The Miami Dolphins have endured a prolonged period of inconsistency and frsutration over the past few seasons, failing to translate talent into sustained success. For context ,in 2022, under their then new head coach Mike McDaniel, they posted a 9-8 record and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but exited early with a Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills.
While the Dolphins have showed promise time and time again, they have not been able to achieve any sort of playoff success so far. So this makes us question, what’s really wrong with Miami and why are they always failing to achieve any kind of success despite a lot of talent in their roster? This undoubtedly also brings the question about if Mike McDaniel’s job security. Is he on the hot seat? Let’s find out more.
As we mentioned earlier, when the Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel had a 9-8 season when he was hired by Miami in 2022. The 2023 campaign showed promise with an 11-6 mark, led by an explosive offense featuring QB Tua Tagovailoa’s league leading passing yards and Tyreek Hill’s explosive plays. Yet, another Wild Card defeat, this time to the Kansas City Chiefs in freezing conditions, highlighted their postseason woes. These back-to-back appearances ended Miami’s 23-year playoff drought but only extended their longest active playoff winless streak in the NFL.
The 2024 season came with even further regression, as the Dolphins finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs entirely for the first time under McDaniel. Injuries plagued this team with QB Tagovailoa, who missed games due to concussions and hip issues. Since the Dolphins had not secured talented backups, this exposed even more vulnerabilities. Despite flashes of brilliance from Tyreek Hill and De’Von Achane, Miami just could not gather any momentum.
Coming into the 2025 season, signs of improvement isn’t really there thus far. Talents such as Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith were traded away, leaving the Dolphins at even worse position than they were in. Their Week 1 started with a disastrous Week 1 blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts, which only amplifies concerns.
All this ongoing struggle may have placed Mike McDaniel squarely on the hot seat, with analysts predicting he could be the first NFL coach that could be fired this season if Miami fails to secure a playoff win or even contend in the AFC East.
However, not all the struggle comes on McDaniel. While he may be a part of the problem, Miami’s front office also has a huge role to play. Not having a good or great backup QB and relying solely on Tua Tagovailoa was a grave mistake the front office made last season.
There’s a lot that needs change in Miami, but one thing’s for certain, McDaniel’s seat is getting hotter and hotter each game.
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