Shortly after the 2024 season, we predicted the 2025 campaign could be Mike McDaniel's last season with the Miami Dolphins to prove he belongs in the NFL as a head coach. That hasn't changed.
The Dolphins are in an interesting situation heading into 2025. They have a horrible cornerback room that will be made worse with the inevitable trade of Jalen Ramsey. They could deplete their tight end room by trading Jonnu Smith. Miami has attempted to fix areas of need on the roster, but they have created holes at others.
Needless to say, this is not a roster built for competitive balance on both sides of the ball. Miami's offense should be fine provided McDaniel can adapt to the defensive changes throughout the season, but his defense is going to be reliant on the health of a couple linebackers coming off injury.
Over on PFF.com, McDaniel is one of 10 head coaches who they believe will enter the season on the hot seat. There is no question that McDaniel should be worried about his job.
The question is whether or not he is being set up to fail, or if these offseason moves will buy him another season with Stephen Ross? What is working well for McDaniel is that he is a well-defined "yes-man," and that is something both Ross and Chris Grier like.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the previous coaches who have lost jobs under Grier. Adam Gase was a "yes-man" until he decided to air his laundry and displeasure at both the owner and GM outside the locker room in his final season with the Dolphins. He was fired a few weeks later.
Brian Flores was supposed to simply go along with the rebuild plan, but he wouldn't follow. Inevitably, his desire to push back was the catalyst for leaving. So far, McDaniel has yet to push back on anything.
Mike McDaniel's tenure with the Miami Dolphins could be defined by the Jalen Ramsey situation
It won't be long before Ramsey is out the door and playing somewhere else. It will be interesting to eventually learn what transpired between Ramsey and McDaniel.
We have been led to believe he has simply wanted to play for a winning team, but there is growing speculation that he was a problem in the locker room and not the leader most fans have believed him to be.
The friction between the two has come to a point where the Dolphins no longer want to continue with Ramsey, and vice versa. This creates an interesting problem.
McDaniel needs Ramsey in the secondary. He is their best player behind the linebackers, but clearly they can't work together, and neither wants to be around the other. The irony is that trading Ramsey could make it harder for McDaniel to keep his job.
In the end, how will McDaniel be remembered should he lose his job later this year? It started out great. It was exciting and fun, another offensive guru with the intelligence to turn a team around, but after three seasons, two playoff trips, and no wins, this could be the end.