By ALANIS THAMES
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins fired coach Mike McDaniel on Thursday following a 7-10 season in which Miami missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
The decision ends McDaniel’s four-year tenure in Miami, a period defined by soaring expectations that ultimately went unfulfilled.
“After careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended, I have made the decision that our organization is in need of comprehensive change,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said in a statement Thursday morning. “I informed Mike McDaniel this morning that he has been relieved of his duties as head coach.”
The Dolphins went 35-33 under McDaniel, reaching the playoffs in his first two seasons but losing in the first round each time. Miami missed the postseason in 2024 after being eliminated by the Jets in the regular-season finale. This year, their postseason hopes ended with a loss to Pittsburgh in Week 15, ensuring that their 25-year playoff-win drought — the longest streak in the NFL — would continue.
Miami parted ways with longtime general manager Chris Grier on Oct. 31 and began its search for a new general manager this week. But a disjointed finish to the season that saw former first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa benched proved the final straw for Ross, who decided to move on from McDaniel, the quirky, dry-witted wunderkind head coach once viewed as the franchise’s future.
“I love Mike and want to thank him for his hard work, commitment, and the energy he brought to our organization,” Ross said in Thursday’s statement. “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, 42, arrived in Miami in 2022 after one season as San Francisco’s offensive coordinator. Credited with adding inventive wrinkles to the 49ers’ run game, the first-time head coach was billed as the creative mind who, along with Tagovailoa, was supposed to lift the Dolphins out of years of mediocrity.
Initially, things appeared to be heading that way.
McDaniel won 20 of his first 33 games, including a 3-0 start during his first year with wins over Baltimore, Buffalo and New England. He took the Dolphins to the playoffs that season and nearly beat the Bills with rookie Skylar Thompson starting in place of the concussed Tagovailoa.
His off-the-cuff jokes, idiosyncratic sayings and flashy style were a refreshing deviation from the approach of many other head coaches — but they were also initially met with needed results on the field.
Tagovailoa had credited McDaniel with rebuilding his confidence after former Dolphins coach Brian Flores tore it down as a young quarterback. Tagovailoa said last year that the constant criticism early in his career left him doubting himself. He was the fifth pick in the 2020 draft and won the starting job, but was benched twice as a rookie and faced uncertainty his second year amid speculation the Dolphins were seeking a trade for Deshaun Watson.
“To put it in simplest terms,” Tagovailoa said in a 2024 interview on “The Dan LeBatard Show,” if you woke up every morning and I told you you suck at what you did, that you don’t belong doing what you do, that you shouldn’t be here, that this guy should be here, that you haven’t earned this right. … And then you have somebody else come in and tell you, ‘Dude, you are the best fit for us, you are accurate, you are the best.’ How would it make you feel listening to one or the other?”
With McDaniel tailoring Miami’s offense to his strengths, Tagovailoa led the NFL’s top offense in 2023, throwing for a league-best 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns. He led the league in 2024 with a 72.9 completion rate.
Related Articles
Kurtenbach: The 49ers have a Sun Devil of a problem going into the playoffs Ex-NFL player Jordan Shipley in critical condition after ranch fire 49ers’ rookie defenders Stout, Collins are big factors in playoff debuts 49ers’ Bryce Huff has put negative Philadelphia experience behind him 49ers’ linebacker legacy falls to Kendricks, others for wild-card openerSince that season, which ended in a 26-7 loss in a frigid wild-card game at Kansas City, the Dolphins have gone 15-19, and appear far from the franchise that just a couple of years ago spoke of contending for a Super Bowl.
They haven’t won a playoff game since 2000, the longest active drought in the NFL. And they have made headlines more for culture issues in the past year than on-field success.
Tyreek Hill, the star receiver whom the Dolphins acquired from the Chiefs in 2022, took himself out of last year’s regular-season finale and later told reporters, “I’m out,” expressing frustration with not making the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Hill — who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 4 — later apologized, walked back those comments and stated his commitment to the Dolphins. But his actions seemed to reflect behind-the-scenes culture issues with the Dolphins in 2024, which included instances of players repeatedly showing up late to meetings.
McDaniel, Grier and veteran players said during the offseason that many of those issues had been addressed, and they commended the new team camaraderie that they hoped would help them get off to a fast start in 2025.
The Dolphins opened the season with a 33-8 drubbing by Indianapolis and ended it with another blowout loss to New England.
“Eventually, like everybody else in this league, you’re not entitled to this position,” McDaniel said Monday. “If I’m not able to win regular-season games, playoff games and Super Bowls, eventually the job won’t be mine.”
Hence then, the article about dolphins fire coach mike mcdaniel the inventive former 49ers coordinator was published today ( ) and is available on mercury news ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Dolphins fire coach Mike McDaniel, the inventive former 49ers coordinator )
Also on site :