Mike McDaniel’s time as Miami Dolphins head coach is coming to an finish, believes Sky Sports activities NFL’s Jeff Reinebold.
The struggling Dolphins slumped to 1-6 and hit a brand new low on Sunday as they suffered a 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 100 yards and three interceptions earlier than being benched for seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers.
Miami’s collapse has fuelled query marks over the way forward for McDaniel, who’s in his fourth season with the staff and but to win a playoff sport.
“How deep will the cuts go? I’m a big believer in body language and I’m watching the game yesterday [Sunday] and McDaniel looks like a drowned rat on the sideline,” mentioned Reinebold on Contained in the Huddle. “He is acquired a hood pulled over his head. It is chilly. All the pieces about his physique language mentioned, ‘I don’t even wish to be right here’.
“After which much more of an indictment, his rookie quarterback who he put within the sport to exchange Tua was so dangerous, comes over to the sidelines and McDaniel would not even reply to him. The child walked proper previous him and did not know who he was. And I am pondering to myself: ‘Are you going to educate this child?’
“He regarded like he wished to be out of there. When you realize it is coming, you realize it is coming and he is aware of it is coming.
McDaniel had introduced himself as one of many NFL’s hottest offensive masterminds upon arriving from his put up as San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator in 2022.
He pulled the strings to an explosive offense that spearheaded a Tagovailoa and Tyreek-Hill-led facet in the direction of the playoffs, channelling his personal distinctive interpretation of the Shanahan-cultivated system to reignite Miami’s long-awaited return to Championship hope.
Miami would lose to the Buffalo Payments and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in back-to-back Wild Card exits, earlier than lacking out on the postseason with an 8-9 file final season. Queries over the way forward for each McDaniel and Tagovailoa had arose then, however the alarm bells have by no means been louder than they at present are.
“McDaniel needs to get away and process this whole thing,” mentioned Reinebold. “There have been some bad ends to guys. Head coaching opportunities are not his career because he’s going to have a career in football if he chooses to have a career in football.
“He simply seems fully misplaced when he goes to the rostrum after the sport, it’s apparent that he is misplaced his soccer staff, he is misplaced his quarterback. All the relationships that it’s good to construct to be a profitable head coach, the top coach and quarterback might be probably the most elementary one and crucial one.
“I thought Tua quit, he just capitulated. And that was an ugly experience. It needs to change and it needs to change fast.”
Tagovailoa admitted after Sunday’s defeat he was “not proud” of the place he was at as quarterback of the Dolphins, having now thrown 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions with a passer score of simply 82.8 to date this season .
Of the 2, it’s the quarterback whose job safety feels safer than that of McDaniel after signing a four-year $212.4m contract extension in 2024.
“Mike McDaniel’s gone,” mentioned Sky Sports activities NFL’s Neil Reynolds. “That’s going to happen. That’s irreversible right now. My bigger question is what do they do moving forward at quarterback? Tua Tagovailoa threw three interceptions, one out of his own end zone, which was just the most careless pick you’ll ever see.
“And that is not the primary time this season. However he is a kind of $50m-per-year quarterbacks and he is assured it doesn’t matter what occurs. He is assured $54m subsequent yr by the Dolphins who’re formally in freefall.
“Sometimes I often wonder, and we all wonder, what’s the point? Why do you have an interim head coach? Why do you do it now in October or why do you do it at the end of September?
“The top is close to and it is simply dragging. It seems worse and worse for the franchise and the spiral will get an increasing number of profound. They simply acquired to tear the band-aid off proper now.”
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