Don Shula. Jimmy Johnson. Dave Wannstedt. These are some of the men who have led the Miami Dolphins to the postseason over the existence of the franchise. Now, that task is handed over to the 14th coach in the team’s history: Mike McDaniel.
Mike McDaniel?
While he may look and sound like the man who should be doing your taxes, McDaniel comes to South Florida with an impressive offensive resume that includes a Super Bowl run with the Atlanta Falcons and a near-Super Bowl appearance this past season with the San Francisco 49ers.
With the 49ers, he was one of the architects behind an offense that finished seventh in the NFL in total offense with such stars as tight end George Kittle and all-around offensive machine Deebo Samuel - two players whose style looks a lot like some players currently in aqua and orange.
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The decision to bring the 38-year-old to the Dolphins is also going to be a questionable one for a simple reason: he could easily be the answer or easily be a complete failure and no one knows what the answer will be.
While he was the offensive coordinator for the 49ers this past season, he was not the one calling the plays - meaning he was trusted with the offense the entire time…except when the games counted.
He comes to a team with questions at quarterback (is Tua Tagovailoa the real answer?) and offensive line (can they get five guys who know how to play?) while also not being asked to not screw up a defense that was in the top half of the NFL statistically this past regular season.
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All eyes will be on the newest leader of the Fins since he’s taking over for a man suing the team. Brian Flores, who led the team for three seasons and had straight winning records, is claiming racist hiring practices by the league while also suing the Dolphins and several other teams.
Can McDaniel be the kind of coach to lead the Dolphins back to playoff glory? Sure. Can McDaniel be the kind of coach to fall flat on his face like such other names as Cam Cameron and Joe Philbin? Sure.
At this rate, only time will tell whether it was the right move to cut ties with yet another coach and give another one a chance with such little experience.
