Following the loss to the Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was shown walking away from the field and toward the locker room. He looked dejected.
For a moment, it was hard not to feel sorry for him. He is, after all, a very likable guy. He is funny, cerebral, astute, but he is also over his head.
McDaniel is everything Stephen Ross wanted in a head coach, but he is about to lose the only thing left that is keeping his job alive: the locker room.
Mike McDaniel has to figure out what he is missing, or he will lose his most prized possession
McDaniel is the guy who fans can gravitate toward. No, seriously, put down the pitchfork and listen. His approach to the game is something few coaches possess. He relates to the players, but more importantly, McDaniel is a fan's kind of coach.
Before we jump to the "Why he has to go" part of our segment, let's really look at how many of us were him. He rode his bike to watch NFL practices in Denver. You would have too; some of us tried to. He collected autographs, made friends, got his face noticed...as a fan. Something we all wish we could have done.
It launched his love for the game in a direction that many of us gave up when we realized that our genetic coding didn't add up to being a 6-6 defensive end.
McDaniel was all of us, at one time. Now, he is the guy we all want out of Miami. His approach has worn thin with fans, the first of whom fell in love with him. He will soon lose his players and locker room. That will be the catalyst for losing the owner.
The Dolphins head coach is failing because he isn't learning. His offense is predictable, his play-calling stale.
McDaniel will never blow up with Ross. Never. It's not in his nature. He respects Ross, and Ross, in turn, respects McDaniel. This is, however, the NFL, and as we all know, once the locker room is lost, there is nothing an owner can do but make the move he doesn't want to.
This is McDaniel's last opportunity. Once the locker room is gone, so is he.
Most of these players, if not all of them, want to see him stay. They stand at a podium and tell the media that they are the ones who need to figure it all out, but they are not the ones who are facing the unemployment line.
The chances of McDaniel making it out of the 2025 season with his job intact are minute. In fact, it's so small that the odds of him making it out of the next several weeks are low.
There is a smoldering ember inside the Miami Gardens complex. In the shadows of Hard Rock Stadium, McDaniel's career is slowly fading while the locker room glows with the light of that flickering little ember. It's a powder keg being kept away from the flame by inexperience. The youth movement of this team doesn't know any better, but that is close to changing.
NFL players love money, but they will all tell you they hate losing more. The Dolphins are losing, and there is no magical bean that will save their season or McDaniel's job, especially if that ember gets closer to this open can of gasoline.