The Miami Dolphins have fired head coach Mike McDaniel, owner Stephen Ross announced Thursday. The move comes (obviously) after the flurry of firings on Monday and two days after the Baltimore Ravens fired John Harbaugh.
McDaniel, a 43-year-old first-time head coach, went 35-33 in four seasons with the Fins. He went 9-8 and 11-6 in 2022 and 2023, making the playoffs and losing in the wild card round in both seasons, before backsliding over the next two seasons. Miami went 8-9 in 2024 and 7-10 this fall. The Dolphins started this year 1-6 and then rebounded down the stretch -- they were in the "In the Hunt" section on the AFC standings graphics on NFL broadcasts in December -- but it obviously was too little, too late to save McDaniel's job.
The Miami Dolphins have relieved Head Coach Mike McDaniel of his duties. pic.twitter.com/5APbwENBU1
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 8, 2026
Similar to moves made by the Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals, there was enough there to fire McDaniel, and also so much additional evidence that McDaniel never had much of a chance to succeed. The Dolphins have not reached the AFC Divisional Round since 2000, the longest drought in the NFL. In fact, the Dolphins' 26-year league quarterfinal drought is the longest among all Big 4 American sports leagues. Ross purchased the team in 2009.
At .524, McDaniel's winning percentage is the highest by a full-time Dolphins head coach since Dave Wannstedt went 42-31 from 2000-04. Wannstedt booked winning records in his first four seasons and won the club's most recent playoff game, but resigned after a 1-8 start in 2004; the club made the playoffs twice between 2005 and McDaniel's hiring in 2022.
In McDaniel's case, his tenure was undone by his failure to develop Tua Tagovailoa (which, to be clear, is a fair criticism of the coach). In 2020, two years before McDaniel's hiring, Miami drafted Tagovailoa one spot ahead of Justin Herbert.