South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Head coach candidates huddle with brass
Allen interviewed; Cowboys’ Richards is the next man up
The Miami Dolphins’ search for a new head coach is making significant progress just days after the firing of Adam Gase.
The Dolphins brass, led by team owner Steve Ross and general manager Chris Grier, met with New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen for nearly four hours Saturday morning in New Orleans.
And the Dolphins plan to interview Dallas Cowboys passing game coordinator/defensive backs Kris Richards on Sunday in Dallas, according to a league source.
Allen, who helped the Saints go 13-3 this season and earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC playoffs, became the third person to interview for the Dolphins job this weekend and the seventh known candidate for the position.
Allen, in his fourth season as defensive coordinator with the Saints, has previous NFL head coaching experience after leading the Raiders to a 8-28 record from 2012-14 before beginning his second stint as an assistant with New Orleans. Allen was a coach on the Saints team that won the Super Bowl in 2009.
The Dolphins will be one of three teams attempting to interview Richard on Sunday, joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets.
Richard is in his first season with the Cowboys after eight seasons as a coach with the Seahawks, where he was a defensive backs coach when Seattle won the Super Bowl in 2013.
Richard will interview after the Cowboys host his former team, the Seahawks, in an NFC wildcard matchup Saturday night in Dallas.
The Dolphins met with New England Patriots defensive play-caller Brian Flores on Friday morning in Foxborough, Mass., and Kansas City Chiefs offen- sive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Friday night in Kansas City.
Miami also intends to interview longtime special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak and Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio for its head coaching job.
The Dolphins are one of eight available coaching openings in the NFL after firing Gase, who went 23-26 overall in three seasons.
The Buccaneers, Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are also interview potential head coaching candidates.