Mike McDaniel Is a Top Candidate for Another NFL Job If Dolphins Part Ways

Will Miami move on after four years?

McDaniel has led the Dolphins to a 7–9 record this season. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

As the Dolphins’ disappointing 2025 season wraps up Sunday with a Week 18 matchup against the Patriots, the next big question facing the franchise is the future of coach Mike McDaniel.

The 2025 campaign was always going to be a make-or-break season in Miami. Through the first three seasons of McDaniel’s partnership with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins tallied a 28–23 record but didn’t win a single playoff game in two trips to the postseason.

Sure enough, things broke. The Dolphins started the year 2–7 and fired general manager Chris Grier on Halloween. At the time of the firing, it was reported that the Dolphins planned to keep McDaniel around for the rest of the season, and they did, indeed.

But now, things are a bit more cloudy in South Beach—even after the Dolphins went 5–2 under McDaniel’s leadership following the firing of Grier.

“I'm hearing conflicting things on Miami,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported Wednesday. “For a while it sounded as if Mike McDaniel was a good bet to stay, but lately the winds seem to have shifted a bit on that.”

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski is in a similar spot as McDaniel. A two-time Coach of the Year, Stefanski is a renowned play-caller, but the Browns have won just one playoff game in six seasons under his leadership and have won just seven games over the last two years combined.

Like the Dolphins, perhaps the Browns are looking for a fresh start. And if they do part ways with Stefanski, McDaniel reportedly would be in the running for the Cleveland gig.

“My sense is that McDaniel would be a candidate in Cleveland, should the Dolphins move on and Cleveland's job open,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported.

On a similar note, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr outlined in his annual coaching candidates piece that he considers McDaniel an intriguing head coaching candidate for this cycle if Miami moves on.

“I have heard mixed opinions on the future of McDaniel,” Orr wrote earlier this month. “I believe McDaniel, like Stefanski, could interview for head coaching jobs if the Dolphins decided to part ways with him. However, I have also heard that McDaniel is beloved in the [Dolphins] organization, and the new general manager will have a chance to keep him.”

The Dolphins have yet to hire a new general manager. They will wrap up the 2025 campaign with a clash against the rival Patriots on the road at 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday.

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