Perhaps head coach Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers were keeping a pulse on what happened with the New York Jets and their then-head coach, Robert Saleh, upon entering the 2024 season.
After all, the Niners didn't exactly hesitate to bring Saleh back as defensive coordinator once Gang Green fired him amid a slew of changes in the Big Apple.
Maybe San Francisco is doing something similar with another head coach, Mike McDaniel of the Miami Dolphins.
Perhaps even more extremely than Saleh a year ago, McDaniel finds himself on the head-coaching hot seat, at least according to Pro Football Focus, who used the former 49ers offensive coordinator as the list's headliner of coaches who are feeling such heat entering 2025.
PFF's rationale is as follows:
"When the Dolphins hired McDaniel before the 2022 season, they sought an innovative head coach who could help the franchise finally break a decades-long playoff win drought. While the first element of that has come true — Miami ranks ninth in offensive success rate and 13th in EPA per play during McDaniel’s tenure — the results haven’t followed.
McDaniel has amassed a 28-23 mark in South Beach, but his two trips to the playoffs have yielded zero wins, with the most recent appearance a 19-point loss to the Chiefs. Questions about Miami’s play down the stretch (7-13 record from Week 13 onward) and in cold weather have continued to loom."
December and January football haven't been too kind to McDaniel and the Dolphins, which prompts questions about his longevity there.
However, would a potential end-of-2025 firing prompt Shanahan to consider a reunion?
Would 49ers entertain hiring back Mike McDaniel?
Currently, the Niners' offensive coordinator is Klay Kubiak, a rising name in NFL ranks who shockingly called plays at points last year in place of the always-called-plays-previously Shanahan.
Kubiak might end up being plucked away by another head coach-needy squad in 2026, just as McDaniel was originally plucked away by Miami in 2022.
So, as was the case with Saleh's return earlier this offseason, Shanahan could be closely monitoring how things go out in South Florida this season to see if McDaniel finds himself on the outs amid another late-season disappointment.
It isn't as if McDaniel and Shanahan aren't close. Prior to the former's departure in 2022, the two had coached together since their time with the Washington Redskins in 2011.
Perhaps they could again, at least if PFF's hot-seat list cranks up the heat.
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