As several of his peers were fired on Black Monday, Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel stated that he seemed to be on solid ground.
‘It’s my understanding I’m the coach of the Miami Dolphins until told otherwise,’ McDaniel said Monday, Jan. 5, at a news conference amid a lack of a public statement from owner Stephen Ross.
That dynamic changed by Thursday, Jan. 8.
The Dolphins fired McDaniel, bringing an end to his four-year run leading the franchise. McDaniel finished with a career mark of 35-33 after a 7-10 finish in the 2025 season.
The move comes amid speculation about which team will land former Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who was fired Tuesday and immediately became the hottest candidate on the open market. But ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Dolphins have not contacted Harbaugh or made inquiries into other coaching candidates.
McDaniel, meanwhile, could become a leading offensive coordinator option for several teams if he doesn’t land another head-coaching gig.
“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.“
McDaniel had seemed to be in hot water in the early going, with the Dolphins spiraling to a 1-6 start. After a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9 dropped Miami to 2-7, the team parted ways with general manager Chris Grier but stuck with McDaniel.
Despite dealing top edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the Philadelphia Eagles at the NFL trade deadline, the Dolphins went on a four-game win streak to claw closer to a .500 record. Miami would lose three of its final four games, however, with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa benched for the last three contests.
‘Coaching this team and being a part of this great franchise has been the honor of a lifetime,’ McDaniel said in a statemen. ‘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.’
The Dolphins hired McDaniel in February 2022 despite the then-San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator not having landed any interviews elsewhere for other head-coaching openings. Known for a blunt yet jovial demeanor that included cracking jokes on both the sideline and in news conferences, McDaniel and his laid-back ways drew a sharp contrast with former Dolphins coach Brian Flores, whom Ross fired at the end of his third season at the helm in 2021.
But the defining trait of McDaniel’s early tenure would be speed – and the creativity with which he deployed it. In March 2022, the Dolphins gave up five draft picks to acquire Hill from the Kansas City Chiefs in a trade. As part of the deal, the team made Hill the highest-paid receiver in NFL history at the time with a four-year, $120 million deal. In fielding Hill, Jaylen Waddle and running back Raheem Mostert as weapons for Tagovailoa, the Dolphins quickly established themselves as one of the league’s most dangerous attacks.
McDaniel drew rave reviews for his play-calling acumen, and his innovative ‘cheat motion’ – as publicly coined by 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, under whom McDaniel coached at a number of stops – was widely copied by other teams in 2023. That same season, the Dolphins tied for the second-most points scored in a single game with a 70-20 rout of the Denver Broncos. Miami would finish the season with the No. 1-ranked offense in yards per game at 401.3 per game, but the organization bowed out of the playoffs in a wild-card round loss to the Chiefs.
A tight salary-cap situation prompted the Dolphins to undergo somewhat of a shift the ensuing offseason, when they lost the likes of defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, offensive guard Robert Hunt and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel to other teams in free agency while cutting Howard and several other notable contributors.
Tagovailoa would miss six games in 2024 – four due to an early-season concussion and another two with a late hip injury – as Miami quickly dropped out of contention before putting together a midseason surge.