Miami Dolphins fire head coach Mike McDaniel after four seasons
The Mike McDaniel era is over.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross fired his head coach on Thursday, bringing an end to McDaniel’s four-season stint with the team. With the team coming off the second consecutive season without a playoff appearance and already in search of a general manager, Ross believed now was time to make the change.
“After careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended, I have made the decision that our organization is in need of comprehensive change,” Ross said via statement, later adding “I love Mike and want to thank him for his hard work, commitment, and the energy he brought to our organization. Mike is an incredibly creative football mind whose passion for the game and his players was evident every day.”
The move comes more than two months after former Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and the franchise “mutually agreed” to part ways. McDaniel, meanwhile, will leave the Dolphins with a record of 35-33 and 0-2 in the playoffs. His tenure, although initially filled with charismatic one-liners and some outstanding play design, ultimately ended with the Dolphins’ descent into the doldrums after back-to-back sub-.500 seasons.
“When I took this job, I had a vision of a team that was bonded together and played with passion and energy on the path to winning championships,” McDaniel said via statement. “I gave everything I had for that goal. I am disappointed, especially for the fans, that we did not have better results on the field, but I am grateful for every coach, player, and staff member who poured themselves into that vision alongside me.”
McDaniel arrived with great fanfare. The former offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, the first-time head coach was thought to be the youthful spark to ignite 2020 No. 5 overall pick Tua Tagovailoa. At times, like during the 70-20 drubbing of the Denver Broncos in 2023, the Tagovaila-McDaniel tandem looked unstoppable as the coach complied a record of 20-14 during his first two seasons as the former Alabama standout even made his only Pro Bowl.
The newly minted head coach would then become a media darling as his unique sense of style — more akin to the players than Bill Belichick — became a heavily discussed topic. He even somehow had earned the nickname “McGenius,” an ode to not only his Yale education but his creative offensive mind. That is part of the reason why Ross hired McDaniel.
And initially, it looked like the hire had worked. McDaniel’s first two seasons in Miami corresponded with a high-octane offense and back-to-back playoff berths for the first time since the early 2000s. That achievement put him alongside Don Shula and Dave Wannstedt as the only coaches in franchise history to make the postseason in their first two years.
Everything changed in 2024. Two games into the season and the Dolphins down 31-10 to the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa sustained a concussion. Miami would go 1-3 during Tagovailoa’s four-game stint on injured reserve. His return would yield middling results — the Dolphins went 5-4 but lost key matchups to the Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans — before he once again was injured, this time with a hip.
Signs of Tagovailoa’s regression began to show in 2025. For most of the year, the former franchise quarterback hovered at the top of the interceptions list as the Dolphins limped to a 6-8 record with him under center. Then came the Week 16 benching.
While the Dolphins would end the season 1-2 with rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers at the helm, it could be argued that the sole victory didn’t help the Dolphins as the draft position fell to No. 11. Still, it’s clear that Ross wanted to go for a full reset, something that hasn’t happened in recent years.
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 10:43 AM.
