OPINION: Eagles should hire Mike McDaniel to boost offense
The fired Dolphins coach could offer a fresh perspective and innovation
From the Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/mkhh7xnz
PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles should immediately bring in Mike McDaniel as an offensive consultant — get him in the building now — as they did with Vic Fangio on defense at the end of the 2023 regular season.
Fangio eventually became D-coordinator, and the Eagles’ defense has established itself as a championship-level unit ever since.
McDaniel, whom the Miami Dolphins fired Thursday, didn’t pan out as a head coach in South Beach, but he got the most out of oft-injured, erratic quarterback Tua Tagovailoa before ultimately making a change. And his team played hard for him late in the year, when the writing was on the wall that he might be let go.
McDaniel, who looks more like a Brooklyn hipster than a football coach, is an offensive wizard from the cabal that includes Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. The Birds need someone like him.
Nick Sirianni has already said the Eagles have no in-season plans to replace rookie offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who has faced criticism all year for inconsistent results and a lack of creativity — and he’s right that it wouldn’t make sense to replace him just before the playoffs.
“We’re not changing the play caller, but we will evaluate everything,” Sirianni said. “It’s never just about one person. You win as a team, you lose as a team, and you try to evaluate everything.
“I have confidence in the entire group. If I thought it was one thing, I’d make those changes.”
Fine. But it definitely wouldn’t hurt to bring in a mind like McDaniel as a new voice.
From what quarterback Jalen Hurts said this week, he’d be OK with it.
“The season has just kind of gone the way it is,” Hurts said. “The approach this year, and how the games have been called with this coordinator — with coach KP — it’s just kind of gone that way. So I’ve taken it in stride and tried to give my best for whatever position I’ve been put in.”
Hurts was referring to his lack of QB runs, but his general feelings about Patullo seemed to leak in.
It may be too late in the week for McDaniel to have a major impact in the Wild Card round Sunday against the 49ers (4:30 p.m., FOX). But if the Eagles win — and that’s certainly not a given — he could be a big help going forward while also contributing some tidbits for Sunday.
Plus, McDaniel knows Shanahan’s system inside-out and could help Fangio, who also knows Shanahan, against San Francisco.
McDaniel’s best offensive season with the Dolphins came with a healthy roster in 2023, his second year as head coach and primary offensive architect. That season represented the full realization of McDaniel’s vision: speed everywhere, heavy pre-snap motion, explosive chunk plays and a run game that stressed defenses both horizontally and vertically.
Miami finished No. 1 in total offense and No. 2 in scoring, producing one of the most statistically dominant offenses of the past decade.
The Dolphins scored 496 points, an average of 29.2 per game, while piling up 6,822 total yards (401.3 per game).
The Dolphins also led the NFL in total touchdowns (61) and passing yards (4,514), pairing a prolific aerial attack with a complementary ground game that finished sixth in rushing yards (2,308) and first in rushing touchdowns (27).
On a per-play basis, the offense averaged 6.5 yards, second-best in the league, underscoring its week-to-week explosiveness rather than simple volume.
The positive stats go on forever, but this isn’t supposed to be an Excel spreadsheet.
Of course, if the Eagles do hire McDaniel and he eventually becomes OC, they’d run the risk of him leaving after a year for another head coaching job — perpetuating a seemingly endless cycle of coordinators that has been an issue throughout Hurts’ career.
On the other hand, can the Eagles afford not to bring him in?
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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc for the latest updates.