Different Twist for Preseason Finale

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel will take on a different role in the second half of the game.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel walks on the sideline against the Washington Commanders during the fourth quarter of a preseason game at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel walks on the sideline against the Washington Commanders during the fourth quarter of a preseason game at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
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The Miami Dolphins' preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night will feature a different twist.

Assistant head coach/tight ends coach Jon Embree will serve as the head coach for the second half, according to Mike Cugno, sideline reporter for the team's South Florida preseason broadcast team. The idea is to give Embree some experience in the event McDaniel has to miss a game during the regular season — for whatever reason.

McDaniel will still handle his role as a play-caller.

Embree is the assistant with whom McDaniel has the longest current working relationship. The two joined the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 — McDaniel from Atlanta and Embree from Tampa Bay.

Embree was assistant head coach and tight ends coach for five seasons in San Francisco before joining McDaniel in the same capacity in Miami in 2022.

Before coming to the NFL in 2013 as tight ends coach in Cleveland when McDaniel was wide receivers coach, Embree had been head coach at the University of Colorado for two seasons.

McDaniel's staff includes former Denver Broncos interim head coach Eric Studesville, who now serves as associate head coach/running backs coach.

PRESEASON PRECEDENT

The game tonight isn't the first time the Dolphins have done something like this in the preseason.

In 2007, Cam Cameron relegated his head-coaching duties for the preseason finale against the New Orleans Saints to tight ends coach Mike Mularkey and defensive coordinator Dom Capers. The Dolphins lost that game, 7-0, before embarking on a regular season ending in a disastrous 1-15 record.

Cameron was widely criticized for that move, though the circumstances were very different from what's going on with McDaniel now.

For one thing, Cameron was in his first year as an NFL head coach, whereas McDaniel is heading into his third season. For another, Cameron gave that preseason responsibility to two assistants who already had served as NFL head coaches, which doesn't apply here with Embree.

Assistant head coach/tight ends coach Jon Embree will serve as the head coach for the second half, according to Mike Cugno, sideline reporter for the team's South Florida preseason broadcast team. The idea is to give Embree some experience in the event McDaniel has to miss a game during the regular season — for whatever reason.


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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.