Friday’s Morning Links:

Dolphins Do A 180 And Keep Sparano: After not succeeding in luring Jim Harbaugh and according to reports Jon Gruden, the Dolphins have apparently decided to stick with Tony Sparano as their head coach. The move is a bit shocking since they completely undercut Sparano’s authority, by openly looking for a new coach, despite never firing him. There will be no hotter coaching seat going into next year than the Miami Dolphins, and barring a strong early showing, I would be shocked if Sparano was still the head coach when the season was over. Miami is likely to bring in a big name offensive coordinator this offseason to give the team a boost. Normally that would be a great thing, but given the current situation that could backfire if Sparano is constantly looking over his shoulder.

Ryan Mallett Enters the Draft: Although this decision has been expected for quite some time, and was reinforced with his strong performance in the Sugar Bowl (numbers would look a lot better if his receivers didn’t drop so many balls), it was made easier with Luck’s decision. While I think Mallett was coming out either way, Andrew Luck returning to school boosted Mallett’s stock a bit. Mallett is first round material with a big strong arm that can make any throw. He still needs to develop in a few areas, such as pocket presence and refining his progressions, but he is talented enough that his name could be off the board in the first 10 picks. Now there are still questions surrounding him, including just how much of a leader he is, but even the worst case scenario would have Mallett falling no later then the mid-2nd round. This was a no-brainer decision for him, and definitely the right call.