DC Search Goes to Pittsburgh

Bonus: NFL playing experience, piercing blue eyes.

By JANIE CAMPBELL

Updated 7:56 PM EDT, Wed, Jan 13, 2010

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While Friend-of-Bill Al Groh was reportedly interviewed Wednesday, the Dolphins' search for a Defensive Coordinator to replace freshly fired Paul Pasqualoni has traveled all the way to Pittsburgh.

A Steelers source told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Tony Sparano requested and received permission to speak with linebackers coach Keith Butler, who previously worked with Sparano in Cleveland.

Butler, who spent 10 years in the NFL and remains Seattle's second-leading tackler, has spent seven seasons with the linebackers in the Steelers' 3-4 defense, turning out notables like Joey Porter (okay, the Joey Porter of a few years ago), LaMarr Woodley, James Farrior, and James Harrison.

Think the Dolphins are concerned about their linebacker situation? The news follows the rumor that former Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan will replace outgoing linebackers coaches Jim Reid and George Edwards, who left for college gigs in Virginia and Gainesville, and a year in which Miami severely underperformed at the position -- if Jason Taylor was the most dependable, it says at least as much about his teammates as it does about Taylor. And the oft-maligned safeties led the ILB's in tackles, which says everything else.

The question is, would he come? Butler is the presumed heir apparent to legendary Steelers DC Dicky Lebeau, who's 72, the oldest coordinator in the league, and liable to retire at any moment. It seems unlikely he wouldn't just bide his time -- but then, we have J.Lo, and they have Terrible Towels. For once, it might be an advantage.

Interestingly, it also seemingly signals a shift in terms of what the Dolphins are looking for. When the Parcells regime rolled into Davie, Sparano's handpicked coordinators were both wisened veterans with decades of experience and retirement in sight. Butler is 53, which may not be young young, but shows the Fins are sorting through the up-and-coming assistants for the next great coordinator -- a theory bolstered by the fact that they have yet to offer Groh.

The Dolphins need fresh legs on the field, but fresh ideas on the staff would be nice, too.