The Latest with McDaniel, Weaver and Dolphins Coaching Staff

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel's status for the 2026 season remains a bit uncertain

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel runs off the field following a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The wheels keep turning in this NFL coach hiring cycle, and two of the remaining candidates are Mike McDaniel and Anthony Weaver, who worked together with the Miami Dolphins.

And their former team, meanwhile, continues the process of assembling the coaching staff with the background of new head coach Jeff Hafley saying he'd like to have his coordinators in place by the end of the weekend.

The Dolphins have their special teams coordinator in place and continue their interviews with other candidates.

McDANIEL AND THE BILLS

We start with McDaniel and his somewhat bizarre sequence, with reports indicating he canceled his interview with the Buffalo Bills on Friday, though it still might be revisited unlike what happened with the Cleveland Browns when he told that team he no longer was interesting in being considered for their head coach position.

McDaniel remains a candidate for the head coach opening with the Las Vegas Raiders, and there's also the reports he's already agreed to become offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers should he not land a head coach position.

The question now is whether McDaniel indeed will get an interview with the Bills, who are searching far and wide for a replacement for Sean McDermott, including talking with longtime NFL quarterback Philip Rivers, who was coaching high school football this year before coming out of retirement to finish out the season with the Indianapolis Colts.

THE WEAVER WATCH

Another candidate for the Bills job is Weaver, who was scheduled to get an in-person interview in South Florida on Saturday.

Weaver completed an interview with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday and will have a second interview with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Weaver and McDaniel both had been a candidates for the Baltimore Ravens head coach position before it went to Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.

Cornerbacks back Mathieu Araujo is the only member of the 2025 Dolphins coaching staff to have landed. a new job as he reportedly was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

DOLPHINS STAFF PROGRESS

After the hiring of Chris Taber as special teams coordinator Friday night, the Dolphins now have zoned in their offensive and defensive coordinators.

For the latter, the Dolphins have interviewed Philadelphia Eagles defensive line coach Clint Hurtt for the defensive coordinator position. A former defensive tackle at the University of Miami, Hurtt spent two seasons as defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks (2022-23) before working for the Eagles the past two seasons.

Hurtt was part of the Super Bowl-winning staff for the Eagles in the 2024 season.

Under his tutelage, former first-round pick Jordan Davis took a massive step forward and reached borderline elite status in 2025, giving the Eagles a dominating D-tackle duo with fellow first-round pick Jalen Carter.

Hurtt, whose other NFL stop was with the Chicago Bears from 2014-16, does not have a prior working relationship with new head coach Jeff Hafley.

Offensively, the one interview that has been reported involved Houston Texans QB coach Jerrod Johnson for the coordinator position.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero posted on X over the weekend to keep an eye on Dolphins senior pass game coordinator Bobby Slowik for the role of offensive coordinator, and he was a name we mentioned as well in our preliminary list of candidates to watch.

Slowik was offensive coordinator with Houston in 2023-24 before he joined the Dolphins and has a prior working relationship with Hafley from their time together with the San Francisco 49ers in 2017-18.