Dolphins request permission to interview Matt Patricia, Josh McDaniels

The Miami Dolphins have asked the New England Patriots for permission to interview coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia for their vacant head coaching position, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss.

The Cleveland Browns also requested permission to speak with Patricia for their head coaching vacancy.

It's quite the showing of respect for Patricia, as he's never been interviewed for potential head coaching vacancies before. The 41-year-old has earned his keep as New England's D-Coordinator since 2012, with the last two seasons really fluffing up his cache around the league. Back-to-back seasons of operating a top 10 defense and a Super Bowl ring will certainly do that.

With the Browns again pushing the reset button on their franchise, they (again) have visions of Patricia bringing over some of that Bill Belichick magic to their desperate franchise. The previous hirings of Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini didn't exactly work out.

Patricia probably isn't quite ready yet to undertake his own operation abroad, so these interviews could be a way on his part to dip his toes into the water for an opportunity maybe another year or two down the road. There's a much better chance of McDaniels bolting to become a head coach again, but it isn't likely to come in Miami. That team is in some serious disarray, and for an offensive mind such as McDaniels, Ryan Tannehill likely isn't the quarterback he'd want to tie himself to.

Or, perhaps McDaniels looks at Miami's situation and believes that he can turn the former first-round pick into a better QB than he's shown in the last two years.

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