McDaniel the Choice as New Dolphins Head Coach

The Miami Dolphins have hired former 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel as their new head coach

Almost four weeks into their search for a new head coach, the Miami Dolphins have decided on Mike McDaniel.

The Dolphins officially announced early Sunday evening they had hired McDaniel, who worked last season as the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator, as the 11th coach in team history.

We have agreed to terms with Mike McDaniel. Welcome to Miami, Coach! pic.twitter.com/Hk5gIQsc6l

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) February 6, 2022

McDaniel and Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore both interviewed this weekend, as the Dolphins narrowed their search to offensive candidates amid reports they wanted a coach willing to work with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as well as keep most of the defensive coaches.

The 38-year-old, Yale-educated McDaniel has worked in the NFL since 2005 when he was an intern with the Denver Broncos and has worked for six teams.

McDANIEL'S COACHING CAREER TAKES OFF

But his career really took off when he became run game coordinator with the 49ers in 2017 after Kyle Shanahan was hired as head coach and brought McDaniel with him from Atlanta.

McDaniel was promoted to offensive coordinator by the 49ers last year after he interviewed for the same position with the Dolphins.

McDaniel was among seven candidates identified during the Dolphins' coaching search via reports because the team declined to publicly announce interviews.

Among the other identified candidates was Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who the New York Giants hired as their head coach, along with Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and Rams assistant head coach/running backs Thomas Brown.

The hiring of McDaniel, who is bi-racial, will mean the 49ers will get two third-round compensatory picks for having a minority candidate hired as a head coach.

For the Dolphins, they get the kind of offensive mind they were seeking, with McDaniel given credit for implementing a lot of the innovative ideas in the 49ers running game.

MAJOR PRAISE FOR MIKE McDANIEL

Earlier this week, both 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Jets head coach Robert Saleh (who worked with McDaniel in San Francisco) were effusive in their praise of the new Dolphins head coach.

"He is phenomenal," Saleh said at the Senior Bowl. "His mindset, the way he creates things, his creativity, his outside-the-box thinking, his ability to communicate with people, he's as good as they get. He's been with Kyle for longer than any of us have. He's been there since he and I were QCs sitting across from each other for the Houston Texans back in '06. He's brilliant. He's every bit as deserving to be a head coach and would not like him to come to the division."

"Obviously, I don't want to lose Mike," Shanahan said. "Mike, I think people made a bigger deal out of Mike this year because he had the (offensive coordinator) title all by himself. But Mike did the same thing this year he has been doing the last five years. So Mike's always been such a big part of what we do here. Yeah, he always focuses on the run game. That's his area of expertise, but Mike helps me in all aspects of offense. We brought Bobby Slowik, who kind of took a little bit of (New York Jets offensive coordinator Mike) LaFleur's role. But that didn't change what we do with Mike and he was just as big in 2019 and as he is this year. So Mike's always been good at what he does. He always will be and he deserves to get some of these opportunities people are talking about."

McDaniel replaces Brian Flores, who was fired Jan. 10 after three seasons with the Dolphins.