Building Up: Dolphins New Head Coach
Dolphins new head coach, Mike McDaniel. Credit: https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/49ers/49ers-mike-mcdaniel-officially-named-dolphins-head-coach
February 8, 2022
The Miami Dolphins announced Sunday that they have officially hired the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator, Mike McDaniel to be their new head coach after the previous one was fired.
This is McDaniel’s first time being a head coach. He is coming from back-to-back winning seasons, but he hasn’t made playoffs since 2016 or won his division since 2008. He is also the first minority hire, Miami choosing him over the Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator.
The new head coach spent five seasons with the 49ers, spending four of them as their run game coordinator (2017-2020) and one as their offensive coordinator (2021).
McDaniels will be filling the hole left by previous coach, Brian Flores, who filed a lawsuit against the NFL and specifically the Broncos, Dolphins, and Giants. Relating specifically to the Dolphins, he alleged that Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross told him that he would pay $100,000 for every loss during the 2019 campaign in order for them to secure the top pick in 2020 NFL Draft. Although, this was used by the Cincinnati Bengals (who are going to play in the 2022 Super Bowl) to select Joe Burrow.
The Dolphins denied Flores’ allegations and Ross even went as far as issuing a statement in which he called the claims “false, malicious, and defamatory.” Over his three seasons with the team, Flores led them to a 24-25 record.
McDaniel’s most pressing priority currently is to build up the Dolphins offense. Rapoport reported that third year QB Tua Tagovailoa is expected to be the Dolphins’ starter for their next season. However, he could bring some major improvement for Miami’s rushing attack.
The new head coach does need to build up his own staff, but plans to keep many of the defensive assistants under contract; especially defensive coordinator Josh Boyer.
This first time coach will definitely have to put a lot of work in this season, but he does have some promising talent including wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, cornerback Xavien Howard, defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, and safety Jevon Holland.
