Reports: Dolphins request to interview Cardinals’ Vance Joseph for HC opening

The Miami Dolphins have put in a request to interview Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph for their vacant head coaching job, according to The Monday Morning Quarterback’s Albert Breer and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The Dolphins fired head coach Brian Flores on Monday. Flores posted a 24-25 record in his three seasons coaching Miami.

Joseph, 49, is expected to be a busy man with interviews. The Cardinals’ defensive coordinator since 2019 joined Arizona after his first stint as an NFL head coach with the Denver Broncos for two years, going 12-21 with Denver.

Arizona’s defense has seen major improvement under Joseph, finishing 11th and 12th in opposing points per game the last two seasons after being 28th in Joseph’s first year and not cracking the top-half of those rankings since 2016.

Joseph has had the Cardinals top-10 in opposing passing yards per game in each of the previous two years, including a seventh-best 214.4 yards allowed per game for 2021. His background as a defensive backs coach would be a great match with Miami’s lone Pro Bowler this year, cornerback Xavien Howard.

Howard, actually, played under Joseph his rookie season when Joseph was Miami’s defensive coordinator in 2016.

Joseph first started coaching in the NFL in 2005 as an assistant defensive backs coach with the San Francisco 49ers. He was promoted to the lead defensive backs coach the next year, holding that position for five seasons. From there he went on to coach DBs with the Houston Texans for three seasons and two more years for the Cincinnati Bengals before spending that year as Miami’s DC.

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