A second straight season falling short of the playoffs in South Beach has resulted in the Miami Dolphins making a massive change.
The Dolphins are firing head coach Mike McDaniel after four seasons at the helm, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Cameron Wolfe reported Thursday. Miami later announced the news.
On Monday, McDaniel addressed reporters and told them his understanding was he was "the head coach of the Miami Dolphins until told otherwise." Clearly, owner Stephen Ross decided to go in the otherwise direction.
"After careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended, I have made the decision that our organization is in need of comprehensive change. I informed Mike McDaniel this morning that he has been relieved of his duties as head coach," Ross said in a statement. "I love Mike and want to thank him for his hard work, commitment, and the energy he brought to our organization. Mike is an incredibly creative football mind whose passion for the game and his players was evident every day. I wish him and his family the best moving forward."
It's the continuation of a never-ending search for a mainstay on the sidelines; despite McDaniel becoming the first Miami head coach to last four full seasons since Ross became majority owner in 2009, he won't continue beyond that.
McDaniel concludes his time as the Dolphins’ head coach -- one that began so brightly before darkening over the past two years -- with a 35-33 overall record. His tenure saw back-to-back winning seasons and playoff berths in 2022-23. Both postseason appearances led to opening-round exits for Miami, which hasn’t had a playoff win since 2000.
"Coaching this team and being a part of this great franchise has been the honor of a lifetime," McDaniel said in a statement Thursday. "When I took this job, I had a vision of a team that was bonded together and played with passion and energy on the path to winning championships. I gave everything I had for that goal. I am disappointed, especially for the fans, that we did not have better results on the field, but I am grateful for every coach, player, and staff member who poured themselves into that vision alongside me. I'm grateful to Stephen Ross for the opportunity he gave me, a little known coach at the time when he hired me. Most of all I'm thankful to my wife Katie and daughter Ayla for their unending love and support. I love this game, the people and relationships that are a part of it, and I will forever cherish my time in Miami."
With rumblings about the need for a culture change extending back to an underwhelming 8-9 2024 campaign and a disharmonious feeling hanging over the team from training camp through into the season, it’s perhaps not that shocking that McDaniel was sacked. However, after the Dolphins emerged from a disastrous 1-6 start to stay alive in the playoff race through Week 15, it seemed as though McDaniel might get a fifth year. It almost seemed as though it was a certainty after Monday when he informed the media he'd be involved in the search for the team's new general manager.
Amid the early-season slide, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa called into question the team's leadership, particularly players who didn't attend players-only meetings. Though it was perhaps not pointed at McDaniel, it certainly called into scrutiny the overall stewardship and became a multiday storyline for the Dolphins. Tagovailoa was benched roughly two months later, after a Week 15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rookie Quinn Ewers started the final three games.
McDaniel's firing signals the beginning of yet another new era in Miami, as the franchise will have its third full-time head coach this decade in 2026 and its eighth since Dave Wannstedt was fired amid the 2004 season. Wannstedt was the head coach in the aforementioned 2000 campaign when the Dolphins last won in the postseason.
General manager Chris Grier already parted ways with the Dolphins during his 10th season with the club.
Truly, it would appear a massive overhaul could be in the future.
The Dolphins plan to hire a GM, most likely in the next day or two, before conducting their head coaching search, Pelissero reported, per sources. The four finalists for the GM will interview in-person: the Chargers' Chad Alexander, Packers' Jon-Eric Sullivan, 49ers' Josh Williams and interim GM Champ Kelly.
Tagovailoa has struggled over the past two seasons with his play and injuries before he was benched. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill removed himself from the 2024 season finale and suggested he’d like to be traded this offseason. He suffered a gruesome season-ending knee injury in September, and Hill's return to Miami remains in question once he's healthy.
The last two seasons have seen the Dolphins go a combined 15-19, failing to shake off narratives that they lack toughness and can't win on the road, particularly when the weather grows cold. During the aforementioned loss to the Steelers, the Dolphins dropped their 14th straight game played with a temperature below 40 degrees.
An assistant with the San Francisco 49ers from 2017-2021, McDaniel was hired by the Dolphins after one year as the Niners' offensive coordinator.
Succeeding the defensive-minded Brian Flores, McDaniel was brimming with positive energy when he joined Miami, bringing a softer, more optimistic approach. It seemed to be a fine fit, especially with Tagovailoa as the tandem looked to push the Fins forward.
At the start, it worked.
The Dolphins went 9-8 in 2022, finishing sixth in the league in yards and 11th in points on their way to the club’s first playoff berth since 2016.
By Year 2 of the McDaniel experience, the Dolphins were an offensive power, leading the league in yards and finishing second in points scored, the highlight coming in a 70-20 Week 3 obliteration of the Denver Broncos. However, for a second year in a row, the Dolphins were bounced in the first round of the playoffs on the road in frigid conditions -- in 2023 at the Buffalo Bills and in 2024 at the Kansas City Chiefs.
McDaniel’s crew had built a reputation as fair-weather front-runners. When the weather was sunny and the speedy Dolphins got out fast, all was well, but the grind-it-out game when it mattered most was their kryptonite.
During the 2024 season, the operation came apart as the offense fell to 22nd in scoring and Miami went 3-6 on the road.
A young 38-year-old when he was hired by the Dolphins in February of 2022, McDaniel is still just 42, but as of late seemed to age by the day. As the tribulations mounted in Miami, it seemed as though McDaniel’s trademark exuberance drained by the loss.
A branch of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, McDaniel catching on elsewhere during the hiring cycle wouldn’t be surprising at all.
As for the Dolphins, 2026 promises a new-look group, with likely a new QB, and certainly a new GM and head coach.