MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins have fired coach Mike McDaniel, the team announced Thursday.
The move comes after McDaniel had met with reporters Monday and said he would be part of the team’s interviews to hire a new general manager.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross met with McDaniel on Tuesday to discuss the season, and after that meeting and reflection, Ross decided to move on.
“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 in a statement.
“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. I wish him and his family the best moving forward,” Ross added.
The Dolphins will conduct a head coaching search after a general manager is in place, with a new GM expected to be hired by Friday, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.
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The Dolphins announced Wednesday that after completing an initial round of general manager interviews, they have scheduled in-person interviews with four candidates: interim GM Champ Kelly, San Francisco 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, and Los Angeles Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander. Kelly completed his interview Wednesday, and the other three candidates flew into South Florida on Wednesday night for their interviews, which will take place Thursday.
The Dolphins have not yet been in touch with John Harbaugh or anyone in his camp, sources told Darlington. Harbaugh was fired by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, and sources close to the decision to fire McDaniel told Darlington that the decision to move away from McDaniel was independent of Harbaugh’s availability.
The Dolphins finished 7-10, the franchise’s second consecutive losing season after making the playoffs in 2022 and 2023. It also comes roughly 16 months after McDaniel signed a three-year extension in August 2024.
“Coaching this team and being a part of this great franchise has been the honor of a lifetime. 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. 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 said Thursday in a statement.
McDaniel joined the Dolphins as a first-time head coach in 2022 after five seasons with the 49ers, including four as their run game coordinator from 2017 to 2020, and one as offensive coordinator in 2021.
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He successfully turned around an offense that hadn’t finished in the top 10 in total yards since 1995; Miami finished sixth in total offense in McDaniel’s first season, despite averaging fewer than 100 rushing yards per game. The Dolphins led the NFL in total offense in 2023 as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished with a league-leading 4,624 passing yards.
But Miami’s offense declined in 2024, with Tagovailoa missing a career-high six games, averaging 325 yards per game compared to 364.5 and 401.3 yards in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The team lost six of its first eight games before finishing 8-9 and missing the playoffs for the first time under McDaniel.
Miami lost seven of its first eight games in 2025 and fired general manager Chris Grier at the end of October before rallying with a four-game winning streak. Tagovailoa was benched after a loss in Week 15, which eliminated the Dolphins from playoff contention. Rookie seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers started the team’s final three games.
Tagovailoa on Monday said he was hopeful to get a fresh start with a new team in 2026.
“That would be dope,” he said. “I would be good with it.”
Moving on from Tagovailoa will be expensive for Miami. He represents a $56.4 million cap hit in 2026, and cutting him before June 1 would result in a $99.2 million dead cap hit next season. Releasing him after June 1 would spread that dead cap hit across two seasons, with $67.2 million hitting in 2026.
The Dolphins could also look to trade the NFL’s 2023 leader in passing yards but would have to find a team willing to take on his salary.
McDaniel was the Dolphins’ third coach in the past 10 seasons, following three-year stints by Brian Flores and Adam Gase. Before McDaniel, no Dolphins coach had lasted four full seasons in the role since Dave Wannstedt in 2003. Tony Sparano and Joe Philbin were fired during their fourth seasons.
The Dolphins have not hired a head coach with previous head coaching experience since Sparano in 2008.
