Ex-Dolphins linebacker says Tyreek Hill needs a coach that won’t ‘coddle’ him

It’s safe to claim that Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel didn’t get the most out of wide receiver Tyreek Hill during the 2024 regular season.

Hill was still probably Miami’s best receiver, as he led the team in receiving yards and receiving yards per game across 17 games played. However, he saw his production take a major step back compared to the 2023 campaign.

Rob Ninkovich was a linebacker for the Dolphins as well as the New England Patriots, and he seems to think that Hill needs to play for a coach who won’t “coddle” him.

“I think Tyreek Hill .. might be a guy that needs a head coach like [Patriots head coach] Mike Vrabel,” Ninkovich said. “Somebody that’s going to stay on top of him, that’s going to say, ‘I don’t care what you’ve done in the past, you’re going to go out and perform, and you’re going to be on time, and we’re not going to coddle you.’

“I think down in Miami, maybe there was some of that coddling where he wasn’t on time. I think if you’re going to trade for Tyreek Hill, you have to make sure you have a coach that can stay on top of him and make sure that he’s doing all the right things.”

It’s worth mentioning that Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said he and McDaniel had “productive” conversations with Hill shortly after Miami’s season came to an end in disappointing fashion and the receiver heavily implied that he wanted out.

Even outside of Ninkovich’s comments, there are other reasons to suggest that perhaps the Dolphins should move on from McDaniel.

For one, McDaniel is fresh off his worst season since he became the head coach of the Dolphins. After Miami made the playoffs in each of his first two seasons leading the charge, the Dolphins finished the 2024 campaign with a record of 8-9 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

The campaign also marked Miami’s first losing season in some time. The last time the Dolphins finished a season with a record below the .500 mark came in the 2019 campaign when Brian Flores was their head coach. The team won just five of its 16 contests and ended up with the worst record of any team in the AFC East division.

Valid criticisms of McDaniel extend beyond how the 2024 regular season panned out for the Dolphins as well. Miami won nine and 11 games in McDaniel’s first two regular seasons coaching the team but didn’t win a single playoff game to show for all its regular-season success in that span.

The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000, and if Miami wants to snap that streak anytime soon, maybe it would be in the team’s best interest to have a new face as its head coach next season.