Miami Dolphins taking a big risk by not approaching Jim Harbaugh
With the Miami Dolphins suffering through another playoff-less season, it appears that head coach Adam Gase's job could be at risk.
If the Dolphins win their final game of the season, they will finish with an 8-8 record for the season - taking Gase's record to 24-24 across three seasons in Miami.
Should they lose the game, they will finish with a 7-9 record and 23-25 over the past three seasons.
After watching the disappointing 17-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, owner Stephen Ross is expected to make sweeping changes to the team that could see Gase and starting QB Ryan Tannehill potentially depart.
With the future of Gase now up in the air, it is understandable that media attention has turned to who could be the team's first choice to replace him.
Once again, Jim Harbaugh has been linked with the Dolphins' top coaching job - with the team actively targeting him some years earlier to no avail.
However, Ross himself has come out publicly to state that the team would not be targeting Harbaugh this time around.
Harbaugh is currently the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, the university that Ross himself attended.
Ross is understandably making sure his university isn't adversely affected by his search for a new coach, but this is coming at a huge cost to the Dolphins.
Harbaugh is an exceptional coach that has a stunning record in the NFL and would be a real statement of intent from an organisation that has just two playoff appearances in the past decade - include just one AFC East division title.
During his four-year spell with the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh led the team to the NFC Championship Game on three occasions - leading the team to the Super Bowl in 2012, losing out to the Baltimore Ravens in the big game.
The other two times Harbaugh's 49ers made the NFC Championship game, the team lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions - the New York Giants in 2011 and Seattle Seahawks in 2013.
He holds a 44-19-1 record in the regular season, winning two NFC West titles in his first two seasons in charge.
His record speaks for itself and the Dolphins need a head coach that already has a strong pedigree in the game.
Recent coaching hires have seen promising co-ordinators promoted into their first real head coaching job, and it hasn't worked out.
The Dolphins need to target an experienced head coach that has shown he can win - Harbaugh is the perfect fit.
It's unknown if Harbaugh would be interested in returning to the NFL, but not at least broaching the topic with him is a foolish decision that fans will undoubtedly be disappointed by.
