Ryan Clark Bluntly Blames Drafting Tua Tagovailoa as Reason Behind Mike McDaniel’s Miami Firing

Mike McDaniel’s 2025 NFL campaign as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach saw the team finish the season with a 7-10 record, which subsequently led to his firing after a postseason meeting with owner Stephen Ross.

McDaniel’s removal as the Miami-based franchise’s head coach can primarily be attributed to the team not making it to the playoffs for two consecutive years.

However, former NFL safety and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark has given a different reason that could have prompted the head coach’s firing.

While discussing Mike McDaniel’s departure from the Dolphins on the ESPN “First Take” show, Ryan Clark started by saying how McDaniel knows how to coach football, referencing the Dolphins’ strong performances in the season up until the Week 8-9 mark.

“Mike McDaniel, in my opinion, showed that he can coach football. Mike McDaniel showed that he could lead men. Where this team was at about week eight or week nine, and who I believe this team became at different parts of the last stretch of the season”, Ryan Clark began on the first take show (0:00).

He then opined that the signing of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was the moment that everything went downhill for the franchise. The 2020 NFL draftee was Miami’s fifth overall pick while also signing a massive four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in 2024.

“We are here today with the Miami Dolphins as an organization, because they drafted Tua Tagovailoa”, Clark stated (0:35).

“Not because Tua Tagovailoa isn’t talented, not because he didn’t deserve to be drafted there, but because of the injuries, because of some of what we’ve seen since he got his money”, he further elaborated (0:41).

Tagovailoa played 14 games for the Miami Dolphins in the 2025 NFL regular season, finishing with 2,660 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.

How Much Was Mike McDaniel Making as Dolphins’ HC?

Mike McDaniel concluded his latest spell with the Miami Dolphins after posting a 7–10 overall record.

During his tenure as the Dolphins’ head coach, he reportedly earned between $3.5 million and $4.5 million annually. He had also agreed to a contract extension with the Dolphins in 2024 that was meant to keep him in Miami through the 2028 season.

Because the organization moved on from him before his contract expired, the Dolphins are reportedly set to pay an estimated payout of around $12 million.