After one of the most controversial weeks in team history, the Miami Dolphins ended it on a good note by getting their coach.
Late Sunday afternoon, the Dolphins were in negotiations with Mike McDaniel for their head coaching position. The team interviewed McDaniel on Friday. The talks were finalized by Sunday evening with Miami announcing the hire via Twitter. The news was first reported by ESPN.
McDaniel, the now-former offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, has signed a four-year contract after impressing the team in a series of interviews. The first being a Zoom call early in the Dolphins offseason and the second one on Friday lasting most of the day. He will come in now with the task of guiding quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as he enters his third season the Miami’s franchise centerpiece. The offensive-minded McDaniel will also be tasked with expanding the roles of Tagovailoa’s three key passing targets in tight end Mike Gesicki and wide receivers DeVante Parker and Jaylen Waddle, who may be utilized in the same manner as Deebo Samuel was in San Francisco.
McDaniel will also benefit from the Dolphins defense, which has ranked in the top five in the NFL the last two seasons.
While McDaniel, who identifies as biracial, counts as a minority hire, it will likely not shake off the cloud of controversy surrounding the Dolphins and team owner Stephen Ross. As the racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL filed by McDaniel’s predecessor Brian Flores moves forward the team will be at the center of the legal drama. On top of that league commissioner Roger Goodell has stated the allegation in the lawsuit where Flores was offered an incentive by Ross to tank his first season in 2019 in the form of $100,000 for every loss will be investigated.
Should the allegation be proven true the NFL can lobby penalties on the Dolphins ranging from loss of draft picks to forceful ouster of Ross as team owner.