Report: Stephen Ross is ‘fond’ of Mike McDaniel, won’t make changes yet

It seems as if plenty of fans of the Miami Dolphins have run out of patience with head coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier.

Miami doesn’t have a single playoff victory during the duo’s time leading the franchise, and it is on pace to finish this season with one of the worst records in all of football.

To make matters worse, Miami is on the heels of a flat-out embarrassing loss to a Cleveland Browns team that headed into Sunday’s contest with just a 1-5 record. The Dolphins lost by a final score of 31-6 and didn’t score a single touchdown, but team owner Stephen Ross allegedly wants to give both McDaniel and Grier more time to figure things out.

Barry Jackson also noted that Ross is “fond” of both men.

Starting with McDaniel, it’s arguable that he doesn’t deserve any more extra chances to prove he’s the right coach for the job. Sunday’s Browns game was one of the Dolphins’ worst losses in a season that’s been marred by losing, and barring nothing short of a historic resurgence, Miami is set to miss the playoffs for the second season in a row with him patrolling the sidelines.

As for Grier, he’s been in his position far longer than McDaniel has, considering he’s served as the Dolphins’ general manager dating all the way back to the 2016 season. In that time, Miami has a subpar 76-79 record in the regular season and has won more than 10 games in a campaign just once, and that was in the 2023 season.

It would probably be in the best interest of the Dolphins’ future to cut both McDaniel and Grier loose sooner rather than later amid a calamitous campaign, but Jackson’s report suggests that might not happen, and the two could stick around longer than expected.

It should be interesting to find out if McDaniel has the Dolphins better prepared for their Oct. 26 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons compared to Sunday’s loss to Cleveland. Atlanta owns a decent 3-3 record on the season and is fresh off a loss to the San Francisco 49ers.