Mike McDaniel entered the 2025 NFL season as the odds-on favorite to be the first head coach fired. Following missing the playoffs for the first time with him as coach, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross echoed his belief in McDaniel as head coach. This now set up an opportunity to turn the page and be motivated to bounce back after a very forgettable 8-9 year.
Instead of sending a message to open the year, the Dolphins looked unprepared, unfocused, and clueless in a humiliating 33-8 loss to the Daniel Jones led Indianapolis Colts. Players were missing assignments on nearly every down, and Miami had no answers in figuring out the Colts defense and stopping their offense.
Given what transpired last season and in the offseason, it’s hard to believe that McDaniel will survive the entirety of the season if results like this continue.
To succeed as a coach, it’s crucial to not only know the X’s and O’s of the game, but to also be a leader of men. McDaniel was touted as one of the best offensive minds in football, but he was never a head coach during his time in the NFL.
As time went on, more talent began to join the team such as Jalen Ramsey. The experiment did not go as planned, and Ramsey was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers after two seasons with Miami. Ramsey spoke about his new chapter in an interview on The Pivot and had an interesting choice of words while describing the transition process.
“Let’s go to a team that’s going to be able to compete. Let’s go to a team where there’s a lot of respect for the head coach.”
In the politest way possible, Ramsey basically stated that he did not respect McDaniel during his time in Miami. That feeling of having a lack of respect seems to still be an issue with current players on the team.
Bradley Chubb made a very alarming comment when asked about what went wrong with the defense in Week 1.
“Trying to make our own thing up and not playing team football.”
Players not being on the same page and trying to think of things on the fly in the first week of the season raises a ton of red flags. This is a team that already had questions about leadership, and Chubb’s comments amplify that point even more.
In his first two seasons in Miami, McDaniel’s offense was top 10 or top 5 in almost every statistical category. The pinpoint accuracy from Tua Tagovailoa combined with motion and speed on the outside with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle on the outside were nearly game breaking. With that being said, eye-popping struggles began to arise in 2024. Former Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard gave insight on how the Colts stifled Miami’s offense and Tagovailoa.
Once we take away his [Tagovailoa’s] first read, I feel like it’s panic mode after that. And it showed yesterday. We took away his first read and he was trying to get rid of the ball real quick.”
With the offensive line not being stout and Tagavailoa’s lack of athleticism, it became easier for defenses to get to spots Tagovailoa likes to throw to and cause disruption. It has gotten so bad, that ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky pointed out it’s been exactly a year Tyreek Hill last had a reception over 30 yards.
This is not to say that Tagovailoa is the reason the offense is being held back, as the games he’s missed the team looks unwatchable. No matter who’s at quarterback, McDaniel’s offense went from must watch to a mess.
Looking at the coaches before McDaniel, Joe Philbin, Brian Flores and Adam Gase did not last more than four seasons. The longest tenured coach from those three was Philbin, who was given a fourth season to attempt to steer the ship right. Following a Week 4 loss against the New York Jets, Philbin was fired on Monday.
The firing is slowly approaching ten years, and just like in 2015, the Dolphins have a Week 4 showdown against Jets. Seeing how the Dolphins just played, it would not be shocking if history repeats itself and McDaniel is fired early into the season.
Tearing the team down is nothing new for Miami, but McDaniel’s tenure with the Dolphins seems to be heading towards a downward spiral. It would be best to pull the plug as early as possible instead of letting the situation potentially become messier than it should be.
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