One the well-circulated names during the NFL’s coaching carousel phase has been Cowboys Defensive Backs Coach Kris Richard. But now that the openings have almost all filled up, Richard’s exit from Dallas appears far less likely than it did just a week ago.
Most of the NFL teams looking for new coaches have already found their men. We’re done now to just the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins, and Richard has thus far only been linked to Miami.
One NFL analyst believes that Richard will be the Dolphins head coach when all is said and done:
NOTHING concrete, but NFL folks I've spoken with this am believe Kris Richard will land the @MiamiDolphins HC job. We'll see soon enough.
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) January 9, 2019
But that’s just one man’s take. Adam Beasley, who covers the Dolphins for the Miami Herald, has reported that Patriots’ LB Coach Brian Flores is the front-runner for the Miami head coaching job.
There was also talk a week ago that Rex Ryan might be trying to get the Dolphins job, but there’s been no indication of interest on Miami’s part.
With both the Cowboys and Patriots still in the playoffs, the Dolphins may be waiting to announce their move until they can talk more to both Richard and Flores.
However, when it comes to Kris Richard, they may not be able to compete with one of the best businessmen in the world.
Jerry Jones has already stated that he will aggressively pursue keeping Richard in Dallas. And we can already imagine a few ways he’ll do that.
For one, Richard would likely be given the title of Defensive Coordinator next season. Rod Marinelli could be retiring anyway, turning 70 in July. But even if he stays on, it would probably in an advisory role while Kris gets the DC title.
This year, Richard has already assumed much of the coordinator’s role from Marinelli. The two seem to have a great working relationship, an Rod has stated he will do what he can to help Dallas keep Richard on staff.
Also, remember that there is no salary cap for coaches. Jerry can pay Richard anything to stick around, and he appears ready to do so. Dallas has often had some of the league’s highest-paid assistant coaches.
If you don’t think Jerry can do it, just look at Will McClay. We should have lost McClay to another team by now, with his name being in the discussion for general manager openings several times.
But Jones has been able to find ways to keep Will happy, even without the title. He can do the same with Kris Richard.
Ultimately, getting to run his own team may be what’s most important to Richard. If so, that may trump anything Jerry Jones, Rod Marinelli, or Jason Garrett are willing to come up with to keep him around.
But not many landing spots left, and Miami having an ugly history lately with ownership and management’s handling of the team, Kris may opt to take Jerry’s deal and at least wait one more year for better options.
