How Waller Shed Light on McDaniel's Final Day as Dolphins Coach

The firing of Mike McDaniel as Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel most definitely was abrupt, even if maybe it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Tight end Darren Waller has shed some light on what happened one week ago Thursday when he went from discussing the next season with McDaniel to McDaniel no longer having a job.

Appearing on the “Glory Daze” podcast with host Johnny Manziel, Waller described a scene that confirmed previous reports of owner Stephen Ross interrupting a player exit interview to fire McDaniel.

“ I mean, I was at the scene of the crime,” Waller told Manziel. “I think I was the last person that saw him before he got fired, like my exit meeting was that Thursday morning from 9:30 to 10. So I get there for my exit meeting, and we're talking for like 10 minutes, and he's like, yeah, like, definitely want you back next year. And we're just like, reflecting on the year and things that he was thinking about doing different in the upcoming year.

“And then Stephen Ross kicked the door in at like, 9:42 and he comes in, like, joins the conversation. We're just all talking reflecting on the year … and then the conversation kind of hits a lull and I'm sitting across the desk from Mike, and Steven Ross is standing there just kind of looking at me, like, ‘It's time for you to get the hell out.’ I look at Mike, he was like, we'll finish the conversation later.

“The GM search was in full flow. I didn't know (if) they had big business talk about. Like we’re already really done here. We’re just pow-wowing. And so I go downstairs and get a massage. I come up from the massage, check my phone, he's fired. I'm like, damn. Like this (stuff) cold for real."

Waller’s account matches with reports on shows by Dan Patrick and Dan LeBatard, and really doesn’t reflect particularly well on Ross.

For certain, he had every right as owner to fire McDaniel, but it was a little dubious to do it after interrupting an exit interview four days after the end of the regular season.

Like, did Ross suddenly get the urge to fire McDaniel on Thursday morning and decided he couldn’t wait until the interview with Waller was done?

Coach firings after a season usually come the day after the finale, which is why there’s such a thing as Black Monday.

There are exceptions, of course, like the Dolphins firing Cam Cameron four days after the end of a 1-15 2007 season and, yes, the Baltimore Ravens waiting three days after their finale to fire Harbaugh.

The idea that Ross fired McDaniel because Harbaugh became available might or might not hold water, but even if it did, Ross still could have fired McDaniel at the end of the day Wednesday, start of the day Thursday or end of the day Thursday.

The timing, without question, was a bit off.

Waller started and finished his one season with the Dolphins on PUP and IR, respectively, and he repeated to Manziel what he had told South Florida reporters on locker cleanout day that when it comes to whether he wants to continue playing, that decision will come at the end of this month.

And Waller clearly sounded like he’d be totally fine having McDaniel as his head coach again should their paths cross one more time.

"He's brilliant, man,” Waller told Manziel. “I mean, like, you see throughout the year, it's like, everybody needs somebody to blame for everything. But it's like, you look back over the season, it's like, man, this dude is like, the (stuff) that he's preaching, what he's teaching, how detailed he is, how he's explaining stuff to us, it's like, bro, I feel prepared going into every game, I know like certain situations what to expect, coverage wise. Like, he breaks that (stuff) down for real.

“And yeah, I mean, I feel like, if there's anything that people think that he needs to grow in, I feel like he's smart enough guy to realize, like, OK, maybe these are certain things that I could have done better. These are certain situations where I could have held people to a higher standard, whatever he takes away from it. I know for a fact that he's gonna apply that information. He's too (darn) smart."

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