The Miami Dolphins may be limping through another frustrating season, but two analysts believe the story isn’t as simple as the standings suggest — and that head coach Mike McDaniel might actually deserve to stay.
Their case, laid out on The Athletic Football Show, paints a picture of a team that’s flawed, tired in many spots, but still fighting like crazy for a guy the locker room clearly hasn’t checked out on.
A Strange Season That Still Has a Pulse
The Dolphins fired their general manager in October, their quarterback situation looks worse than it did two seasons ago, and they’re several steps behind the rest of their division. Most teams in this position clean house before January arrives.
But this season hasn’t played out in the usual way.
Robert Mays admitted something he didn’t expect to say out loud: “I think I’m talking myself into keeping him.”
It sounds wild at first, but when you peel back the surface, there’s a surprising amount of logic behind it.
And honestly, teams that start 2-7 usually look like they’re sleepwalking by now. Miami does not.
Why McDaniel Still Has Backers
The Dolphins have gone 4-1 in their last five games.
That’s one small sentence — but it’s a huge part of this whole conversation.
During that stretch, they pummeled the Bills 30-13, rediscovered the run game, and suddenly looked like a group that remembers it can actually hit people in the mouth.
De’Von Achane has exploded for three straight 120-yard performances.
Jaylen Waddle has stepped into the WR1 role and looked comfortable doing it.
And most importantly: this team hasn’t folded.
Not even close.
Klassen put it plainly: “They don’t feel stale.”
One-sentence paragraph here for rhythm: that matters more than teams admit.
He compared it to the final stretch of the Pete Carroll-Seahawks era — a team that looked like it had no new tricks left.
Or late-era Mike Tomlin, where the brand still exists but feels tired.
Miami doesn’t feel like that.
It feels more like a team missing some crucial parts but still running the race.
The Personnel Problems Are Real — But Not Fatal
There’s no sugarcoating the roster issues.
The quarterback play hasn’t improved. If anything, it’s regressed.
The defense needs more than one or two reinforcements.
The offensive line has spent most of the season being held together with tape and hope.
Yet the coaching staff has kept Miami competitive with a roster that looks, frankly, incomplete.
One bullet point to highlight what McDaniel has been working with:
-
A defense that needs talent upgrades, a quarterback who’s lost confidence, and a front office reset already underway — but still a team competing harder than its record implies.
A tiny paragraph here: you can’t fake that kind of buy-in.
A Look at the Dolphins’ Late-Season Turnaround
Below is a table illustrating Miami’s shift over the last five games, which analysts have pointed to as evidence the coaching staff is still getting through:
| Category | Weeks 1–9 | Last Five Games | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record | 2–7 | 4–1 | Major improvement |
| Rush Yards (Achane) | Under 120 in 8 of 9 games | 120+ in 3 straight | Breakout stretch |
| Points Allowed Avg | 27.5 | 17.4 | Defensive progress |
| WR1 Production | Up-and-down | Waddle surges | Hill absent |
It’s not the résumé of a playoff team, but it is a résumé that suggests progress instead of decay.
How Analysts Reached This Unusual Conclusion
Mays acknowledged that in almost any other situation, “I’d be like, ‘Are you insane?’”
But the Dolphins appear to be in one of those weird spots where sticking with the coach could be the smartest move.
A single-sentence paragraph: very few teams lose their GM midseason but keep fighting this hard.
McDaniel’s offense still works when the pieces around it aren’t collapsing.
He’s shown he can scheme receivers open.
He’s built a team culture that isn’t rotting from the inside.
The analysts’ real point isn’t that McDaniel is flawless. It’s that Miami’s problems started long before this season — with roster construction, contract choices, and quarterback inconsistencies — and those issues won’t magically heal themselves by swapping coaches.
Klassen nailed it with one line: “They just don’t have enough players.”
You could almost hear the shrug in his voice.
Why Keeping Him Might Actually Make Sense
This whole situation feels like a weird football riddle — a losing record paired with obvious progress.
A frustrated fanbase paired with players who still look like they trust their coach.
If Miami upgrades the quarterback spot, settles the front office, and strengthens the defense, this same staff might win 10 or 11 games next year.
That’s the argument Mays and Klassen are making.
Another small one-sentence paragraph: it’s not blind optimism, it’s pattern recognition.
What happens next depends heavily on the new general manager and owner Stephen Ross, who hasn’t exactly been known for patience.
But firing a coach who has guided a broken roster to a competitive December feels like the kind of move teams regret a year later.
There’s a sense that this Dolphins team is one of those rare NFL cases where the record doesn’t tell the whole story.
One last short line within the body: sometimes a team fights hard enough to save its coach.
