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The Miami Dolphins have FIRED Head Coach Mike McDaniel

Originally posted on Dolphins Talk | By Mike Oliva | Last updated Jan 8, 2026 12:30 PM ET

The Miami Dolphins have FIRED Head Coach Mike McDaniel

The Dolphins finished 7-10 this season and have had back-to-back losing seasons under McDaniel’s leadership the past two years.

He had an overall coaching record of 35-33 in Miami and went 0-2 in postseason play.

McDaniel’s time in Miami was filled with quirky press conferences and an unorthodox approach that was seen as fresh and unique. But in the NFL, it is a results-oriented business, and the results weren’t there.

McDaniel’s downfall in Miami can be directly tied to Tua Tagovailoa.

When Tua was playing at a high level in 2022 and 2023, McDaniel had Miami’s offense playing at a high level, amongst the league’s best, and the team was making the playoffs.

When Tua began to regress as a player, McDaniel’s offense couldn’t function, and the Dolphins had losing seasons.

BREAKING: The Dolphins have fired head coach Mike McDaniel, per source.McDaniel finishes with a 35-35 record in four seasons, including two playoff losses.

— Dianna Russini (@diannarussini.bsky.social) 2026-01-08T15:33:39.857Z

A significant reason McDaniel got the job in Miami back in 2022 was that he sold himself on the fact that he could “fix Tua” after Brian Flores had all but killed Tua’s confidence.

While McDaniel did fix Tua in the short term, he was unable to keep Tua playing at a high level over the long term.

Then factor in August of 2024, when Tua was doing a soft “hold out” (or hold-in), showing up for training camp but not fully participating in team drills as he sought a contract extension. According to credible reports, McDaniel called owner Stephen Ross to help accelerate the completion of an extension.

An extension that is now a black cloud that will hang over this franchise for at least two seasons, as Miami will eat a ton of dead money on its salary cap when they release Tua this offseason, as expected.

The Dolphins will now embark on a search for a new head coach that will be tied to the search for a new general manager.

It will be nice for the Dolphins to give their general manager full power to hire the next head coach, without forcing a new GM to be tied to McDaniel.

This article first appeared on Dolphins Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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