Dolphins fire Mike McDaniel

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lTjiqUttpis

She is hilarious. 

[CF DolFan]

It was reported by Joe Schad that the Dolphins hadn't reached out to Harbaugh as of last night.

Ross is better at covering up his trail after screwing it up several times. No one believes this.

Armando posted this earlier today

At 6:15 Monday Dolphins announce 6 outside GM candidates for first-round interviews.

At 4:30ish Tuesday John Harbaugh fired by Ravens. At 7:16 Tuesday Dolphins add LAC Assistant GM Chad Alexander to GM interview list.

At 9:20 Wednesday Alexander advances as 1 of 4 to get second interview.

Alexander has worked with Jim and John Harbaugh in LA and Baltimore for 2 decades.

All of this is probably coincidence.

And then on Thursday they announce the firing of Mike

[Pappy13]

Before we start celebrating this move, let's see who they bring in for GM and HC. If they manage to land Harbaugh, I'll be fine with this move, otherwise...we'll see. For the record, I give them about a 10% chance of landing Harbaugh.

[Spider-Dan]

Anyone but Harbaugh is a downgrade.

[Pappy13]

Anyone but Harbaugh is a downgrade.

Yeah, that's about where I am too.

[Dolfanalyst]

Anyone but Harbaugh is a downgrade.

By that logic one would expect people to be knocking down McDaniel's door like they are Harbaugh's.

We'll see.  I strongly doubt that happens.

[Pappy13]

By that logic one would expect people to be knocking down McDaniel's door like they are Harbaugh's.

We'll see.  I strongly doubt that happens.

I've actually read several news updates already linking McDaniel to other places like Cleveland. Granted it's all pure speculation BS like all the talk of Miami landing Harbaugh, but there is talk. I think several teams would be interested in McDaniel being their OC right now.

[CF DolFan]

I'd like to see Mike go to Tampa with Baker Mayfield. Could be pretty interesting as they just fired their offensive coordinator.

[Dolfanalyst]

I've actually read several news updates already linking McDaniel to other places like Cleveland. Granted it's all pure speculation BS like all the talk of Miami landing Harbaugh, but there is talk. I think several teams would be interested in McDaniel being their OC right now.

I don't expect him to have any difficulty getting a job as an offensive coordinator.  I doubt he'll ever be a head coach again in the NFL, however.

[CF DolFan]

I just saw that Mike has been contacted by Detroit regarding their OC position. Former Dolphin hiring former Dolphin.

[Denver2]

I’m gonna miss him as coach. We better land Harbaugh.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I don't expect him to have any difficulty getting a job as an offensive coordinator.  I doubt he'll ever be a head coach again in the NFL, however.

He might not get offered a HC job this off season, but he will be a HC again.  Anybody with a brain has figured out that Grier mismanaged things so bad that nobody including Belichick nor Shula could have been successful with the rosters. 

Plus plenty of coaches with far worse 1st stints got a second chance some even a third.   

[Denver2]

He might not get offered a HC job this off season, but he will be a HC again.  Anybody with a brain has figured out that Grier mismanaged things so bad that nobody including Belichick nor Shula could have been successful with the rosters. 

Plus plenty of coaches with far worse 1st stints got a second chance some even a third.   

If Josh McDaniels got a second shot than so will Mike McDaniel.

[Downunder Dolphan]

If Josh McDaniels got a second shot than so will Mike McDaniel.

Probably not the first example I would have picked.

[Downunder Dolphan]

I don't think anyone really should be surprised at this - it was always coming, and just a question of when.

When Ross said after the close of last season that it wasn't good enough and there had to be improvement, the line was drawn. There's zero improvement, and no real sign of it coming.

Grier (rightly) was shown the door during the season (along with some scouts who had also been here 20-25 years), so it was always going to be a case of if McDaniel hangs around next season to bear the brunt of anger for the inevitable decline. Ross has probably done him a huge favor firing him now, before his Dolphins legacy is further tarnished (and given him an early payout as an equally huge bonus).

We needed a fresh start, and changing the coach along with the GM is probably the right way to go (given that trying other ways haven't worked out too well for us in the past). It may give them a little leniency next season regardless of what happens, because everyone should know right from the start this will be a total rebuild from ground zero (with a salary cap hell position to boot).

After what seemed a good start, McDaniel had worn out his welcome, at least with many fans... it's interesting timing that this happened after the player interviews. Wasn't Flores fired after the player interviews?

He deserves a fair amount or responsibility (along with Grier) for our predicament. He told Grier to "trade everything" for Tyreek Hill (and who knows, maybe also for Chubb & Ramsey). He told Grier to pay Tua & Tyreek what they wanted. We pretty much did exactly that - lost draft picks, and many starters who began walking out at the end of the 2023 season because there was no money left. Everything looked rosy early in 2023, because they planned to win a Superbowl that year, and damn everything after that... after we didn't even win a playoff game, we were in massive trouble.

McDaniel hasn't evolved as the situation has around him. Once the NFL cracked down on motion pre-snap, and defenses adjusted and began taking away the middle and deep balls, he had no answer. He's never prioritized protecting the QB with additional players outside of the lineman, he's always relied on quick release and reads, getting the receivers out and in position - which is great when your line is decent and healthy, along with your QB. Once our OL started developing holes (particularly at guard) nothing changed. There's been some minor adjustments late (relying on the run more, additional lineman for run plays) but it's too little, too late.

His play calling itself has been hot and cold, and after four years he still takes so long to get the play into the QB they are either out of time (or he has to "dumb it down" to get it to the QB to leave them a decent amount of time pre-snap). He's earned so many shame of the game nominations from me this season, he deserves to be a candidate for shame of the year. It's time to change.

Thank you Mike McDaniel, it was fun for a couple of years, but this is the best move for everyone. Including yourself.