After Mike McDaniel's firing, the Dolphins could pursue John Harbaugh or another experienced coach

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins continued an organizational reboot on Thursday, firing coach Mike McDaniel amid an ongoing search for a new general manager.

Miami owner Stephen Ross will be looking for his fourth head coach since 2018.

“After careful evaluation and extensive discussions since the season ended, I have made the decision that our organization is in need of comprehensive change,” Ross said in a statement Thursday morning.

There were plenty of indications that a change of some sort would be necessary as Miami's 2025 season unfolded, and Ross parted ways with longtime general manager Chris Grier after a Week 9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Now, following the decision to move on from McDaniel after four seasons, the Dolphins will likely face another full rebuild after gutting their roster in 2019 and stockpiling draft picks.

Miami lost six of its first seven games and finished 7-10, missing the playoffs for a second straight year. Star receiver Tyreek Hill suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 4, and struggling former first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa was benched by the end of the season.

The Dolphins opened the season with 33-8 drubbing by Daniel Jones and the Colts, a game in which they looked unprepared and did little on either side of the ball. A week later, they were undone by miscues and miscommunication against the Patriots when they had multiple late chances to take the lead.

Many of their other defeats — a 10-point loss to a Bills team McDaniel beat only twice in his tenure, a three-point loss to the Carolina Panthers and a two-point loss to the Los Angeles Chargers — all saw the Dolphins fail to deliver after giving themselves a chance.

One week after squandering a 17-0 lead at Carolina, the Dolphins led Los Angeles by one point with 46 seconds remaining before allowing Justin Herbert to lead his team down the field to set up a game-winning field goal.

Calls for McDaniel’s dismissal were frequent this season. Ahead of Miami's first three home games, fans had crowdsourced a banner that was flown over Hard Rock Stadium calling for his firing.

His players publicly backed him.

“Us as players, we believe in him,” offensive tackle Patrick Paul said during the season. “He believed in me when most didn’t, and he’s a great coach. He’s a players’ coach who believes in his players. He inspires us and speaks confidence into us and makes us go out there with a sense of urgency. ... We love him.”

Ross apparently felt the same way, saying in Thursday's statement that he loves McDaniel.

But with loads of talent to work with during his four years and no playoff wins to show for it, that affection wasn't enough to save McDaniel's job in a results-based league.

Miami joined seven other NFL teams with head coaching vacancies, including Baltimore, which fired longtime coach John Harbaugh on Tuesday.

The Dolphins' immediate concern, though, will be finding a new GM, with Hall of Famer Troy Aikman aiding in that process.

Miami completed an initial phase of interviews with potential candidates earlier this week and was set to hold in-person interviews with four of them.

Among those scheduled for those interviews were Champ Kelly, Miami's interim GM since the midseason firing of Grier; Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander; Green Bay vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, and San Francisco director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams.

Ross has not hired someone with previous head coaching experience since becoming the Dolphins' majority owner in 2009 — recently gambling on Joe Philbin (2012-2015), Adam Gase (2016-18), Brian Flores (2019-21) and McDaniel (2022-25).

That could change — especially now that a coach with Harbaugh's experience and resume is available.

Many have already linked Harbaugh to Miami, though the coach has reportedly not yet been in talks with the organization.

Following Harbaugh's dismissal by the Ravens on Tuesday, the Dolphins requested an interview with Alexander for their GM opening. Alexander, who joined the Chargers' front office ahead of the 2024 season, has a long history with Harbaugh, having worked in various roles for the Ravens over 20 seasons.

Ross, a Michigan graduate, also a has ties to the Harbaugh family. He has poured in millions of dollars to the university as a donor and has previously pursued Jim Harbaugh to coach the Dolphins.

If Ross decides to take a chance on another inexperienced coach, he may consider Anthony Weaver, Miami's defensive coordinator who has interviewed for head coaching jobs the past few years and is already well-regarded by Dolphins players.

Other experienced targets could include former Cowboys and Packers coach Mike McCarthy; Vance Joseph, the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator who had the same role with the Dolphins in 2016; or Kevin Stefanski, who was recently fired by Cleveland.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel walks away after an end-of-season NFL football news conference, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh watches during the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

FILE - Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross gestures and smiles as he celebrates the Dolphins defeating the New Orleans Saints during an NFL football game, Nov. 30, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Doug Murray, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that he will allow service members to carry personal weapons onto military installations, citing the Second Amendment and recent shootings at bases across the country.

In a video posted to X, Hegseth said he is signing a memo that will direct base commanders to allow requests for troops to carry privately owned firearms “with the presumption that it is necessary for personal protection.”

He said any denial of a service member's request must be explained in detail and in writing.

“Effectively, our bases across the country were gun-free zones,” Hegseth said. “Unless you're training or unless you are a military policeman, you couldn't carry, you couldn't bring your own firearm for your own personal protection onto post.”

Questions about why service members lacked access to weapons have often emerged following shootings on the nation's military bases. Such shootings have ranged from isolated events between service members to mass casualty events, such as the shootings by an Army psychiatrist at Texas’ Ford Hood in 2009 that left 13 people dead.

Hegseth cited some of the events in his video, including a shooting that injured five soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia last year. Officials said the shooter, an Army sergeant who worked at the base, used his personal handgun before he was tackled by fellow soldiers and arrested.

“In these instances, minutes are a lifetime,” Hegseth said. “And our service members have the courage and training to make those precious, short minutes count.”

Defense Department policy has prohibited military personnel from carrying personal weapons on base without permission from a senior commander, with strict protocol for how the firearms must be stored.

Typically, military personnel must officially check their guns out of secure storage to go to on-base hunting areas or shooting ranges, then check all firearms back in promptly after their sanctioned use. Military police are often the only armed personnel on base, outside of shooting ranges, hunting areas or in training, where soldiers can wield their service weapons without ammunition.

Tanya Schardt, senior counsel at the Brady gun violence prevention organization, said in a statement that Defense Department leaders and the military’s top brass have opposed relaxing the current policy, which was originally enacted under President George H.W. Bush.

Schardt noted that most active duty service members who die by suicide do so with a weapon they own personally, not one military-issued, and argued that there will “undoubtedly be an increase in gun suicide and other gun violence.”

While fewer American service members died by suicide in 2024, the suicide rates among active duty troops overall still have gradually increased between 2011 and 2024, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.

“Our military installations are among the most guarded, protected properties in the world, and they’ve never been ‘gun-free zones,’” Schardt said. “If there is a problem with violent crime on these installations, then the Secretary of Defense has an obligation to alert the American people and describe how he’s working to prevent that crime.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)