Mike McDaniel Firing: Joe Rose Calls Out Tua Tagovailoa For Putting Dolphins HC on the Hot Seat

Anytime a hint of dissent rises amongst the ranks, that usually results in major issues for leadership, especially in the NFL. If you need an example, look no further than the Miami Dolphins.

A mixture of uninspired play calling, poor quarterback play, and bad locker room morale has resulted in the players and the coaching staff pointing fingers at one another through the media. Now, it has reached the point that their head coach, Mike McDaniel, as well as their QB1 in Tua Tagovailoa, both figure to be on the hot seat.

According to a former member of the team and current radio host, Joe Rose, the bulk of the blame for the mess in Miami should be placed on Tagovailoa, even if McDaniel was the one who advocated for his four-year $212.4-million contract.

“Mike McDaniel went to bat hard for Tua,” Rose recalled during his latest broadcast on 104.3 WQAM Sports.

“So it’s like, okay, you wanted him. You said he was a franchise quarterback; he’s the guy. Now we’ve got to see it. We haven’t seen it. We didn’t see it last year; he missed six games,” he added.

“We haven’t seen it in even a healthy guy who’s playing a lot more carefully, to put it nicely… He’s not playing at a high enough level. He doesn’t look like the guy from 2023. He doesn’t look like and throw the ball the same way; he just doesn’t,” concluded Rose, giving a reality check to Tua, who got solid backing from Mike.

After leading the league in passing yards in 2023, Tagovailoa’s production has steadily cratered. While part of that can be attributed to his concussions, the reality is that he’s been good for just as many turnovers as he has been touchdowns in recent times.

In his past 20 games, Tagovailoa has been sporting a 17:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio. If it wasn’t for Geno Smith, Tua would be the unchallenged front-runner for the interception title for the 2025 regular season.

Factor in the sheer amount of injuries that Miami has been plagued with, which includes a gruesome leg injury to Tyreek Hill, and there’s not much to look forward to in South Beach at this point. “I’ll give him credit, though,” Rose said about McDaniel. “I think Mike is always going to have a job as a coordinator.”

Although Rose did feel the need to clarify that “I’m still not convinced that works,” referring to McDaniel’s player-friendly approach to scheming and coaching. And that speaks volumes to the fact that, unless he’s able to bring about a miraculous end to the Dolphins’ 24-year losing record right now, McDaniel will almost certainly be packing his bags in a few months.