolphins next week.
Kuntz resigned his job as the coach at Struthers on Monday afternoon.
The Herald first reported Miami’s interest in Kuntz on Monday morning.
Kuntz is expected to help coach the defensive backfield with Josh Boyer, Miami’s cornerbacks coach and the defense’s passing game coordinator.
The move has been in the works for some time, according to another source. Kuntz, that source said, visited with Dolphins head coach Brian Flores and others within the organization in December before the team played the Cincinnati Bengals.
Safeties coach Tony Oden was fired by Flores on December 29, the day after the regular-season finale at New England. Flores has given no explanation for Oden’s firing.
The Dolphins, it should be noted, could undergo significant turnover in the secondary and particularly at safety in 2020.
The club is seriously considering moving on from veteran safety Reshad Jones in 2020. Cutting Jones, who was limited to four games before being placed on injured reserve last season, is under contract for 2020, but the team could save over $9 million in salary cap space by designating Jones a post-June 1 cut.
The club must also decide if Bobby McCain, a cornerback throughout his career until being moved to free safety in 2019, should remain on the back end or would help the team more playing the slot corner spot he’s played in the past.
The Dolphins also fired offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea and are replacing him with longtime NFL and college coach Chan Gailey, according to multiple sources.
The club also must fill its offensive line coach vacancy created when the club and former coach Dave DeGuglielmo parted ways after the season.
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 12:00 AM.
