Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel on Fangio departure, keeping Danny Crossman
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel on Tuesday spoke for the first time about parting ways with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
While McDaniel didn’t explain much about his thought process behind the decision, he reiterated that it was mutual.
“I’d be lying if I said I was expecting that during the season at all,” McDaniel said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “And I think Vic would feel similarly. What happened was basically, I think it’s important when the season ends for you to remove emotion and evaluate and have very, very good conversation with all people that you’re depending on. With Vic and I, we had extensive conversations that were very healthy. And ultimately, when push came to shove, it seems like we both had the opportunity [and agreed] it’d be best for both parties involved to literally mutually part.”
He added: “So it wasn’t anticipated. It was something that I think was a factor of great communication between him and I where we feel like we’re all best served if we go a different direction, which is something that we had mutual belief and excited for both parties moving forward.”
Despite the Dolphins finishing top-10 in yards allowed for the first time since 2010, Miami and Fangio parted ways after one season. League sources told the Miami Herald that there was player frustration regarding scheme and personnel decisions. Fangio has since been hired as the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator, and the Dolphins hired former Baltimore Ravens assistant Anthony Weaver as their next defensive coordinator.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who coached with Weaver the previous three seasons, called him an “absolute star.”
“He lights up a room,” Harbaugh said. “He fills up a room and lights up a room. And then the way he treats people, the way he responds to problems and problem-solving type of things, the way he coaches the guys, the way he presents, his understanding of defense generally is really good, high, high level. But also his leadership ability, the way he manages players and coaches and works with people. I just think he’s a great leader and he’ll do a great job.”
McDaniel explains keeping Crossman
The Dolphins’ special teams units have ranked among the league’s worst in recent years, but McDaniel continued to show support for the man in charge of the group’s performance.
Miami ranked 22nd and 28th each of the last two seasons in special teams DVOA, an all-encompassing metric, but McDaniel retained Crossman as special teams coordinator. And on Tuesday, he explained the decision behind keeping him.
“I think coach Crossman would agree with the statement that the results aren’t where we want them to be,” McDaniel said. “However, so much of my job’s determining the compounding variables and the why’s to things. The bottom line is picturing us moving forward, how to get to that phase of the football team to find the improvement necessary for us to take steps in our game as a team, [I] determined that he was the appropriate guy to lead us to fix the things that haven’t been up to the standard.”
He added: “You have a window into the true depth of someone’s coaching ability when you’re working alongside him every single day. And part of the process of factoring those things is ultimately how is a coach able to communicate to a player to get him better. And although the results haven’t been there, what I’ve seen is players responding in the appropriate way to things that Danny has to offer. ... Everything’s on the table. What has been established is the communicator, the leader and the guy devoted to getting it right, Danny Crossman felt like held the most merit to coach this unit moving forward.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2024 at 3:31 PM.
