Former Dolphins Pro Bowler pulls no punches when talking about what went wrong in Miami under Mike McDaniel
‘I kind of feel bad for the players’.
The Mike McDaniel era with the Miami Dolphins was a lot like the roster.
Things started fast. They were exciting. But when adversity struck or things didn’t go according to plan, it went too often horribly wrong. That’s why now, after four seasons, Miami has pushed the reset button. There’s a new general manager. A new head coach. And the pieces of the old core in Miami have scattered even further across the NFL. One such former standout in Miami that left the team last year made a media appearance on Fox Sports with Colin Cowherd this week — former Pro Bowl running back Raheem Mostert. He pulled no punches on what went wrong in Miami under McDaniel, either.
Raheem Mostert doesn’t hold back on the criticism of Mike McDaniel’s leadership
“We HAD a good relationship going into the Dolphins organization but obviously things kind of flustered and went their own ways. At the beginning of everything there’s always a good story; we did everything we possibly could to maximize the opportunities that were given to us. He’s a great coach — he listens to, if guys are talking to you, he’ll listen and give them some advice. Head coach wise, obviously, the past couple years what they’ve been going through has just been is kind of rough. I kind of feel bad for the players, just because when you have a coach that is so player-friendly it doesn’t really mix all that well,” said Mostert.
“Look at the coaching history…these sports franchises they have coaches that implement toughness, resilience. And that’s something that he kind of missed the mark on in being a head coach.”
The interview proceeds to give further fuel to the narrative that Miami’s teams under McDaniel weren’t resilient (or tough) enough and that the team lacked the leadership necessary to pull everyone together when things went sideways.
Even in 2025, after Mostert had left and the Dolphins spent the offseason focusing on creating a healthier culture, it didn’t take long for hardship to arrive and finger-pointing to manifest at press conference. Whether that was about issues with personnel packages, decision making from the quarterback, or something else, Miami did come across as a team that needed someone to take the bull by the horns. Obviously no one ever did. And that’s a part of the reason why the last build didn’t work.
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