By some of the logic people have here in this thread the Fins should have never hired Shula back in the day. I mean just go find an unproven guy it works better according to some. Why hire another proven head coach. Look for someone young and hungry.
Silly logic!
It's not silly logic at all. There are merits to both theories, it's just a matter of personal preference. It's just that in the current NFL there has been well documented successes in hiring first time coaches that were their former team's coordinators from other NFL squads over established coaches from the collegiate or NFL level. No it didn't work out with Sparano, but then again it is more likely he was hired because of his connection to Parcells than for his actual head coaching ability. Plus he was not a coordinator, he was an offensive line coach. There had to be better head coaching candidates than Sparano.
Examples of what I'm talking about: Sean Peyton, Mike Smith, Mike McCarthy, Mike Tomlin
I'm not saying that a Gruden or a Cowher couldn't do the job. I just think we've been down both those roads and didn't hire the right guys (Johnson, Wanny, Cameron, Saban, Sparano). I want a proper coaching search that gets us the best candidate, not some savior in over his head (Cameron, Saban) or an old coach no longer hungry (Johnson) or complete ineptness (Wanny, Sparano). I'm not prepared to anoint anyone as the next head coach, Gruden or otherwise. No matter what the Miami Dolphins Wikipedia site says (for some reason it currently says Bill Cowher is our head coach).