*** DOLPHINS NEWS ***

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Feb 12, 1996: -- Hudson Houck to stay in Dallas --

The NFL has denied the Dolphins' request to talk to Dallas offensive line coach Hudson Houck about coming to Miami as the new Dolphins' offensive line coach.

Dallas "promoted" Houck to be their Assistant Head Coach and Staff Supervisor in order to keep the Dolphins from talking to him about moving to Miami. The Dolphins were going to offer Houck a similar position in Miami.

NFL rules require that if a team wants to hire a coach away from another team, they must offer that coach a promotion. In Miami's case, the promotion would have been to be the Assistant Head Coach.

However, NFL rules also state that a team must have a "compelling" reason to promote a coach to the role of Staff Supervisor. Keeping another team from talking to a specific coach is not supposed to be considered a "compelling" reason.

My Comments:

Once again, the NFL allows Dallas to play fast and loose with the rules. First Deion, now this.

It should be clear to anyone with half a brain (and Paul Tagliabue), that Dallas designated Houck to be the "Staff Supervisor" just to keep Miami from talking to him. This is supposed to be illegal, which is why Miami appealed to the NFL when Dallas refused to let Miami talk to Houck.

Houck, for his part, is wisely keeping his opinion to himself.