The Slow Motion Trainwreck That is the Dolphins Right Now is the Best Part of the 2025 Preseason

Wesley Hitt. Getty Images.

Three short years ago, it was going to be all so simple. Everything was going according to plan. The Miami Dolphins a couple of seasons removed from whiffing as they illegally tampered with Tom Brady. But by 2022, they had it all. A franchise quarterback in his second year as a starter. The media darling head coach who not only understood the assignment, he looked and talked like Silicon Valley CEO getting interviewed in Wired about a holistic approach to management and achieving work/life balance. Plus they had arguably the best receiver in the game in Tyreek Hill, happy to have escaped from Kansas City and landed in the perfect destination for him. And he would go on to respond with back-to-back career years. 

That was then. This is now:

“Take De‘Von [Achane] out on third down — what? That’s my honest opinion. If it’s 3rd & short, he’s not a power back. I keep telling him that in the locker room, but he swears he’s a power back. I love De’Von, but if I’m being honest like that’s why you got Jaylen Wright, that’s why you got Ollie Gordon II, for those kind of situations.”

“I thought it was genius reporting by Tyreek, seeing how we had a short-yardage period that very day that you guys were in attendance for, and his suggestion was I guess congruent with [running backs coach Eric] Studesville — that’s exactly how we repped the backs in that short-yardage period that very day. But we thought it was funny that he reported the news that wasn’t news on that practice day in that short-yardage period that you guys were all there, too, for.”

Bear in mind that all this is coming 10 months after the wheels started to come off of this relationship:

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And we may be getting to the point where not only do the wheels come off, but the whole car falls apart Looney Tunes-style, and McDaniels is left sitting in the road holding just the steering wheel like Daffy Duck. His record is 28-23 over his three seasons. Marginally better than the 24-25 Brian Flores achieved with a much less stacked roster. All of which has McDaniels as the early leader in the 2025 Hot Seat Derby:

Pro Football Talk -  1. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel.

Even at a time when everyone is 0-0 and all teams have plausible hope, it feels like the window has closed for a Dolphins team that could end up flying straight into the glass in 2025.

There’s dysfunction. There’s turmoil. There’s an unsettled situation with a star player who received a market-level contract in September 2024, and another star player who has said he wants out and who may feel the same way all over again if the 2025 season starts poorly. …

[C]an they shed the narrative (as confirmed by linebacker Jordyn Brooks) that they go soft as the weather turns cold?

Ultimately, it comes down to whether Stephen Ross will demand a major change if 2025 ends up being another disappointing season.

Thirty years ago, the late Jets owner Leon Hess fired Pete Carroll after one season by saying this, “I’m 80 years old. I want results now.”

Stephen Ross is five years older than Hess was when he said that.

Of course it is way early for such talk. After all, the Dolphins put on a respectable finishing kick of 6-3 after a buttugly start to 2024. Hill might be a thorn in his coach's side, but a guy who had 1,799 yards and 13 TDs in 2023 can get away with having strong opinions about how the offense should be run. 

Still, this is dysfunction. This is turmoil. McDaniel is caught between the Scylla and Charbdis of each. Navigating through the tricky waters between the two is where coaches succeed or fail. Anyone can look like the Big New Thing in pro football when everything is going perfectly. Now we'll get to see if a guy who looks like he should be putting a Meditation Room in the office and organizing Friday afternoon Foosball tournaments is built to handle the challenge. If Hill gets traded - and some of the NFL Rumor Bots on X have him going to Washington for Terry McLaurin - we'll know that this coach couldn't. 

Regardless, this weird drama is the most fun thing that's happened in the NFL since the draft. Here's hoping it continues all season.