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Mike McDaniel 5th Miami Dolphins HC to get to playoffs in first year

By Brian Miller

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is all smiles as he leaves the field after an 11-6 victory over the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Jan. 8, 2023.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is all smiles as he leaves the field after an 11-6 victory over the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Jan. 8, 2023. /
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The Miami Dolphins are going to the playoffs and Mike McDaniel becomes the 5th coach to take the team to the postseason in his first year.

Don Shula took the Dolphins to their first playoff game way back in 1970 where they lost in the division round. Dave Wannstedt inherited a playoff team from Jimmy Johnson and returned the team to the playoffs in his first year.

Miami would wait a long time until Tony Sparano turned the Cam Cameron one-win team into an 11-5 division winner. After Sparano, the Dolphins would wait another eight years before they would return under first year head coach Adam Gase.

Now, McDaniel has the chance to give the Dolphins their first playoff win since 2000. A 22-year drought.

Of those previous coaches, only Shula would win more playoff games and only Wannstedt would return to the playoffs. McDaniel looks to change that direction with a win and lead the team into the future bucking a sad trend after Sparano and Gase.

The Dolphins will face the Bills for the 4th time in franchise history in the postseason. They have a 1-3 record against their AFC East rivals. All of the Dolphins and Bills playoff games came in the 1990s where the Dolphins squared off against Marv Levy, Jim Kelly, and company. In their final meeting on Januray 2nd, 1999, the Dolphins snapped a three game losing streak to Buffalo in the playoffs.

Miami has been considerably outscored in three of the four meetings losing 44-34, 29-10, 22-37, and winning 24-17.

This will be the third time Miami has played in Buffalo with the Bills traveling to Miami twice.

For McDaniel, the playoffs are the culmination of a weird season that saw Miami win three, lose three, win five, lose five, and now have won one. Miami managed to make the postseason despite crippling injuries to just about every position but none more glaring than at quarterback where the Dolphins have started three different quarterbacks this year.

Miami fans await word on whether or not Tua Tagovailoa will play this week. If he cannot, it will come down to Teddy Bridgewater or Skylar Thompson.

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