What Dolphins must consider in McDaniel decision. And what makes his ‘skin crawl’
Fifty-four games into this coaching regime, the Dolphins and owner Stephen Ross presumably know what they have in Mike McDaniel:
A player-friendly, quirky, verbose, highly intelligent, kind, decent, perpetually upbeat, devilishly creative offensive mind who is still extracting maximum effort from his roster after a 1-6 start.
But also a coach who has won only half of his games, hasn’t won a playoff game, hasn’t won a sufficient number of games against good teams, isn’t going to strike fear in his players in the stereotypical way and will occasionally make curious decisions, such as the choice to bypass a late go-ahead field goal against Washington.
But there are also questions that cannot be dismissed. Specifically: How much would Miami’s offense be diminished without McDaniel? If the Dolphins don’t want to sustain an 2026 enormous cap hit and cut Tua Tagovailoa, would he play even worse without McDaniel?
This is where any discussion of McDaniel’s future grows complicated as Miami wanders through the wilderness of another disappointing season.
For those advocating McDaniel’s dismissal amid reports that Ross would like to make it work with his coach and is strongly considering keeping him next season…
Anyone can make a reasonable case that the Dolphins (4-7) might benefit from a new voice, or maybe a Mike Vrabel-tough guy approach or a completely fresh start with a new coach and a new general manager, as opposed to just a new GM but the same coach.
Those calling for McDaniel’s ouster also can point out that Miami has dropped from sixth and first in yards per game in McDaniel’s first two seasons to 18th last season and 25th this year (albeit with the big deal of Tyreek Hill being out since Week 4 and Darren Waller playing only four games.)
All those arguments are valid (though the view here is that it’s premature to make any 2026 decision on McDaniel).
But don’t lose sight of this: Moving on from McDaniel would remove the coach perhaps best equipped to maximize Tagovailoa; keep in mind that the Dolphins have no reason to eat Tagovailoa’s contract next spring when he’s already owed $54 million guaranteed for 2026.
Dumping McDaniel also would remove the coach largely responsible for the innovative intricacies of a running game that play to the strengths of De’Von Achane and has overcome a middling offensive line and the quarterback’s limited arm strength.
There were “a lot of really cool run concepts across the NFL [in Week 11], but no one, no one, touched what the Dolphins did,” ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said of Miami’s performance in Spain against Washington 11 days ago.
Credit Achane for his exceptional season; he likely would thrive in any system. But McDaniel’s schemes — including his insertion of Daniel Brunskill as a tight end/sixth offensive lineman before the blowout win in Atlanta — shouldn’t be overlooked.
Achane said Wednesday that this system maximizes his skills: “I line up at running back, receiver. Mike and [offensive coordinator] Frank Smith do a good job.”
Miami is averaging 4.8 yards per carry (eighth best in the league), despite playing nearly all of the season with a struggling rookie left guard and backups at right guard and right tackle.
If McDaniel and the Dolphins part ways, that creativity will leave a void, as Brunskill discussed with two reporters last week. Here’s how McDaniel’s mind makes a difference at times (with credit also due several assistant coaches):
“Mike is very similar to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, where on Fridays we usually have a run game tape [session] and they do a really good job of going in depth of, ‘This is what I’m trying to accomplish this game,’” Brunskill explained this week. “We are going over the runs of the week, and he will show practice and game clips and say, ‘This is what we are trying to do to manipulate this team.’”
Going back to their time together with the 49ers, Brunskill sees the impact that those meetings and McDaniel’s innovative mind can have; the evidence lies in Miami’s offensive tape against Atlanta, Buffalo and Washington.
Brunskill recalled one 49ers game against Carolina, when “Kyle Shanahan built this game plan to mess with Luke Kuechley’s head,” Brunskill said of the former All-Pro linebacker, adding that McDaniel “most definitely” was involved in hatching that plan.
“He had so many different motions…. We blew them out. I wouldn’t say Kuechly played terrible, but we definitely had him thinking where he might have been a step behind. Kyle was like, ‘I am doing this all to make sure Keuchley is going nuts.’ He wanted to get in his head.”
Brunskill sees that imagination from McDaniel, and that’s when this coach can make a tangible difference at times.
“Those things are a huge advantage when we’re on it,” Brunskill said. “A lot of people don’t understand [that].”
But there’s also a cautionary flip side, one that McDaniel must do a better job policing (our words, not Brunskill’s) and players must do a better job performing if the coach returns next season.
The Dolphins have had four illegal formation penalties (third most in the league), and 22 presnap penalties (middle of the pack), and Brunskill said “when we get too crazy into” the creativity and the motions, “sometimes they can become a disadvantage as players if we don’t do a good job during the week to master that, because when we’re out of position, that’s when you get a lot of illegal formations…
“You’ve really got to study that stuff and really be on it. I’m not saying some guys don’t care, but some guys don’t realize how much they have to really dive into all of that.”
Brunskill also implored teammates to come forward if they can’t absorb it and say “’Hey coach, for whatever reason, this is not hitting my brain right.’ As a player, you have to be able to [say] this one is not it….so they can simplify or take it out to make sure we don’t have a bad play for no reason. There are some plays, where on paper, it’s fricking phenomenal [but].. sometimes guys don’t want to say, I can’t do it.”
McDaniel, for his part, said Wednesday “it’s pretty easy for me to tell when someone is not comfortable with something.”
Brunskill said that “lately, Mike has been really emphasizing presnap [things]. We have to be in and out of the huddle better and we have to get to the line so we have time to do all these motions. If we can be 100 percent presnap... it’s huge. That’s where the advantage is.”
All NFL players make mistakes, but the issue is why the Dolphins’ execution of details in this complex system has been too uneven this season. Miami had four pre-snap offensive penalties in the dismal 31-6 loss to Cleveland (by Larry Borom, Achane, Waller and a delay of game). The Dolphins are averaging 4.75 offensive penalties in wins and 6.87 in losses.
McDaniel bares some accountability for that, as any head coach would, and gave a candid answer Wednesday when asked if he has grown more intolerant with those penalties this season. Here was part of that answer:
“One thing I really struggle to tolerate is not learning from something. I can accept something if you gain something out of the failure. When things happen to your detriment and you don’t learn or make something good out of it, that’s when I get triggered. I don’t have tolerance for that. My skin crawls even talking about it.”
And so after that awful Cleveland game, McDaniel essentially asked his team: “Do you want to go to the game to score six points or 30?” Miami has won three of four since.
“In the middle of the season, I was never expecting us not to be on our stuff,” he said. “When you find out the hard way, I combusted a couple times. I’m very blunt about facts.”
If McDaniel returns in 2026, that message needs to resonate with his players in early September, before they dig themselves a hole. McDaniel must figure out how to extract that level of detail earlier in the season.
Brunskill, at his locker, mentioned unprompted that he “took offense to Rex Ryan’s [ESPN] comments” -- which were both unseemly and inappropriate, in our view -- remarks that characterized McDaniel “as this nerdy guy. Rex Ryan’s record wasn’t that much,” Brunskill said, adding that Ryan was riding “on his daddy’s coattails a little bit,” a reference to former legendary defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan.
“Mike might not be the biggest guy or most football looking guy,” Brunskill said. “He’s one of the quirkier dudes I’ve ever met. He’s awkward but hilarious… [But] I’ve been around him a long time,... and he knows how to manipulate [defenses]. He knows football inside and outside. Mike is very under-estimated and is talked about very poorly for what he does bring. He’s an amazing coach.”
And therein lies the conundrum for Ross.
We know, as sources and network insiders have said, that Ross is fond of McDaniel and has faith in him. But a decision on his future must go beyond that, which Ross assuredly knows.
The bigger question seems to be this: Does Ross conclude that he wants to give Tagovailoa another year and this offense needs McDaniel to perform at its best?
That issue, and how the team plays the final five games, should fuel the decision about whether McDaniel returns.
Though McDaniel will remain as coach the remainder of this season, anything could tip that decision in either direction, including Sunday’s game against a woeful Saints team that should, on paper, deliver Miami a fourth win in five games.
Injury report
The Dolphins listed right tackle Austin Jackson (toe), tight end Darren Waller (pectoral injury), cornerback Rasul Douglas (foot/ankle) and defensive tackle Benito Jones (ankle) as questionable for Sunday’s game. All were limited participants in Friday’s practice.
But Douglas said he’s good to go, and McDaniel said he expects Jones will play. McDaniel also said he’s optimistic about Jackson and Waller coming off injured reserve and playing Sunday, pending any setbacks.
The Saints ruled out Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara because of a knee injury.
This story was originally published November 28, 2025 at 3:12 PM.
