Dolphins Getting Bigger Imprint on 2026 Opponent By the Day

Adam Gase is joining fellow former Miami head coach Mike McDaniel with the Chargers and there could be more Dolphins coaches on the way

Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase reacts during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium in 2018. | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

This is going to be some homecoming when the Miami Dolphins face the L.A. Chargers at Hard Rock Stadium next season.

If the Dolphins can be dubbed Green Bay South, then the Chargers offensive staff certainly has become Miami West, with two additions Monday and maybe another on the way.

Former Dolphins head coach Adam Gase indeed will make his comeback to the NFL after five years away as an offensive assistant for the Chargers, whose new coordinator of course is another former Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel.

Gase was 23-25 in his three seasons as Dolphins head coach, guiding the team to the playoffs in his first year in 2016, and was fired after a 7-9 finish in 2018.

The Chargers also have added offensive line coach Butch Barry off McDaniel's staff and reports surfaced Monday indicating they're expected to hire run game specialist Chandler Henley.

That news coincided with another report indicating the Chargers would be moving on from run game coordinator/tight ends coach Andy Bischoff, which could pave the way for former McDaniel assistant Jon Embree to rejoin him in L.A.

Oh, and did we mention that the Chargers' offensive staff already included QB coach Shane Day, who was Miami's tight ends coach under Gase all three seasons.

Back to McDaniel, head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked at the Senior Bowl what he liked about McDaniel and his answer no doubt will raise some eyebrows from a segment of Dolphins fans.

"I just love hearing him talk," Harbaugh told New York TV station WPIX11. "I'm just kind of enthralled listening to him talk and these profound football things that he comes up with. My second-favorite one was at his press conference where he talked about speed being an attribute for a football player, being their second-best thing that they do. You know, you think about any football player, OK, wide receiver ... if catching is the best thing they do, route running and speed was their second-best thing. And edge rusher that plays with power and speed to power. And so that was incredible."

FACING FORMER HEAD COACHES

That Chargers-Miami game at Hard Rock Stadium will mark the first time the Dolphins face one of its former head coaches since 2022 when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-10, in a Sunday night game at Hard Rock Stadium with Brian Flores serving as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach.

Prior to that, the Dolphins were 3-1 against Gase when he was head coach of the Jets, with a split in 2019 and two decisive victories (24-0, 20-3) in 2020.

The Dolphins are 1-1 against Joe Philbin since he was fired as head coach, with a loss against the Green Bay Packers in 2018 and a win against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024 when Philbin was an assistant for both those teams.

Philbin, incidentally, is looking for a new team after the Raiders let him go as senior offensive assistant.

Who knows, maybe he'll be joining the Chargers too.

DOLPHINS STAFF UPDATE

With the Super Bowl behind us and the offseason officially here, some coaching staffs began being assembled, most notably that of the Las Vegas Raiders with their hiring of Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as head coach.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, still have yet to announce their 2026 staff because they have yet to finalize it.

By all accounts and reporting, the key positions that still need to be filled are quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach after Nathaniel Hackett left to become offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals after agreeing to come in as QB coach to replace Darrell Bevell and the decision was made to move on from tight ends coach Jon Embree, who also served as assistant head coach.

Besides the three main coordinators introduced Wednesday — Bobby Slowik, Sean Duggan and Chris Tabor — newcomers on the staff will include Ryan Downard, Wendel Davis, Tyke Tolbert, Ladell Betts, Al Washington, Jahmile Addae, Darius Eubanks, Zach Yesner and Matt Applebaum, along with holdovers Austin Clark, Joe Barry, DeShawn Shead as well as Slowik.

2025 DOLPHINS COACHES AND THEIR 2026 ROLES

Head coach Mike McDaniel — L.A. Chargers offensive coordinator
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver — Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator Frank Smith — Minnesota Vikings, assistant head coach
Special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman — Atlanta Falcons, special teams coordinator
Associate head coach/running backs Eric Studesville — Chicago Bears, running backs coach
Assistant head coach/tight ends Jon Embree — TBD
Senior pass game coordinator Bobby Slowik — Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator
Quarterbacks/pass game coordinator Darrell Bevell — TBD
Wide receivers coach Robert Prince — Atlanta Falcons, wide receivers coach
Offensive line coach Butch Barry — L.A. Chargers, offensive line coach
Defensive line coach Austin Clark — Miami Dolphins, defensive line coach
Linebackers coach/run game coordinator Joe Barry — Miami Dolphins
Pass game coordinator/secondary Brian Duker — New York Jets, defensive coordinator
Cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo — Jacksonville Jaguars, defensive pass game coordinator
Senior defensive assistant Sean Ryan — Syracuse University, QB coach