Dolphins’ McDaniel involved in GM search, reportedly will return as coach
Mike McDaniel is expected to return for a fifth season as Dolphins coach, the league-owned television network reported Monday afternoon.
And while McDaniel declined to confirm that (and while the team made no announcement, unlike last season), McDaniel said numerous things that would strongly suggest he’s returning. Among them:
McDaniel revealed he would be part of the search for a new general manager.
A coach who isn’t being retained likely would not be included in that process.
“We are in the process of identifying the best [candidates]; all of the candidates will be more than qualified,” he said of the GMs, with three of the six known candidates having worked with McDaniel previously in San Francisco.
“The key is [that the new GM and McDaniel] collectively trust each other to do the job that needs to be done, and we’re all working in one direction,” McDaniel added.
NFL Network said owner Stephen Ross wants to give McDaniel a chance to work with a new quarterback and a new general manager and that Miami will move on from Tua Tagovailoa, who said Monday that he would welcome a fresh start.
McDaniel consistently has declined to say if he has been assured he will return next season.
He said he and Ross spoke on Monday and will again later this week and the team is not where either wants it to be. “We need to improve this team now and set forth a plan to do it,” McDaniel said.
But he didn’t want to say if he has been assured of a return.
“My understanding is I’m the coach of the Dolphins until told otherwise,” he said Monday.
Nevertheless, everything else he said Monday pointed toward a return.
Asked about possible coaching staff changes, he was noncommittal but said “the organization is depending on me to take a hard look at everything.” He says he will “evaluate everything.”
He said he’s determined to do what he can to fix a team that went 7-10.
“We are not happy with the results that are not up to the standard,’ he said. “My sole focus each hour for the next foreseeable many hours is correcting and improving something that’s not good enough.”
He said there are a multitude of ways “I need to better,” and he has worked to be “shorter and crisper to a point and minimizing some of the variables and trimming the fat to certain messages.”
McDaniel made clear that “the season was a failure... I was hired here to return a storied franchise to winning regular season, playoff games and Super Bowls and I haven’t done that.”
McDaniel said there will be competition for the quarterback job and that Quinn Ewers did a “great job” and might be part of that competition.
He will meet with Tagovailoa on Tuesday but has declined to address whether he has a future with the team.
Asked if the Dolphins are headed to a rebuild in 2026, McDaniel said: “I don’t see a complete rebuild. I see a team that needs to make better decisions.. 2026... will be very important to make prudent, educated decisions. We did add a draft class this past season that we were relying upon rookies to execute.”
Is it time to build a team with dominating lines and prioritize brute physicality that over speed and everything else?
“I don’t think we’re done building the lines of scrimmages,” McDaniel said. “That is something we will continue to invest in.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 4:25 PM.
