Critic of Mike McDaniel may now help decide his Dolphins fate

Previous reports indicated that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was ready to retain head coach Mike McDaniel after a Dolphins team that was 1-6 won six of nine games from Week 8 through Week 17 of this season.

However, that was before it was learned on New Year's Day that Ross had brought Hall of Fame quarterback and current "Monday Night Football" analyst Troy Aikman on as a consultant to advise the Dolphins on their search for a new general manager. Miami and general manager Chris Grier "mutually" agreed to part ways on Oct. 31.

Aikman was on the call when the Dolphins surrendered 21 unanswered points after halftime before they scored a pair of meaningless fourth-quarter touchdowns in their Week 15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. As Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio noted, Aikman had plenty to say about McDaniel that evening. 

Mike McDaniel previously left Troy Aikman "flabbergasted"

"I’m flabbergasted by what we’ve witnessed here in this fourth quarter with the Dolphins," Aikman said at the time. "And now they want to call timeouts. It just is about as ridiculous a fourth quarter as I’ve seen in a long time." 

Aikman later bashed McDaniel for "just a bizarre last few series." That's hardly a ringing endorsement from the person tasked with helping Ross hire the executive who may or may not determine McDaniel's fate. 

That doesn't necessarily mean McDaniel will be out of a job shortly after the Dolphins finish the season with a matchup at the New England Patriots (13-3) this coming Sunday. It could, however, be yet another thing working against the coach who failed to guide Miami to a playoff win over his first three campaigns and who is about to add a losing record to his resume. 

Mike McDaniel rumors grew louder before Troy Aikman news went public

Before the Aikman-Dolphins news went public, stories emerged claiming that the Cleveland Browns "would be very intrigued by" the idea of speaking with McDaniel regarding their head-coaching job. While Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has yet to confirm anything, numerous reports have said that the team and current head coach Kevin Stefanski will officially part ways on Monday morning at the latest.