Predicting the Next Miami Dolphins Head Coach

One day after the 2025 NFL season ended, Mike McDaniel said he was still the Miami Dolphins head coach until told otherwise. Three days later, he was told otherwise, as McDaniel was fired after four seasons.

"After careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended, I have made the decision that our organization is in need of comprehensive change. I informed Mike McDaniel this morning that he has been relieved of his duties as head coach," Dolphins owner Stephen 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."

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier had been fired earlier this season, and it seemed at the time as if McDaniel was next. Miami then went on a four-game winning streak that led some observers to think McDaniel had saved his job. But the Dolphins then lost three of their last four games to finish 7-10.

McDaniel finished with a record of 35-33 in his four seasons. He took Miami to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, losing in the wild-card round both times, then went 15-19 over the last two seasons.

So who will be the next Dolphins head coach? The team has yet to hire Grier’s replacement, and you’d expect they will want the new GM to make the new coaching hire. An interesting twist is that Miami hired Hall of Fame quarterback and “Monday Night Football” analyst Troy Aikman as a consultant in the GM search. Will he now have a hand in the coachng hire as well?

Coming up with a list of coaching candidates before knowing who the GM will be involves a degree of speculation, but that’s exactly what we’ll do. Here are five candidates for the job:

John Harbaugh

When the Ravens fired Harbaugh earlier this week, it was reported that at least one of the teams reaching out to his agent did not have a head coaching vacancy at the time. Might that be the Dolphins? There’s an adage that you don’t fire your coach unless you know there’s somebody better available. So it’s certainly possible Miami waited to fire McDaniel until they were at least led to believe they’ve got a shot at Harbaugh.

Chris Shula

Yup, we’re going there… The Dolphins have had 12 head coaches since Don Shula — Chris’ grandfather — retired as the winningest and perhaps the greatest head coach in NFL history. Chris has emerged this season as a head coach candidate thanks to his work as defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams the last two seasons. McDaniel, of course, was known as an offensive guru, so it would make sense for Miami to change course and go with a defensive coach. That would make Shula a good fit — but would they dare make a move like this? The pressure and expectations of having another Shula as head coach in Miami would be off the charts.

Mike McCarthy

Since Dave Wannstedt was dismissed in 2004, none of the seven coaches Miami has hired had previous experience as an NFL head coach (Nick Saban was the only one who had been a college head coach). The current AFC East champ is a perfect example to follow: The New England Patriots replaced Bill Belichick with a first-time head coach (Jerod Mayo) and it was a disaster. Then they hired an experienced head coach in Mike Vrabel, and they’re back on top. Harbaugh is the best of the available veteran head coaches, but McCarthy isn’t a bad choice. Like Harbaugh, he’s got a Super Bowl win on his resume.