Coach Mike McDaniel has gone from near-lock to be fired to very much back in the conversation to stay in Miami beyond this season. A dominant win over the Bills and a nervy escape against the Saints have pushed the Dolphins to 5-7 and, more importantly, shown owner Stephen Ross that the locker room is still playing hard for its head coach.
As ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported earlier this month, it is now viewed inside the league as a plausible scenario that McDaniel is still on the Dolphins’ sideline in 2026, provided this late push continues.
That theme was reinforced by colleague Dan Graziano, who said there are “several people in the league” who believe McDaniel could be saving his job with a strong finish.
Per Graziano, Miami made the dramatic move of firing long-time GM Chris Grier at a low point in the season but chose to keep McDaniel, who remains popular in the building and with ownership.
With the team heading into a transition period and this year’s head-coaching candidate pool not seen as especially deep, Graziano reports that Dolphins ownership still thinks McDaniel can succeed and that it “would not be a shock” to see him coaching the team in 2026.
Miami nearly coughed up a 16-0 lead, and Tua Tagovailoa finished with modest numbers and a bad interception, but he stood at the podium afterward and took the heat on himself, saying the execution and distribution “starts with me” as he owned the late-game stall.
That kind of accountability, combined with a defense that is still fighting and a scheme players believe in, is part of McDaniel’s argument to stay.
The margin is still razor-thin. At 5-7, Miami needs wins, not vibes. But with ownership skeptical of the alternatives and national insiders openly talking about McDaniel “saving his job,” the idea of him surviving into 2026 is no longer far-fetched.
If the Dolphins turn this mini-spark into a real run, the loudest rumors in January might not be about firing McDaniel, but about who he wants as the next GM to help finish the reboot.
