To everyone outside of the Miami Dolphins organization, Mike McDaniel was never truly safe. Inside the building may have been a different feel, but ultimately, the only one who didn't see it all coming down the way it did was the head coach.
Reports indicated that McDaniel was shocked by the development. How he couldn't see the possibility is what is shocking. Ian Rapoport, however, took it to another level. He wasn't just shocked, he was telling everyone he was safe.
From our breaking news segment on @NFLNetwork: The #Dolphins fired coach Mike McDaniel, a surprise move for everyone involved. What does it mean and what now? pic.twitter.com/8bAPy64LTI
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 8, 2026
Mike McDaniel told his coaching staff he was safe and likely to stay with the Miami Dolphins
Maybe McDaniel did think he was safe. Up until a few days ago, Stephen Ross was expected to keep the HC, a guy he likes. A meeting on Tuesday seems to have changed that. Ross no longer felt comfortable with the direction his team was going.
The owner fired McDaniel on Thursday morning. He is not expected to replace him until after the GM search is concluded, at the time of this writing, that is expected to be by Friday afternoon.
The worst part in all of this is the fact that McDaniel has always been likable. His relationship with the media has never been contentious, and he has stayed relatively grounded through the entire process, but things were definitely changing, and his job had to be one of them.
Miami has one of the toughest schedules next season, making it imperative that Ross finds the right coach for the team as soon as possible. If he can at least start to change the team's approach and get the players ready to play, he will at least change the trajectory of the team.
McDaniel's time with Miami will be viewed as mixed. His first two seasons were incredibly fun, but the early playoff exits and slow starts were hard to swallow. In 2023, the defense was decimated by injuries that would curtail a run for the AFC East title, which ultimately ended with the Bills on top of the division.
It was stretches like this and game plans against bad teams that were problematic. The team's third-quarter struggles were hard to take, and McDaniel fumbled his way through the halftime adjustments since the day he got to Miami. A good OC, McDaniel couldn't turn things around when the game took a turn that forced him to change as well.
The fact that he told all of his coaches that he felt safe makes it harder from a human side of things, but from the business side, Ross really didn't have much of a choice.