Friday's second interview must have gone very well. The Miami Dolphins are reportedly hiring San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel to be the team's next head coach, per multiple reports. He will replace Brian Flores.

ESPN and NFL Network had the reports first, stating that a deal was in the works.


Soon after, the Dolphins announced the move.


The hiring of McDaniel, who is multiracial, means the 49ers will receive two third-round compensatory picks under the league program to reward teams for developing minority coaches. The first will come in 2022 and the second in 2023.


McDaniel, 38, finished his first season as the 49ers offensive coordinator after being promoted to the role on January 18, 2021. He served as head coach Kyle Shanahan's run-game coordinator from 2017-20.

McDaniel becomes the third coordinator Shanahan has lost in the past year and second this weekend with former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh leaving last year to become the head coach of the New York Jets and the Chicago Bears announcing the hiring of special teams coordinator Richard Hightower on Sunday.

The 49ers made a coaching splash of their own on Friday, reportedly hiring former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn to serve as Shanahan's assistant head coach—a role previously held by Jon Embree, who will not return in 2022. Lynn served as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator in 2021.

McDaniel, a Yale graduate, got his start in coaching in 2005 as an intern with the Denver Broncos under Kyle Shanahan's father, then-head coach Mike Shanahan. McDaniel worked with the younger Shanahan in various coaching roles with the Houston Texans, Washington Football Team, Cleveland Browns, and Atlanta Falcons.

Shanahan brought McDaniel to Santa Clara upon being named the 49ers' head coach in 2017.


McDaniel was not the 49ers play-caller. That role remained with Shanahan. However, the coordinator played a big part in creating each week's game plan.

"So Mike's always been such a big part of what we do here," Shanahan said last week. "Yeah, he always focuses on the run game. That's his area of expertise, but Mike helps me in all aspects of the offense. ... So Mike's always been good at what he does. He always will be and he deserves to get some of these opportunities people are talking about."

The 49ers will host the Dolphins at Levi's Stadium next season.

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