The Miami Dolphins target Jacksonville Jaguars DC Anthony Campanile as head-coach search intensifies for a team facing big decisions about quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile is the latest candidate the Miami Dolphins have asked to interview for their head coach vacancy, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday.
The Dolphins fired fourth-year coach Mike McDaniel on Jan. 8, following a 7-10 season and third-place finish in the AFC East. Miami's season was also marked by the benching of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whose $212.4 million extension in 2024 will put the team and next head coach in a bind going forward.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen (center right) hired Anthony Campanile (center left) as the team's defensive coordinator on Jan. 30, 2025, just six days after Coen was hired to replace former coach Doug Pederson. (Travis Register/Imagn Images)Campanile was already on the wish list of candidates the Tennessee Titans planned to interview this offseason for their head coach opening. Among his many previous coaching stops, Campanile spent four seasons in Miami, from 2020-2023, coaching the Dolphins' linebackers.
With more than a quarter of NFL teams searching for their next head coach, it seemed inevitable those teams' owners and general managers would invite the first two coordinators from the Liam Coen coaching tree.
With Mike Tomlin stepping down as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, the number of head coach vacancies in the NFL has reached nine.
Campanile, in his first year in Jacksonville, has turned the Jaguar defense into one of the scariest in the league. The defensive line and edge rushers are the NFL's top-ranked run defense, limiting all their opponents this season to 1,455 yards -- the second-best rushing defense, the AFC's No. 1-seeded Denver Broncos, trailed the Jags with 1,548. (The NFC's top seed in the playoffs, the Seattle Seahawks ranks third behind the Jags and Broncos, with 1,558 total yards allowed.)
The Jaguars' defense also was a takeaway threat this season, ranked second in the NFL, trailing only the Chicago Bears in interceptions and fumble recoveries. Chicago recorded 33 takeaways (23 interceptions), while Jacksonville had 31 (22).
Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile (right) spent 2024 as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers. Campanile previously helped coach the Miami Dolphins, who are looking to interview him for their head-coach vacancy. (Mark Hoffman/Imagn Images)The Jags' pass defense hovered in league rankings in the low 20s for most of the season, and finished 19th, giving up 3,933 yards and 25 touchdown passes (for 17th league-wide). Jacksonville has been without 2025's No. 2 draft pick Travis Hunter since Oct. 11, when the rookie receiver/cornerback tore the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee in practice and was placed on injured reserve for the season.
The Cleveland Browns are among the teams searching for a new head coach, and on Tuesday requested an interview with Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski.
The Browns fired fifth-year coach Kevin Stefanski on Jan. 5 after the team finished last in the AFC North with a 5-12 record.
The Dolphins also have asked to interview Los Angeles Rams DC Chris Shula, grandson of Don Shula, who coached Miami to the NFL's only perfect season in 1973 and to five Super Bowls appearances, two of them wins.
The Dolphins are reportedly also considering Jeff Hafley, currently the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.
The Titans fired coach Brian Callahan on Oct. 13, after the team started 1-5 this season. Callahan's replacement, Mike McCoy, a senior offensive assistant, took over as interim coach. Tennessee finished 3-14, at the bottom of the AFC South.
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