14 possible candidates to be the Dolphins' new head coach

5 days ago 2

The Miami Dolphins fired Mike McDaniel on Thursday morning, ending his tenure with a 35-33 regular season record and an 0-2 record in the playoffs.

The last Dolphins coach to finish five seasons with the team was Don Shula, who led Miami from 1970 to 1995. After a quarter-century with the Hall of Famer, the Dolphins have cycled through several other coaches, but have failed to get any further than the Divisional Round of the postseason.

With major changes coming for a franchise that is on the hunt for a new general manager and likely a new quarterback, here are 14 names who could be on the Dolphins' radar when they begin their hunt for a new head coach:

John Harbaugh (former Ravens coach)

It's possible the availability of Harbaugh spurred the Dolphins to fire McDaniel in the first place.

In 18 seasons with the Ravens, Harbaugh led the team to 180 regular season wins, 13 playoff wins, and a Super Bowl title. Within an hour of his dismissal, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported seven teams immediately called Harbaugh's agent to express their interest in the coach.

The 2019 AP NFL Coach of the Year is the clear-cut top candidate on the market and there's little reason to believe the Dolphins won't take a shot to land the big fish.

Kevin Stefanski (former Browns coach)

Stefanski was twice named the AP NFL Coach of the Year during his time in Cleveland, but ultimately, he struggled to overcome the Browns' Brownsiness.

With a revolving door of quarterbacks, the Browns had two 11-win seasons under Stefanski, but couldn't overcome their offensive struggles to find any consistency or postseason success.

Joe Brady (Bills offensive coordinator)

At just 30 years old, Brady earned the Broyles Award, recognizing college football's top assistant coach, as offensive coordinator of the Joe Burrow-led national champion LSU Tigers.

After a brief and unsuccessful stint with the Carolina Panthers, Brady joined the Bills' staff in 2022 as quarterbacks coach and became offensive coordinator during the 2023 season. With Brady at the helm, the Bills offense has reached new heights and Josh Allen earned NFL MVP honors for the first time in his career.

Ultimately, though, another young offensive mind without any head coaching experience might feel a tad too familiar for the Dolphins.

Jesse Minter (Chargers defensive coordinator)

While he's another young assistant with no head coaching experience, Minter could be the perfect candidate to get the most out of talented, young players like Chop Robinson and Kenneth Grant.

After spending time on John Harbaugh's staff earlier in his coaching career, Minter became Jim Harbaugh's defensive coordinator at Michigan in 2022. The Wolverines won a national championship mostly thanks to a dominant defense and Minter followed Harbaugh to Los Angeles in 2024.

The Chargers allowed the fewest points in the NFL last season and finished No. 9 in 2025.

Jon Gruden (former Raiders, Buccaneers coach)

The two-time Raiders head coach has been in a legal battle with the NFL for the last four years due to his claim that the league led "a malicious and orchestrated campaign" to ruin his career.

But in the time since his scandal-fueled resignation four years ago, Gruden's image has been largely rehabilitated. The Buccaneers reinstated the coach in their Ring of Honor earlier this year after removing him in 2021. The Saints hired Gruden as a consultant in 2023.

Would he be a good option to coach a football team, though? Gruden's Raiders were a mediocre 22-29 in his second stint with the team, although they improved in each of his seasons and reached the playoffs a few months after he stepped away.

Kliff Kingsbury (former Commanders offensive coordinator)

In his first three seasons as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, the franchise improved from a five-win team to an eight-win team to an 11-win playoff team. But the Cardinals were blown out in their only postseason appearance and unraveled a year later, finishing with a 4-13 record.

His time in Washington could earn him another shot soon, though.

While the wheels fell off for the Commanders in 2025, Kingsbury tailored the team's offense around his young quarterback's strengths and the team rode that success to the NFC Championship. Both Kyler Murray and Jayden Daniels earned Offensive Rookie of the Year honors with Kingsbury.

Mike McCarthy (former Packers, Cowboys coach)

McCarthy's résumé speaks for itself. In 13 years with Green Bay, the team was 125-77-2 in the regular season and won 10 playoff games, including Super Bowl XLV. In five seasons with Dallas, the team had a 49-35 record and reached the postseason three times.

It certainly helped that he was hired by the Packers one year after the team drafted future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He also inherited a Cowboys team that finished .500 or better in the four years before he took over and already had Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott leading the way.

Critics say McCarthy hasn't been the best at in-game decisions, which has included clock mismanagement. But those feel like distant concerns for the Dolphins at the moment.

Rex Ryan (former Jets, Bills coach)

It's been nearly a decade since Ryan coached in the NFL, but a report in October said the Dolphins were likely to hunt for a disciplinarian type if they moved on from McDaniel and specifically listed Ryan as a top contender for the job.

Ryan led one of the NFL's best defenses during his time as the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator and found immediate success after taking over as the Jets' head coach in 2009 with New York reaching the AFC Championship in back-to-back seasons. But the Jets faded and Ryan was fired after four seasons without a winning record.

A brief stint with the Bills wasn't much better with 8-8 and 7-8 records in his two seasons.

Steve Spagnuolo (Chiefs defensive coordinator)

More than a decade ago, Spags had a 10-38 record during a disastrous three-year tenure as the Rams' head coach.

Since then, his aggressive, blitz-happy approach has served the Chiefs well and earned him consistent praise as one of the league's best assistants. Kansas City went to the Super Bowl five times in his first six seasons with the team and won three of them.

Spagnuolo has expressed interest in a second shot at a head coaching gig, and the Jaguars and Jets interviewed Spagnuolo for their vacancies last year.

Bill Belichick (UNC coach)

Including postseason victories, Belichick is just 14 wins behind Don Shula for the most in NFL history. Belichick's six Super Bowl rings are two more than any other coach.

But the 73-year-old legend's legacy has taken a significant hit by his recent work. The Patriots slowly crumbled to ash in the years after Tom Brady exited, eventually resulting in Belichick being shown the door after a 4-13 season.

Now Belichick is in the college ranks and it's been a disaster. With his 24-year-old girlfriend never far from his side, Belichick led the Tar Heels to a 4-8 season.

Still, he's a shoo-in for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for a reason and his name will carry weight, especially for the owner of an AFC East team that suffered from Belichick's success. It's probably safe to call this one a long shot, though.

Jeff Hafley (Packers defensive coordinator)

Hafley spent time as a defensive backs coach with the Buccaneers, Browns, and 49ers before eventually becoming the head coach at Boston College. After a 7-6 season with the team in 2023, he chose to leave and take over the Green Bay defense.

His arrival coincided with an immediate improvement for the Packers defense that climbed from No. 17 in 2023 to No. 5 in 2024. Injuries slowed the unit down in 2025, but it still finished No. 11 in points allowed.

Vance Joseph (Broncos defensive coordinator)

Joseph already had one underwhelming shot at a head coaching job, leading the Broncos to an 11-21 record in two seasons before he was fired. But it's hard to blame him when John Elway provided him with Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch, Trevor Siemian, and Case Keenum at the quarterback position.

More than four years after his dismissal, Joseph returned to Denver as defensive coordinator and has overseen the unit become one of the NFL's best. Last year, the Broncos led the league in sacks and were No. 3 in points allowed. In 2025, they've been even better and led the NFL in sacks again with another No. 3 finish in points allowed.

Klint Kubiak (Seahawks offensive coordinator)

With Sam Darnold at the helm of his offense, Kubiak has turned the Seahawks offense into one of the NFL's most explosive and dangerous.

Seattle earned the NFC's No. 1 seed after scoring the third most points in the NFL. Prior to his time with the Seahawks, Kubiak bounced from the Vikings in 2021 to the Broncos in 2022 to the 49ers in 2023 and the Saints in 2024. The well-traveled assistant is already a hot name on the market with almost every team with a vacancy requesting an interview with Kubiak.

Chris Shula (Rams defensive coordinator)

The name will make Dolphins fans' ears perk up, but Shula isn't riding his name to jobs. Don Shula's grandson has made a name for himself with some impressive work in Los Angeles.

The 39-year-old defensive coordinator of the Rams worked his way up through the team's ranks after joining as an assistant linebackers coach in 2017. This season, in his second as the Rams' DC, Shula's unit was No. 10 in points allowed, forced the fifth most takeaways, and allowed a league-best eight touchdown passes.

This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: 14 possible candidates to be the Dolphins' new head coach

Read Entire Article