We’re officially smack dab in the middle of one of the wilder head coach carousels in recent memory, with 25 percent of the NFL’s 32 franchises now in the market for a head coach.
The latest team to make a change was the Miami Dolphins, who officially relieved Mike McDaniel of his duties after four seasons. Widely regarded as a brilliant and forward-thinking offensive mind, McDaniel figures to be a hot commodity in this hiring cycle, at the very least for a coordinator job.
The Cleveland Browns, of course, are one of the league’s eight teams currently interviewing candidates for their HC vacancy, after parting ways with Kevin Stefanski on Black Monday. It will be interesting to see if McDaniel joins Todd Monken, Arden Durde, and Dan Pitcher as outside candidates the Browns plan to speak to.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam knows McDaniel, as he was the Browns' wide receivers coach in 2014, during the Mike Pettine regime. He ended up leaving after one year to follow Kyle Shanahan to Atlanta and eventually San Francisco, before landing his head coaching gig with the Dolphins in 2022.
McDaniel could immediately have a suitor in the Browns, with longtime insider Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com confirming interest from Haslam, GM Andrew Berry, and the team on Thursday afternoon.
Mike McDaniel could be the bright mind the Browns need to fix their struggling offense
According to Cabot, the Browns “have long admired McDaniel’s brilliant offensive mind” and had been monitoring his uncertain situation with the Dolphins. “He’s been on their radar for some time,” she wrote, "and they will do their diligence on him now that he’s on the market.”
The #Browns are interested in Mike McDaniel, who was fired by the #Dolphins, for their head coach job. He was WR coach here under then OC-Kyle Shanahan in '14, and the Browns have long admired his brilliant offensive mind: https://t.co/DfNCXD9Hd1
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) January 8, 2026
It would make sense for the Browns to latch onto offensive-minded coaches this year, as it’s the personnel and scheme on that side of the ball that requires the most attention.
The Browns already have one of the best defenses in football, led by maybe the most dominant defensive player in NFL history in Myles Garrett; they also reportedly have defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz under contract through at least the 2026 season. A potential McDaniel-Schwartz pairing would likely receive immediate buy-in from a starving Browns fanbase.
Cabot pointed out McDaniel’s fast work in Miami, instantly infusing the Dolphins’ lineup with game-breaking speed, with a proven scheme to get those weapons in space with the football.
“In Miami, McDaniel quickly installed an aggressive, motion-centric scheme that emphasized spacing and timing. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa enjoyed the most productive stretch of his career under McDaniel, while receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle became the cornerstones of one of the league’s most explosive passing attacks. The Dolphins led the NFL in yards per play in 2022 and were among the league leaders in scoring when healthy.”
The McDaniel version of the Shanahan offense would be a welcomed change for Browns fans who’ve grown tired of Stefanski’s more heavy, old-school, outside-zone rushing scheme derived from his time with the Minnesota Vikings. The Browns already have an intriguing pair of running backs in Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson, a dynamic matchup nightmare at tight end in Harold Fannin Jr., and an explosive WR in Isaiah Bond.
But they need to add weapons on offense this offseason. That has to be a major priority for Berry and the front office, and a coach like McDaniel, who would presumably have a large say in who the team shops for both in free agency and the draft, only becomes more intriguing in that regard.
Is McDaniel perfect? Definitely not. His Dolphins teams became known for turtling in cold-weather games, the type of elements Browns fans know has home-field advantage. He’d have to prove to Browns’ leadership that he can build an explosive offense in Cleveland that doesn’t need sunny Florida weather or dome conditions to thrive.
It’s probably more likely that McDaniel lands somewhere as an offensive coordinator, and gets a second crack as a head coach further down the line. But as a former assistant the team knows and clearly respects, he can’t be ruled out as the Browns’ search forges on.