Miami Dolphins Oust Mike McDaniel After Four Tumultuous Seasons, Launching Full-Scale Reset
The Miami Dolphins have fired head coach Mike McDaniel after four seasons, ending a once-promising partnership that produced explosive offense, fleeting playoff appearances and, ultimately, back-to-back losing campaigns that convinced ownership a sweeping reset was unavoidable.[1][2][6][7]
Decision Comes After Second Straight Losing Season
The Dolphins announced the move Thursday morning, days after completing a 7–10 season that left them out of the postseason for a second consecutive year and cemented a sharp fall from the heights of 2023.[1][2][6][7] Miami opened 2025 with seven losses in its first nine games before a brief midseason surge gave way to another late collapse, sealing the franchise’s second straight sub-.500 finish.[7]
Owner Stephen Ross met with McDaniel earlier in the week to review the state of the team, its direction and the fallout from an uneven season marked by injuries, inconsistency and a mid-December quarterback change.[1][6][7] Following those discussions, Ross determined that incremental adjustments would not be enough.
According to team and league reports, Ross viewed the 2025 campaign as a test of whether McDaniel’s innovative offense and collaborative approach could still anchor a winner amid roster turnover, cap strain and instability at quarterback.[1][6][7] A second straight losing year, combined with the earlier dismissal of longtime general manager Chris Grier, tipped the organization toward what amounts to a full reboot.[7]
From Breakthrough Innovator to Benchmarked Coach
McDaniel, 42, was hired in 2022 after a five-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers, where he served as run game coordinator and later offensive coordinator in Kyle Shanahan’s system.[1][6] A first-time head coach, he was brought in specifically to modernize Miami’s offense and revive former first-round quarterback Tua Tagovailoa following two uneven seasons.[1][6]
The early returns were dramatic. In 2022, Tagovailoa thrived in McDaniel’s motion-heavy, quick-hitting scheme, leading the NFL in yards per attempt and touchdown percentage while piloting a top-six offense that carried Miami back to the playoffs.[6] The Dolphins’ attack, anchored by speed stars like Tyreek Hill, finished sixth in total offense that year, a leap from 25th the season before McDaniel’s arrival.[6]
The offense reached another level in 2023, ranking first in yards and second in points as Tagovailoa played his only full season under McDaniel and Hill led the league with 1,799 receiving yards.[6] Miami won 11 games and returned to the postseason before bowing out in the Wild Card round amid freezing conditions in Kansas City.[6] At that point, McDaniel was widely regarded as one of the league’s brightest offensive minds and a face of its new wave of coaches.
Injuries, Regression and a Franchise-Wide Slide
The trajectory turned sharply in 2024. Tagovailoa suffered another concussion and appeared in just 11 games as the Dolphins slumped to an 8–9 finish, missing the playoffs and raising questions about both roster construction and the long-term viability of the offense without peak quarterback play.[6]
Those questions only intensified in 2025. Miami started 2–7 and lost Hill in Week 4 to a dislocated knee, stripping the scheme of its most dynamic weapon.[7] The Dolphins briefly rallied behind a rejuvenated rushing attack to climb to 6–7, but a Monday night loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers exposed deeper issues and triggered the most controversial decision of McDaniel’s tenure.[6][7]
Following that defeat, McDaniel benched Tagovailoa and turned to seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers with the team effectively out of playoff contention.[6][7] The move underscored how far the franchise had drifted from its earlier optimism around Tagovailoa, while also spotlighting internal uncertainty over Miami’s long-term plan at quarterback.[6][7]
Even as the Dolphins flirted with a late-season run, they dropped their final two games, locking in a 7–10 record and leaving little on-field evidence to support staying the course with the existing leadership structure.[7]
Ross Clears the Decks After Moving On From Grier
McDaniel’s ouster completes a sweeping reshaping of Miami’s power structure that began when Ross parted ways with general manager Chris Grier in late October, amid the team’s 2–7 start and growing frustration over cap constraints and depth issues across the roster.[7]
By firing both Grier and McDaniel within the span of a season, Ross has effectively signaled that Miami will enter 2026 with a new leadership tandem tasked with simultaneously retooling the roster and solving the quarterback question that has defined the franchise for much of the past decade.[6][7]
League analysts note that Miami’s cap situation, an aging and expensive core in key spots, and uncertainty at quarterback make the job both challenging and intriguing: the Dolphins have top-end talent when healthy, but limited flexibility and no clear long-term answer under center.[6][7]
Quarterback Future in Focus After Tagovailoa Bench
The firing also throws the spotlight back on Tagovailoa’s future in Miami. The former No. 5 overall pick, once the centerpiece of the franchise’s rebuild, now faces a deeply unclear path with the organization after being benched down the stretch.[6][7]
ESPN and other outlets have reported that Tagovailoa’s contract situation will become a major flashpoint this offseason, with his deal carrying a massive cap hit in 2026 and making any move financially complex.[1][7] While Tagovailoa has previously expressed openness to a fresh start elsewhere, Miami would incur significant dead money by cutting ties, particularly before June 1, complicating any swift resolution.[1][7]
For the Dolphins’ next head coach and general manager, the first major decision will be whether to attempt another reset with Tagovailoa, fully pivot to a young passer such as Ewers, or pursue a veteran option in a crowded quarterback market.[6][7]
McDaniel’s Legacy in Miami: Innovation Without Sustained Results
McDaniel closes his Dolphins tenure with an overall record around .500, including two playoff berths but no postseason victories and two straight losing seasons to end his run.[2][6][7] His Miami offenses regularly ranked among the league’s most creative and explosive when healthy, reshaping how teams deploy motion and speed at the line of scrimmage.[6]
Yet the combination of defensive inconsistency, late-season fades, injuries to cornerstone players and the inability to stabilize the quarterback situation ultimately overshadowed those innovations.[6][7] Within league circles, McDaniel is still expected to be a sought-after offensive coordinator or head-coaching candidate, given his track record of developing quarterbacks and crafting high-efficiency passing games.[6][7]
Another High-Profile NFL Vacancy Emerges
Miami’s move adds another marquee opening to a growing list of NFL head-coaching vacancies this offseason, instantly making South Florida a focal point of the hiring cycle.[2][6][9] The job offers warm-weather appeal, a major media market and a roster that, when healthy, can compete, but also demands immediate results and navigation of a complicated cap and quarterback puzzle.[6][7][9]
As Ross and the Dolphins begin their search, the franchise will be looking for its fourth head coach since 2018, underscoring a decade-long hunt for stability that has spanned multiple front offices and quarterbacks without producing a sustained contender.[7][9]
For McDaniel, the end in Miami closes a compelling chapter that began with bold offensive ideas and a rejuvenated quarterback and ended with a benching, a slide down the standings and a franchise deciding, once again, that it must start over.