You know, with the heaviest rumors being Dave Wannstedt, I find myself looking more and more at the pro-football rumors. Wanny is a dead man walking in Miami, so the question becomes do the Dolphins fire him a few games early — in December — to get a jump on their coach search and let him get his own head start. Keep in mind, that Wannstedt via Jimmy Johnson is on very good terms with Dolphins owner Wayne Huzinga. Well, what does Pittsburgh native and ESPN columnist Paul Pasquarelli has to say?

In Miami, owner Wayne Huizenga visited the Dolphins complex last week, talked football with Wannstedt, but left no tacit indication of the wholesale housecleaning that is to come. As cited here last week, there is always the possibility Wannstedt will force the issue at some time, and end up departing early, as did Reeves in 2003, if the Dolphins owner tells him he won’t be back for the 2005 season.

Truth be told, such a scenario might be the NFL equivalent of a mercy killing, since Wannstedt is too good a guy to continue suffering through the current mess. Wannstedt is keenly aware that his record could be tarnished by the events of ’04 and might impact his ability to land a job (like at the University of Pittsburgh) in 2005. Don’t discount the possibility that, if Huizenga opens the door, Wannstedt, who has two seasons remaining on his contract, won’t bolt through it.

Like I said, I’m not sure how I would feel about Wannstedt being the Pitt head coach. I’m still sorting that out in my mind. Also in the article, it seems Pasquarelli thinks Butch Davis is on thin ice. He would be a hot commodity back in college if fired. I still doubt he gets the axe this season. He has control over all football decisions. If he’s fired, then whointerviews and hires the next coach? The owner would need to find a GM first. He has to let Davis back for another year.