Can Mike McDaniel Change After a Humbling 2024 Season

The 2024 season was a humbling season for the Miami Dolphins. They were coming off back-to-back post season appearances and it was expected the team would get over the hump and win the AFC East and a playoff game. However, the season got away in a hurry after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a concussion and missed a month after week 2. 

The Dolphins’ season had a different feel even before Tagovailoa’s concussion. The team struggled in the opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars and was lucky to win. However, they were a complete no-show in their week 2 Thursday Night game against the Buffalo Bills, in which they lost 31-10. 

Injuries at the quarterback position were a problem, but head coach Mike McDaniel didn’t help either. 

Teams had adjusted to his offense, in which they played two deep safeties to stop the big plays the team was making the previous season. McDaniel, who calls the plays, failed to adjust, and he also didn’t adjust with his backup quarterback or simplify the offense.

Skylar Thompson, who had been with the team the previous 2 seasons, in his only start last year in week 3, looked completely unprepared and regressed badly. McDaniel, instead of running the ball more, tried to continue passing the ball rather than give it to the running backs to help his backup quarterbacks, especially Tyler Huntley, in the week 4 Monday Night game, in which the Tennessee Titans blew out the Dolphins in another embarrassing nationally televised game. 

The problems I have had with McDaniel since he has been the head coach are the team’s lack of discipline, in-game adjustments, and his stubbornness as a play caller to get away from the running game in key situations. The other thing that concerned him when he first became coach was how he treated players and didn’t get on them, which former head coach Brian Flores never let happen. Flores had a disciplined team, made in-game adjustments, and always had the pulse of his team even when things weren’t going well.

Things were great the first 2 seasons for McDaniel, but last year the season got away and possibly the locker room as the Dolphins have gotten rid of a lot of veterans and now star corner back Jalen Ramsey is going to get traded and his relationship with McDaniel isn’t good and not repairable if reports are correct. There were also reports of players not putting the time in and showing up late for meetings, which McDaniel didn’t deny at the end of the season. 

This is a pivotal season for McDaniel. He must try not to be Mr. Nice and entitle his players. The problem is that it’s who he is, and it’s hard to change who you are. Can McDaniel handle his locker room differently? Probably not, and if the season goes south in a hurry, he could lose the entire locker room.

Can McDaniel adjust his offense so that teams have not seemed to catch up with and defend it better? My answer is probably not, but maybe his hiring former Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and giving him a fresh set of eyes could help.

The problem is that McDaniel calls the offensive plays at the end of the day, and it’s tough for him to break his habits. This isn’t necessarily mission impossible, as coaches have been able to adapt when on the hot seat, such as Tom Coughlin when he was with the New York Giants. Players were fed up with his tough discipline ways, and he was losing the locker room, but Coughlin was able to adjust and helped guide his team to two Super Bowl titles. 

I’m not expecting McDaniel to do that. It’s just an example of a coach who adjusted his way. After a humbling season, McDaniel is at a crossroads as head coach of this team. He hasn’t been able to get his team to perform well against better competition, and with the focus this off-season on rebuilding the trenches, can McDaniel and his staff get the most out of the new talent to turn their team around and the narrative that the Dolphins aren’t a finesse team? I’m not sure he can. 

I fear the Dolphins will get off to a bad start this year, and McDaniel will lose the team unless he can learn from his humbling lessons the last couple of years.  I hope, as a fan, he was able to look in the mirror and realize he must change some things for this team to be successful. Time will tell if that is the case.