Don’t look now, but the Dolphins have turned it around.
Mike McDaniel‘s squad has won four games in a row and five of their last six. The offense has looked good in spurts with at least 30 points three times in that stretch, but the defense has been the highlight. The Dolphins allowed 28 points in their loss to the Ravens – many of which came off offensive turnovers – and has not allowed more than 17 otherwise. They have also forced 10 turnovers in their last six matchups.
Miami’s turnaround has quieted the chatter around the team parting ways with McDaniel. Those prognostications seemed to be a reflection of the Dolphins’ poor performance more than their desire to move on from the 42-year-old head coach. Reports out of Miami consistently indicated that McDaniel could be retained in 2026 regardless of the team’s finish.
That decision, of course, lies with owner Stephen Ross. His vision for the Dolphins’ future will shape what appears to be a pivotal offseason for the franchise. In the past, he has seemed willing to tank and rebuild the roster, but he does not seem inclined to do so now. Ross fired general manager Chris Grier before the trade deadline partially because Grier wanted to tear down the roster and restart, per Jason La Canfora of The Washington Post.
If Ross isn’t looking to rebuild, then it stands to reason that he will keep McDaniel for at least one more season. The Dolphins are already stuck with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for 2026 due to his untradeable contract, so they might as well retain the coach they hired to pair with him.
That is a common perspective around the league, according to La Canfora, as even teams who are in need of a quarterback will not want to take on his $54MM guaranteed compensation for 2026. The Dolphins seem poised to run it back with McDaniel and Tagovailoa, which may give them one last chance to save their jobs. However, Ross could already have given up on this iteration of the Dolphins and may be waiting for the 2027 offseason when he can cleanly move onto a new head coach and quarterback at the same time.
Ross’ decision on Grier’s replacement will also be a key factor in the Dolphins’ offseason. They will likely get renewed interest in assets like Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane, but McDaniel may not want to move on from key cogs in his offensive scheme. Moving those players would indicate that McDaniel and Tagovailoa are having a lame duck year with very little chance of sticking around in 2027.
They’ve beat up on some bad/struggling teams like Atlanta, Washington, New Orleans, and the Jets, which is a McDaniel staple. But they could just as easily have folded up the tent and gone 4-13. We’ll see how the final four weeks shake out but keeping him maybe isn’t the worst idea in the world considering they’re still tied to Tua.
Their dismantling of Chucky’s Jets in half-empty MetLife Stadium was a nice win. Probably about 25k fans there, half of which were Dolphins fans.
Yeah and also the Bills.
Yep. McDaniel had lost six in a row to the Bills so that was a nice win.
Jets-Dolphins attendance was more like 40k as MetLife Stadium is 80k+.
Besides, the Jets brought out Gotham City “Dark Knight” uniforms only to be felled by aquamarine Kryptonite.
lmao you wish it was 40k. 25k max. The upper deck was a ghost town. Dolphins fans took over MetLife.
Like everyone does at the dolphins crib?
I wouldn’t know or care. I’m just teasing Chucky because he’s always ragging on the Giants attendance at MetLife.
The other AFC East teams and their fans approve this move.
He’s earned it. He’s done a hell of a job this year under very challenging circumstances. He kept that team together.
Yeah honestly he’s just dealing with a bad hand and making the best of it. I don’t think he’s terrible but it does makes you wonder if they’ll bail on Tua as first opportunity.
Miami may be 6-7 but are bottom of a 3-way tie-breaker involving Baltimore and Kansas City. Not only that, the Dolphins’ home game vs. Cincinnati in Week 16 has been flexed out of Sunday night.
McDaniel will be on shaky ground should Miami not make the playoffs.
Hahahaha… awesome
Lame duck nfl coaches.
They get too much credit for wins, after being routinely bad. As if a turnaround is right around the corner.
one win makes up double the amount of losses.
After winning 3, “It must be a winning trend”
No, the more meaningful trend was the 9 losses.
It really, I think, comes down to Ross’ age. Starting over means years of roster building, and it seems like he’s more inclined to take chances with what he’s got than to try to start over again.
Ross is only a year older than Robert Kraft who opted for a reboot after dumping BB. The Patriots have rebuilt their roster almost overnight so it can be done if you get the right people into the organization.
I’m not saying that it can’t, but I don’t think that Ross wants to take that chance.
I think Ross said he wasn’t particularly impressed with the currently available replacement candidates. Mike Tomlin (if he becomes available) could be a wild card that starts the HC dominoes falling in unexpected ways.
Retaining McDaniel was the right choice. He commands the locker room and protects his stars. Replacing him would of been 10 steps back — dolphins have a sneaky good team, next year they’ll be 100% healthy.
He will keep his job if they beat the Steelers. Another coach would be a better option but who?
Bring uncle bill BELICHEK, he will turn them around