A lot can change in the NFL, as the Miami Dolphins and Mike McDaniel now know as well as anyone in the league. The Dolphins got off to a bad start, and the success McDaniel had in his tenure seemed a lifetime away. The Dolphins fired their GM midseason, but opted to hold McDaniel.
They said at the time that they wanted to see if the players would still play for him down the stretch. It was essentially an audition for next year. The Dolphins responded and improved, even sneaking back into the long-shot playoff conversation briefly.
McDaniel was expected to stay, and he even survived Black Monday. Pete Carroll, Kevin Stefanski, and others did not survive, but McDaniel was safe. Even in the coming days, when John Harbaugh and others got canned, McDaniel stuck around.
Unfortunately, that job security didn’t last much longer. On Thursday morning, the Dolphins decided to go ahead and part ways with the coach, meaning there are now nine head coaching vacancies across the NFL.
What’s next for the Miami Dolphins?
The Miami Dolphins are now one of nine teams fighting for head coaches across the NFL. Unfortunately, it’s not a great year to be looking for a head coach. There’s no Mike Macdonald, Ben Johnson, Mike Vrabel, DeMeco Ryans, or Kellen Moore in this crop of coaches, and there are a lot of teams.
Those teams will all be fighting for Klint Kubiak, John Harbaugh (except the Baltimore Ravens), Kliff Kingsbury, and others. There are some intriguing options, but not enough to go around this cycle, so the Dolphins are not in an ideal spot.
Still, it’s hard to blame them for moving on. McDaniel had some brief success, and the Dolphins were pretty good. They weren’t that good, though, and never really contended for a Super Bowl. McDaniel’s offense briefly revolutionized the NFL, but that faded, too.
As Tua Tagovailoa regressed to the mean and Tyreek Hill got older, the offense McDaniel wanted to run was not nearly as successful. Since that was his bread and butter, his seat warmed quickly. Eventually, it got too hot for the Dolphins to handle.
They’re now going to be looking for a coach and a GM while also figuring out the quarterback position. They have a ton of money tied up in Tagovailoa, but his time is up. It’s going to be a crucial offseason in South Florida.
What’s next for Mike McDaniel?
As mentioned, the NFL is not exactly overflowing with exciting, inspiring options for head coaching jobs this cycle. Because of that, some fired coaches (John Harbaugh, Brian Daboll) could move to new teams without having to move back to a coordinator spot.
It wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if Mike McDaniel did the same. He can run an offense, and he has experience running the whole team. He’s also pretty young, so he has the opportunity to continue evolving. It’s not likely, but he should get some interviews.
The most likely scenario, however, is that he fills a team’s offensive coordinator role. For example, if Klint Kubiak leaves to take a head coaching job, McDaniel could very well take over the Seattle Seahawks offense.
Kliff Kingsbury was let go by the Washington Commanders. They did this before McDaniel was available. They probably, as a result, had their eye on someone else, but that’s a coordinator spot that would make sense, too.
If nothing else, there are going to be position coaching spots available. That would be quite the fall from grace, but that’s what happens sometimes when coaches are let go.
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