Miami’s Ownership Blundered By Brining Back Chris Grier’s Regime
Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images
Following the Miami Dolphins’ season-ending loss to the New York Jets, Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross issued a statement indicating big changes were not forthcoming. “Our football operations will continue to be led by Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel with my full support,” he wrote.
Big mistake. The Dolphins have now gone 25 years without winning a playoff game, and at some point, people have to be held accountable. Grier has been part of this mess for more than 15 years, and the situation has not improved one iota.
Any rationalization of why the Dolphins didn’t make the playoffs this year can’t change the fundamental truth. Grier has simply been unable to assemble a roster capable of challenging the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.
For the third year in a row, Grier has failed to put together a cohesive offensive line that can protect the quarterback and assist in the running game. They have no depth on the defensive line, an issue that was evident with Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips combining for four games in 2024. They were scraping the bottom of the barrel in search of scrubs to come in and compete for a spot next to Chop Robinson.
Remember, Grier held an impromptu press conference in training camp to boast that the media was more concerned with the offensive line play than the Dolphins front office was. That comment would come back and bite him, big time.
At his end-of-the-season press conference with McDaniel last week, Grier was singing a different tune.
“But also knowing that this will be – we’re going to have to invest in the offensive line now. Kendall [Lamm] did a fantastic job here for a few years and we’re just older there now, and [Isaiah] Wynn,” McDaniel said. “So yes, this is the time again like we did back a few years ago with Austin [Jackson] and Rob Hunt and Solomon Kindley and stuff, this is the time for us to again start investing in some offensive linemen.”
Grier also failed to secure a backup quarterback who could take over in the event franchise quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was injured. Grier and McDaniel spent the entire preseason watching Mike White battle Skylar Thompson for the position in training camp, and the fact of the matter is that they were both awful.
When Tagovailoa went into concussion protocol, Thompson failed miserably before injuries forced journeyman Tim Boyle to take over, another option who could not move the team down the field. It was not until Tyler Huntley was brought in — too little, too late — that Miami had a relatively decent backup quarterback.
Grier also made the decision to let Andrew Van Ginkel leave in free agency without so much as making an offer. They threw money at Shaq Barrett, who retired before training camp and was later waived at the end of the season. Van Ginkel would sign with the Minnesota Vikings and immediately made his first Pro Bowl.
As for McDaniel, he admitted at the press conference that the team had lacked discipline. Players would show up to meetings and workouts late and visibly did not seem to respect their head coach or their teammates. If the coach did anything other than issue some fines, we sure didn’t hear about it.
“I also think that part of my motives were to make sure that without any varying confusion that guys came to work and once we start the Phase 1 of 2025 fully knowing the expectations and how things were going to be addressed. You don’t get anywhere if you’re constantly – I can fine people till they’re blue in the face,” McDaniel said. “I can take their money, I can yell at them, but until they understand that part of the reason that we’re in the position is controllable and we have to with absolute certainty and zero tolerance for anything else, we have to clean the controllables up and we can have a chance to have success together.”
McDaniel also took no action against wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who voluntarily took himself out of the game with the Jets in the fourth quarter. He quit on his teammates and his coaches. Grier and McDaniel spoke with Hill, after the fact, and were just happy to not hear that Hill wanted to be traded.
“The relationship – we met for I want to say an hour yesterday, and I think the competitive spirit of his can represent postgame, especially in a season or a game that nobody likes, it can allude to a relationship being one way,” McDaniel said. “I was very direct with him. He was very honest and it was great terms that we were discussing. Discussed multiple things including without wavering that it’s not acceptable to leave a game and won’t be tolerated in the future, and he embraced accountability.
“I wouldn’t say there’s anything necessarily to fix as much as we had to clear the air in a rough and tumultuous situation.”
How much more lack of discipline is McDaniel going to take from Hill? He’s a great player when he wants to be, but it is hard to trust him. It all started before Week 1 when he had the run-in with law enforcement while coming into the stadium at a high rate of speed.
Further examining the lack of accountability, we must point out it took McDaniel two years to fire special teams coach Danny Crossman. The Dolphins had one of the worst punt coverage and kickoff coverage teams in the league in 2023 and did almost nothing to fix it outside of bringing in players that were well past their prime like Jordan Poyer and Siran Neal.
Crossman could not properly evaluate punters, which was evident from them re-signing Jake Bailey. Bailey is a line-drive punter who cannot get enough hang time to let his coverage team get downfield. It’s a big part of why Miami gives up long returns, like the one to Deonte Hardy in 2023 that cost Miami the AFC East.
Ross should have started the New Year correctly and dismissed Grier and McDaniel. Other teams make changes and then they go to the playoffs. Miami stays stagnant and gets to watch the playoffs on television.
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