Ranking the McDaniel Opportunities

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is getting a lot of interviews around the league

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel looks on during the second quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Nothing is ever guaranteed, but it certainly does appear as though Mike McDaniel is going to be out of a job for very long.

It's now been a week since McDaniel was fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, but before the end of the week he will have been interviewed or approached by at least a half-dozen teams, including four who want to interview him for the head coach opening.

McDaniel already has conducted interviews to become the new head coach for the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns and also is expected to interview with the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens.

The Detroit Lions, meanwhile, interviewed him this week for an offensive coordinator position and he'll do the same thing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday. He's also expected to interview for the open offensive coordinator position with the Philadelphia Eagles.

There likely will be more interviews to come, but for now let's rank those seven opportunities in terms of where McDaniel would have the most chance to succeed.

RANKING THE McDANIEL POSSIBILITIES

As we rank these, let's start with the understanding that money won't be a factor for McDaniel, who will be getting paid by the Dolphins for three more years under terms of his contract minus whatever his new team pays him.

And while head coach usually is the better option than being a coordinator, this is not always the case.

So with that said, here we go:

1. Baltimore Ravens HC — There are so many reasons this stands out, starting with a strong organization, the presence of Lamar Jackson, talent up and down the roster and a pretty mediocre division. This should be a no-brainer for McDaniel if he's offered the position.

2. Philadelphia Eagles OC — The Eagles have been to the Super Bowl twice in the past four seasons and even in a somewhat down year in 2025 they repeated as NFC East champions. McDaniel would inherit a great offensive line, a star running back in Saquon Barkley, plus at least one stud wide receiver DeVonta Smith (or two depending on whether the Eagles keep A.J. Brown). The NFC East also isn't very impressive, even after the New York Giants' splashy hiring of John Harbaugh.

3. Detroit Lions OC — There probably are even more assets with which McDaniel can work than in Philadelphia, though the Lions are heading for a cap situation pretty soon with some of their young stars due for contract extensions. The other reason we put this one below the Eagles is the NFC North, which this year featured nothing but winning records among the teams.

4. Atlanta Falcons HC — The Falcons had the most talent in the NFC South and probably should have won the division instead of finishing in a three-way tie and losing out to Carolina in a tiebreaker because they got swept by the Panthers. McDaniel has familiarity with new president of football operations Matt Ryan (they were together on the 2016 NFC champion Falcons team), but there are some questions at that position heading into 2026.

5. Tennessee Titans HC — The Titans were simply putrid the past two seasons and they've had very little success in recent years outside of when Mike Vrabel was head coach, but they do have a franchise quarterback with Cam Ward and the outlook could be improving with second-year GM Mike Borgonzi after he came over from the Kansas City Chiefs.

6. Tampa Bay Bucs OC — The Bucs had a very disappointing season, but let's not forget they had won the NFC South the previous four seasons and they dealt with a lot of injuries. There's an awful lot of talent on offense, even if star WR Mike Evans winds up retiring, and the NFC South (as mentioned before) isn't particularly daunting.

7. Cleveland Browns HC — Yes, this would represent a homecoming for McDaniel, but this isn't a very attractive job at this time because of the bad QB outlook and the bad cap situation. McDaniel shouldn't rush to get back to being a head coach in a bad spot, the way Adam Gase did after the Dolphins fired him in January 2019.

WHERE DOLPHINS HEAD COACH WENT AFTER LEAVING

George Wilson (1966-69) — Didn't coach again

Don Shula (1970-95) — Retired

Jimmy Johnson (1996-99) — Retired

Dave Wannstedt (2000-04) — Head coach, University of Pittsburgh

Nick Saban (2005-06) — Head coach, University of Alabama

Cam Cameron (2007) — Offensive coordinator, Baltimore Ravens

Tony Sparano (2008-11) — Offensive coordinator, New York Jets

Joe Philbin (2012-15) — Assistant head coach/offensive line coach, Indianapolis Colts

Adam Gase (2016-18) — Head coach, New York Jets

Brian Flores (2019-21) — Senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach, Pittsburgh Steelers

Mike McDaniel (2022-25) — TBD