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Tight end Darren Waller said he was having his exit meeting with coach Mike McDaniel when owner Stephen Ross interrupted to fire McDaniel last week.
Waller was appearing on Johnny Manziel’s podcast when he described being at “the scene of the crime.”
“I think I was the last person that saw him before he got fired,” Waller said.
Waller said his meeting was from 9:30 to 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, and McDaniel had told Waller he wanted him back in 2026.
“And we’re talking for like 10 minutes,” Waller said, before Ross “kicked the door in at like 9:42.”
Waller continued with what happened next:
“And he comes in, like joins the conversation. We’re talking, reflecting on the year. And Stephen Ross is like, ‘Well, are you back next year?” And then the conversation kind of hits a lull and he’s just — I’m sitting across the desk from Mike and Stephen Ross is standing there just kind of looking at me.”
Waller took it as a hint he should leave so Ross and McDaniel could have a private conversation.
“I go downstairs and get a massage. I come up from the massage, check my phone. He’s fired.”
Until that point, McDaniel had operated the way a coach does when he expects to return. He’d conducted the NFL-mandated exit news conference with beat reporters after the final game. He even told reporters that day he would participate in the club’s search for a general manager. And he was doing exit interviews with players.
Since being fired, McDaniel has been interviewed for head coaching jobs with the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans and is scheduled to talk with the Detroit Lions about their offensive coordinator position.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins' Darren Waller: Stephen Ross kicked door in, fired Mike McDaniel
Continue reading...
Waller was appearing on Johnny Manziel’s podcast when he described being at “the scene of the crime.”
“I think I was the last person that saw him before he got fired,” Waller said.
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Waller said his meeting was from 9:30 to 10 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, and McDaniel had told Waller he wanted him back in 2026.
“And we’re talking for like 10 minutes,” Waller said, before Ross “kicked the door in at like 9:42.”
Waller continued with what happened next:
“And he comes in, like joins the conversation. We’re talking, reflecting on the year. And Stephen Ross is like, ‘Well, are you back next year?” And then the conversation kind of hits a lull and he’s just — I’m sitting across the desk from Mike and Stephen Ross is standing there just kind of looking at me.”
Waller took it as a hint he should leave so Ross and McDaniel could have a private conversation.
“I go downstairs and get a massage. I come up from the massage, check my phone. He’s fired.”
Until that point, McDaniel had operated the way a coach does when he expects to return. He’d conducted the NFL-mandated exit news conference with beat reporters after the final game. He even told reporters that day he would participate in the club’s search for a general manager. And he was doing exit interviews with players.
Since being fired, McDaniel has been interviewed for head coaching jobs with the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans and is scheduled to talk with the Detroit Lions about their offensive coordinator position.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins' Darren Waller: Stephen Ross kicked door in, fired Mike McDaniel
Continue reading...
