5 things to know: Miami Dolphins head coach candidate Leslie Frazier

At 62 years old, Bills assistant head coach Leslie Frazier is the oldest of the candidates known to have the attention of the Dolphins.

He’s also a defensive coordinator in a pool dominated by offensive coaches.

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Still, Frazier has long been highly respected around the NFL and enjoyed a successful season with Buffalo, which ended Sunday with an overtime loss to Kansas City in the playoffs.

A closer look at Leslie Frazier:

What draws Dolphins to Frazier?

The Dolphins think Frazier could take a team strength and keep it that way.

With the Bills’ offense operating so well behind coordinator Brian Daboll and quarterback Josh Allen, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Buffalo’s defense led the league in yards (272.8) and points allowed per game (17.0) in the regular season. That’s despite losing All-Pro cornerback Tre’Davious White on Thanksgiving.

In Frazier’s first season as Bills defensive coordinator, the unit ranked 26th in yards and 18th in points allowed.

The defensive rankings since: second, third, 14th and first.

Points allowed: 18th, second, 16th and first.

One bad break, one lucky break

Frazier was a defensive back on the 1985 Chicago Bears team that won the Super Bowl and nearly matched the Dolphins’ perfect season.

He took a unique road to that point.

Because of hamstring problems, Frazier couldn’t run the 40 before the 1981 Draft and wasn't selected. His foot in the door came because the Bears were attracted to, of all people, David Barnes, who was drafted by the New Jersey Nets. Barnes had the same agent as Frazier, so the agent told the Bears if they wanted to work out Barnes, they had to also take a look at Frazier.

Frazier ended up leading the ’85 Bears with six interceptions. Their Super Bowl rout of New England is best remembered for William “The Refrigerator” Perry scoring a touchdown instead of Walter Payton. But it also included a reverse on a punt return run by the Bears while up 20-3. The ball ended up in Frazier’s hands, but as he planted to make a cut upfield, he blew out his left knee.

Medicine today may have gotten Frazier back on the field for the 1986 season. Medicine then didn’t. He never played another down.

Frazier hadn’t even considered going into coaching when the chancellor of Trinity International University near Chicago contacted him, saying he wanted to start a football program.

“He wasn't too interested. He wanted to sell insurance," Kenneth Meyer told The Pioneer Press. "But I kept after him.”

Meyer added, “I had faculty that thought I was nuts. They were very interested in soccer. They didn't want a football team or a pro athlete with no coaching experience. But Les converted them."

Frazier won two conference titles on a field that eventually was named after him.

Frazier has close ties to Dungy

Frazier has had a longtime friendship with mentor Tony Dungy, who hired him as part of his staff with the Colts. In the 2007 season, they celebrated a Super Bowl victory over Frazier’s old team, the Bears, in Miami.

Frazier once explained his coaching philosophy to The St. Paul Pioneer Press. See if you can detect a bit of Dungy — or maybe more than just a bit:

"It reinforced my beliefs, that you could be who you are and do it the way I wanted to do it, as opposed to the other model that the majority of people recognize as a coach — a guy who is a screamer, maybe profane in his language," Frazier said. "That's how you motivate. Well, to do that, I would have had to change my personality, and I wasn't willing to do that.”

Recognizing the Bears’ interest in Frazier, Dungy recently said, “Leslie is special. With his connection to the Bears and knowing that city, the organization and the mentality there, I don't know how you couldn't give him serious consideration. ... Les knows how to galvanize people. He brings players together. And he has always had a good vision for how to get the most out of people."

Dolphins’ interest isn’t a first

Frazier was interviewed by the Dolphins when they were shopping for a coach for the 2008 season, but Bill Parcells, who headed Miami’s football operations at the time, opted for Tony Sparano.

“He was very complimentary and he's not a guy who throws out compliments with leisure," Frazier said of Parcells to The Pioneer Press. "But he told me he felt like I was ready to be a head coach in the National Football League."

Is Frazier a fit this time? It’s no secret the Dolphins have a strong defense but need direction on offense. Dungy, however, warns teams against chasing offensive coordinators simply because they might be able to squeeze more out of a quarterback.

"If a coach knows how to lead the team, he can fix the quarterback," Dungy said via The San Jose Mercury News. "The last I heard, I don't think Bill Belichick is a quarterbacks coach. But he has enjoyed some pretty good play at that position and he knows how to get the most out of his quarterbacks.”

Works well with others

Frazier was head coach of the Vikings from 2011-13, promoted after going 3-3 as interim coach to end the 2010 season.

Some of the reasons Frazier was promoted likely appeal to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who said he fired Brian Flores because the football operation wasn’t running smoothly. The Vikings were high on Frazier’s ability to work with personnel man Rick Spielman, a former Dolphins general manager.

At the time of his promotion, Frazier said, "One of the things that we talked about ... was just making sure that we always communicate as a group regarding our 53-man roster. Just trusting that between myself and Rick that we'll be able to settle on the right 53 for our football team. My confidence is bolstered by the relationship over the last six weeks."

One of Frazier’s principles is keeping things in-house.

"If I have something I need to deal with them about, I'm not going to verbalize that publicly. I'm going to that player directly," he told The Pioneer Press. "And vice versa. I expect them to come to me. I shouldn't have to read about it on a tweet or on Facebook. We're all supposed to be in this together."

Frazier was 21-32-1 as Vikings head coach.

"If you hire me and you say when you interview me that you're going to entrust this to me, you've got to live with the good and the bad," Frazier once told The Minneapolis Star Tribune. "You've got to trust that I'm going to get this right. If you can't do that, I'm not the guy you need to hire."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Leslie Frazier: Miami Dolphins head coach candidate, 5 things to know