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The day after the NFL regular season ends, a.k.a. Black Monday, is often when coaches get fired. The Miami Dolphins deviated from that script a bit with their dismissal of Mike McDaniel.
While the team publicly backed both McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier just a few hours after the team's 2024 season finale, no such endorsement came for the coach after a Week 18 loss earlier this month. And when McDaniel told reporters that he'd play a role in the Dolphins' hunt for a new GM, it seemed his spot with the team was safe.
Then, abruptly, the Dolphins reversed course and fired McDaniel on a Thursday, four days after their season ended.
On a podcast with former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, Darren Waller revealed just how fast that rug got pulled out from under McDaniel. According to the tight end, he was in the middle of a meeting when Dolphins owner Stephen Ross stopped it short to give McDaniel the boot.
"I was at the scene of the crime, bro," Waller told Manziel. "I think I was the last person that saw [McDaniel] before he got fired. My exit meeting was that Thursday morning from 9:30 to 10. We were talking for like 10 minutes and he was like 'Yeah, we definitely want you back next year.' We were just reflecting on the year and talking about things we'll do different. Then Stephen Ross kicks in the door at like 9:42. He just joins in on the conversation, we're all talking, just reflecting, and Stephen Ross was like 'I'd love to have you back next year.'
"Then the conversation just hits a lull and, I'm sitting across the desk from Mike, and Stephen Ross is just standing there looking at me like -- I looked at Mike and he was like 'We'll finish the conversation later.' They had the GM search in full flow, I didn't know what, they had big business to talk about. Like we're really already done here, we're just powwowing. So I go out of the meeting, I go downstairs and get a massage. I come out of my massage, check my phone and he's fired. I'm like damn. This [expleitve] cold, for real."
In a statement, Ross wrote that after "extensive discussions," he decided the team needed "comprehensive change" and that included a new head coach. The Dolphins had a 35-33 record during McDaniel's four-year tenure with two trips to the playoffs.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Darren Waller: Dolphins owner cut off meeting to fire Mike McDaniel
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While the team publicly backed both McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier just a few hours after the team's 2024 season finale, no such endorsement came for the coach after a Week 18 loss earlier this month. And when McDaniel told reporters that he'd play a role in the Dolphins' hunt for a new GM, it seemed his spot with the team was safe.
Then, abruptly, the Dolphins reversed course and fired McDaniel on a Thursday, four days after their season ended.
On a podcast with former Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, Darren Waller revealed just how fast that rug got pulled out from under McDaniel. According to the tight end, he was in the middle of a meeting when Dolphins owner Stephen Ross stopped it short to give McDaniel the boot.
"I was at the scene of the crime, bro," Waller told Manziel. "I think I was the last person that saw [McDaniel] before he got fired. My exit meeting was that Thursday morning from 9:30 to 10. We were talking for like 10 minutes and he was like 'Yeah, we definitely want you back next year.' We were just reflecting on the year and talking about things we'll do different. Then Stephen Ross kicks in the door at like 9:42. He just joins in on the conversation, we're all talking, just reflecting, and Stephen Ross was like 'I'd love to have you back next year.'
"Then the conversation just hits a lull and, I'm sitting across the desk from Mike, and Stephen Ross is just standing there looking at me like -- I looked at Mike and he was like 'We'll finish the conversation later.' They had the GM search in full flow, I didn't know what, they had big business to talk about. Like we're really already done here, we're just powwowing. So I go out of the meeting, I go downstairs and get a massage. I come out of my massage, check my phone and he's fired. I'm like damn. This [expleitve] cold, for real."
In a statement, Ross wrote that after "extensive discussions," he decided the team needed "comprehensive change" and that included a new head coach. The Dolphins had a 35-33 record during McDaniel's four-year tenure with two trips to the playoffs.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Darren Waller: Dolphins owner cut off meeting to fire Mike McDaniel
Continue reading...
