The Miami Dolphins have added Hall of Fame quarterback and ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Troy Aikman to aid in their search to replace former general manager Chris Grier. The move comes as owner Stephen Ross looks to people outside the Dolphins organization to provide a different point of view about what the team needs and how they can move forward.
Aikman was highly critical of Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel during the team’s Week 15 Monday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Miami trailed 28-3 in the fourth quarter of the game, but put two late touchdowns on the board to lose 28-15. Aikman repeatedly called out McDaniel and the Dolphins’ offense for having no sense of urgency, taking nearly the full play clock between snaps on every play.
On Friday, McDaniel was asked if he has a relationship with Aikman and how the hire may or may not impact McDaniel’s job security with the Dolphins. The coach replied, “I can answer your first question with, yeah, I was in conversations that I won’t share beyond with ownership. I was aware and I’m not opposed to more information ever. I think prioritizing the importance of a decision, you educate yourself and I think Troy Aikman speaks for himself in terms of his relationships that he’s had within the National Football League and knows a lot of things. Information is a positive to me and being able to resource that, I think we’re fortunate. I’m excited for that. As far as everything else, again, I’m not going to spend one second of this job prioritizing what my job is under some other ‘does this work for me.’ My priority is I’m the head coach and I’m going to take those responsibilities as they relate to everybody involved in the organization. I’m going take to those serious and focus on that. I’m not joking, lying, misleading. I don’t think about all those questions ever. It’s a waste of my time and I don’t try to waste my time or other people’s.”
After being asked about the criticism from Aikman during the Monday night broadcast, McDaniel shook it off, answering, “No, that stuff doesn’t hit me – when I signed up for this job, this just in and when things work, people will applaud; when they don’t work, they’ll have critiques. And if I expect anything else, that’s a level of entitlement that doesn’t really hit me correctly. It’s kind of the nature of the biz. So you’re telling me he didn’t like us not scoring points and taking up too much time? Neither did I, that was not the intent. He’s doing his job, and when I signed up for this job it was inherent that results will dictate all narratives regardless of if things were good, bad or whatever. It doesn’t bother me in the least. As a matter of fact, I think it would be funny if it did.”
Media reports continue to indicate no decision on the future of McDaniel as the Dolphins head coach have been made. Some reports suggest he will be back in 2026, working with the new GM, while others lean toward his replacement as Miami cleans house this offseason and starts a new rebuild.
