The Miami Dolphins are heading into an important Week 4 match against their rivals, the New York Jets. Mike McDaniel seems to be safe for now. While that could change, it's another coach who may find himself out of work.
Anthony Weaver's defense is not doing well. They have given up more than 30 points in each of their first three games. Depending on the metrics, the run and pass defense are ranked anywhere between the mid-20s and as low as 30.
Weaver isn't on the hot seat yet, but if pressure continues to mount for McDaniel, he may look at Weaver as the scapegoat to save his job.
Anthony Weaver was not set up to succeed in 2025, but he needs to find a way to do so with the Miami Dolpihns
Many believe that if McDaniel were to be fired mid-season, Weaver would be the natural replacement as the team's interim head coach.
That still could be the case, but it seems as though Stephen Ross isn't in a rush to replace his head coach. If that also holds true, a change on defense could buy McDaniel the rest of the season, and maybe the 2026 season as well.
Against the New England Patriots in Week 2 and the Buffalo Bills in Week 3, the Dolphins played much better on the offensive side of the ball, but defensively, they continued to struggle.
Miami is suffering from inexperience along the front line, and offenses are designing their blocking assignments to take away the speed off the edge. As a result, they can expose the deficiencies in the secondary.
To be fair, the secondary is getting better. Rasul Douglas is getting closer to understanding the system he has only been in for three weeks, while Jack Jones, who joined the team toward the end of training camp, is starting to acclimate more as well.
The chances of Weaver being fired are admittedly slim. McDaniel, if nothing else, isn't the type of person to fire someone from the roster with the hopes of saving his own job.
For Weaver, it may not be the risk of losing his job that is worrisome, but as a rising coach in the NFL ranks, he isn't going to get many looks for head coaching vacancies in the next cycle unless something changes.
Weaver had an opportunity to put an exclamation mark on his resume given the roster he was handed this year, but so far, the punctuation is instead a question mark.