There isn’t a long history of special teams coaches making the leap to head coach, but that isn’t stopping the Dolphins from taking a look at one.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Dolphins have asked the Bears for permission to interview their special teams coach Dave Toub. Toub’s contract expired at the end of the season, but the Dolphins needed to ask permission because the Bears have a 15-day window of exclusive negotiating rights.
Bears coach Lovie Smith sounds like he wants to use every one of those days to convince Toub to stick around, although he acknowledges that he can’t offer anything like the chance to run an NFL team.
“Dave has been here every day that I’ve been here,” Smith said. “So, I think it’s pretty safe to say that I kind of like what he does and he likes it around here. But in the same sense I know that Dave has goals too that he would like to get accomplished. And every coach on our staff, especially coaches who have been on the staff for eight years, you would like to see them take another step. I know one of the things Dave would like to do is someday be a head football coach and hopefully he has that opportunity some day.”
Toub’s special teams units are routinely rated among the best in football. Devin Hester has had a lot to do with that, but Toub’s shown some inventiveness through the years so it hasn’t just been a case of having the best returner in history falling into the coach’s lap.
