Miami Dolphins Make It Official: Tony Sparano To Fulfill Final Year Of Contract

Jim Harbaugh to the Dolphins will now rank up there with Jon Gruden to the Hurricanes as one of those "done deals" that never actually come to fruition.

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, the Dolphins have decided to retain head coach Tony Sparano for what could be the final season of his contract.

Ross met with Harbaugh early on Thursday and tried to persuade Harbaugh to take the job as Dolphins head coach and even accompany him on his private jet to introduce him at a press conference as early as Friday.

This, however, would've violated the league's Rooney Rule, since no minority candidates were interviewed during the process.

Ross even met with Harbaugh's agent, David Dunn, in Southern California on Thursday evening while he was in the area to tend to an unrelated business commitment.

Despite the media firestorm surrounding the team with Ross meeting with Harbaugh, Sparano has been working the whole week at the team's facility in Davie, Florida. 

Sparano even encountered a swarm of media on Thursday afternoon when taking a walk and commented to them: "You guys need to find a better hobby." 

One factor that might have helped save Sparano's job with the Dolphins was the resignation of the much maligned offensive coordinator Dan Henning earlier Thursday.

With Sparano returning the Dolphins will now turn their attention to finding Henning's replacement at offensive coordinator; one possible contender for the job is former Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels.

Now for Sparano, he knows that he has this year to get the Dolphins back into the postseason or he's history.

There is a fear I have of the bottom completely dropping for the Dolphins this season, but maybe (and hopefully) with a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback, Sparano will be much more motivated than ever and things will change in Miami.

We can only hope, Dolfans.

Thomas Galicia is a Miami Dolphins Featured Columnist on Bleacher Report. For more of his opinions in bite sized morsels, follow him on twitter, @thomasgalicia. Check out more of his writing on www.thomasgalicia.com