‘Jets coach Bill Belichick?' Dolphins, Vic Fangio avoid joining dubious ranks | Habib

The owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers famously said he felt he was “jilted at the altar” when Bill Parcells abruptly backed out of an agreement to coach the team, a scene that felt eerily familiar 11 years later when the Bucs’ subsequent owners were finalizing a contract with Parcells before he announced he not only wouldn’t take the job but was done with coaching.

The next year, Parcells was coaching the Dallas Cowboys in a game at Tampa, before which he told reporters, “I don’t have any animosity” over how the Bucs’ talks went nowhere.

Dolphins land legendary Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio to lead unit that underperformed

Vic Fangio to Dolphins still not official and 49ers lost their DC. Should fans be concerned?

If you get worked up over something like that, it probably won’t help your blood pressure to see this: Jets head coach Bill Belichick. Colts head coach Josh McDaniels. Orlando Magic head coach Billy Donovan.

They all sort of ring a bell even though you know they’re not wedding bells. These were coaching gigs thought to be signed and sealed but never delivered. The sports graveyard is littered with examples of engagements that morphed into enragements.

The Dolphins and Vic Fangio, thankfully, aren't joining that list. We think. ESPN reported Thursday that four days after a wide round of initial reports (including in The Post) that Fangio was coming to Miami, Fangio is ... coming to Miami. It's that time between Sunday to Thursday that had folks on edge because there was and still is no announcement by the Dolphins, no photo on social media of Fangio holding a pen, no “Let’s (bleeping) Go!” tweets from Dolphins defenders ready to start practice in 10 minutes.

Since Fangio is a defensive consultant with the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, no announcement is expected until after the Super Bowl on Feb. 12. Fangio's involvement with the Eagles is only about a week old, and once he joined that organization, talks with other clubs were to cease. And no, this won't be a repeat of last year regarding tampering. A source said the NFL is satisfied the rules were adhered to.

Just think of Vic Fangio's possibilities with Dolphins

It’s for good reason that owner Stephen Ross is willing to open his checkbook again and make Fangio the league’s highest-paid defensive coordinator. One look at Fangio’s record proves that. Dolphins fans can now focus on how Fangio can turn Jevon Holland into a Pro Bowl safety. How he can make Christian Wilkins even more dominant. How he can make life miserable for quarterbacks by maximizing edge rushers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb.

The wrinkle had been that the San Francisco 49ers, having just lost coordinator DeMeco Ryans to Houston, where he’ll be head coach, were intrigued with having Fangio running their already outstanding defense. The Denver Broncos also were in line, having already broken the bank to hire Sean Payton. That’s despite the Broncos firing Fangio from the head-coaching job a year ago.

So what if the Fangio-Dolphins marriage had gone south, figuratively and not literally? Fangio would have taken up residence in the attic of the Nick Saban doghouse in the minds of Dolphins fans, that’s what. It’s funny when teams such as the Colts and Bucs hold news conferences where reporters are left interviewing empty chairs. Not so funny when those chairs are yours.

Many Dolphins fans also support the University of Miami Hurricanes. They didn’t seem to mind in December 2018 when Manny Diaz set aside his cheesesteak long enough to inform Temple University he was about to become head coach at UM, 17 days after joining the Owls. Probably not what anyone had in mind when the term two weeks’ notice was coined.

Bobby Petrino takes fast exiting to a new low

If Philly fans, renowned for their forgiving nature, aren’t granting Diaz sainthood, the same is true in Atlanta, where the Falcons once handed Bobby Petrino a $24 million contract. In turn, Petrino gave players a four-sentence note, left in each locker, saying he was vamoosing after just 13 games, 10 of which they lost. Petrino was kind enough to laminate the notes so players could keep them close to their hearts while their ex-coach hustled off to Arkansas.

Speaking of college football, we could list the high school seniors who committed to one college but signed with another, but this is a column, not a set of encyclopedias.

In a grander scheme, our word is one of the few things we truly have in this world, something nobody can take away. Giving your word should mean something. Going back on your word means something, too.

After being left at the altar by McDaniels, the Colts hired Frank Reich, making sure they tweeted a picture of Reich signing the contract to set aside all doubt.

The Dolphins are ready for their Kodak moment.

Now, finally, it seems Vic Fangio is, too.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins, Vic Fangio luckily avoid ranks of ones who got away (we think)