Why was Mike McDaniel fired by the Dolphins?

The Miami Dolphins have officially ended the Mike McDaniel era.

On Thursday, the team announced that McDaniel has been fired as head coach. The decision came after his fourth season in charge. Miami finished 7-10 and missed the playoffs.

The season started badly. The Dolphins opened 2-7 before winning 5 of their final 8 games. It was not enough.

Overall, McDaniel leaves Miami with a 35-33 record across 68 games.

Things did not always look this bleak. McDaniel led the Dolphins to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. Momentum faded in 2024 when the team finished 8-9. The rough start to the 2025 season made things worse.

Team owner Stephen Ross explained the move in a statement. He said the franchise needs real change. According to reports, Ross did not believe the results were good enough and did not want to continue down the same path.

Miami lost 7 of its first 9 games in 2025. Their only early wins came against a winless Jets team and an inconsistent Falcons squad.

Several losses were especially painful.

In Week 5, Miami blew a 17-0 lead and lost by 3 points to the Panthers. In Week 6, the Dolphins took a late lead against the Chargers, only to give up a game winning field goal in the final minute.

Week 7 was even worse. Cleveland ran all over Miami in a 31-6 blowout.

Those losses exposed deeper problems. After the Panthers game, McDaniel was seen walking off the field looking defeated. Dan Marino looked visibly frustrated beside him.

Then came comments from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He revealed that players were showing up late to meetings. Some were not attending players only meetings at all. That raised serious concerns about team culture.

McDaniel addressed his job security shortly after. He said questions about his future were offensive. He insisted that as long as he was coaching the Dolphins, he would give everything to the job.

A strong Week 8 win over Atlanta briefly slowed the noise. But Miami followed it with a bad loss to Baltimore. The Dolphins failed to score a single touchdown against a defense that had been struggling all season.

Miami then won 4 straight games. That stretch may have temporarily saved McDaniel. But the season ended poorly. The Dolphins went 1-3 down the stretch and finished with a losing record.

McDaniel survived Black Monday. That did not last long.

On January 8, the Dolphins decided to move on.

Some around the league pointed to timing. The Ravens had just fired John Harbaugh. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has long standing ties to the Harbaugh family. That fueled speculation.

However, reports say Miami has not yet contacted Harbaugh. The team also claims the decision to fire McDaniel would have happened regardless.

The Dolphins plan to hire a new general manager first. Only then will they begin a full coaching search.

Mike McDaniel is 42 years old. He was one of the youngest head coaches in the NFL.

Now, Miami turns the page again.