Timeline Behind McDaniel's Firing, What Comes Next for Dolphins?

Mike McDaniel is out in Miami. How did we get here? What comes next?

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

The Miami Dolphins have finally made an official decision on their head coach for the 2026 season, and it’s probably the one most fans wanted. 

The Dolphins are firing head coach Mike McDaniel after four seasons at the helm. McDaniel finishes his Dolphins tenure with a 35-33 record and two playoff appearances in his first two seasons. However, he was 0-2 in those appearances, and the team is coming off its second straight losing season. 

Owner Stephen Ross released a statement Thursday thanking McDaniel shortly after the news broke:

The Miami Dolphins have relieved Head Coach Mike McDaniel of his duties. pic.twitter.com/5APbwENBU1

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 8, 2026

As usual with the Dolphins, this wasn’t done at the same pace as the entire league. 

Timeline on McDaniel’s Firing 

The majority of the NFL made decisions on their head coaches Sunday and Monday, as five jobs opened in that window. Meanwhile, the Dolphins focused on their GM search, which started with eight names and is down to four. 

McDaniel gave his usual day-after-the-game press conference Monday in which he was grilled for about 40 minutes about his future with the team. Based on McDaniel’s answers, almost nobody left that press conference thinking McDaniel would be fired. 

However, we never received a statement from owner Stephen Ross confirming that McDaniel would return in 2026. 

Time marched on until we got a bombshell Tuesday that the Baltimore Ravens were parting ways with legendary coach John Harbaugh. 

Although there have been conflicting reports on whether the Dolphins have reached out to Harbaugh yet (ESPN’s Adam Schefter said they didn’t before firing McDaniel), it’s not hard to imagine that Harbaugh becoming available changed the calculus for Miami. 

Funnily enough, just hours before Harbaugh was let go, the team added Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander to its interview list. Alexander worked with Harbaugh for many years in Baltimore before moving to L.A. and working with John’s brother, Jim. 

A new piece of information is that McDaniel had his meeting with Ross on Tuesday, according to ESPN's Jeff Darlington. Darlington mentioned that the meeting left Ross conflicted because he likes McDaniel, and that the team still hasn't reached out to John Harbaugh.

Late Wednesday night, the Dolphins announced their four GM finalists, and Alexander was included. Alexander is a highly qualified candidate on his own, but the Harbaugh connection is hard to ignore. 

That, of course, brings us to Thursday, which is the day McDaniel's firing became official.

Dolphins Future Timeline

What’s next for the Dolphins? 

The team is well along in its general manager search. That means they’ll likely hire that person in the next few days and then begin a head-coaching search. This was backed up by the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who reported the Dolphins GM hire would happen in the next day or two. 

Darlington is reporting the Dolphins will have final in-person interviews with Jon-Eric Sullivan, Josh Williams, and Chad Alexander on Thursday before making a decision Friday. The team already had its in-person interview with Champ Kelly on Wednesday.

Notably, multiple national reports Thursday morning indicated that John Harbaugh wouldn’t schedule any coaching interviews until next week. 

If the Dolphins stick to the reported timeline at GM, that would align well to get Harbaugh into the building. Of course, that’s all speculation, but the timing of everything does seem to lend it some credence. 

The team will interview other candidates. If the Dolphins hire John-Eric Sullivan as GM, Jeff Hafley makes a lot of sense as the two would both come over from the Green Bay Packers.