MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Mike McDaniel has been named the next head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Miami announced the hire Sunday night.
The first-time head coach spent the previous five seasons as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers, including last season as offensive coordinator.
He replaces Brian Flores, who was fired by the Dolphins after three seasons despite leading the team to winning records each of the past two years.
McDaniel, 38, helped the 49ers reach the NFC Championship game this season before losing to the Los Angeles Rams. He was the run game coordinator for the 49ers from 2018-20, which included San Francisco's appearance in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium.
Prior to becoming a run game specialist for the 49ers in 2017, McDaniel spent two seasons as an offensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons. He was the receivers coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2014 and the Washington Redskins in 2013.
McDaniel began his NFL career in 2005 when he was hired as intern by then-Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan. His first NFL coaching job came a year later when he joined the Houston Texans as an offensive assistant.
After spending two years in the now-defunct United Football League, McDaniel returned to the NFL in 2011 as an offensive assistant under Shanahan in Washington. He was promoted to receivers coach in 2013.
McDaniel's hire by the Dolphins has even more significance considering his predecessor's allegations of racist hiring practices within the NFL.
Just last week, Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams — the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos — alleging racist hiring practices for coaches and general managers, claiming the league remains "rife with racism" even as it publicly condemns it.
McDaniel, who is biracial, becomes the first minority hire of the current coaching cycle.
He'll be tasked with trying to develop quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 draft — and leading the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Colorado native played college football at Yale, where he graduated with a degree in history, but did not play professionally.
