Mike McDaniel

McDaniel was raised in Colorado by his mother, Donna McDaniel. He is biracial, with a Black father and a white mother. During his childhood, his mother regularly took him to Denver Broncos training camp sessions in Greeley, Colorado. After McDaniel lost his Charlotte Hornets hat while seeking player autographs, Broncos video coordinator Gary McCune bought him a replacement. McCune subsequently met McDaniel's mother, and the two later married, providing a stable home near Denver where McDaniel attended Smoky Hill High School.

During his school years in Aurora, McDaniel formed a close, lifelong friendship with future comedian and actor Dan Soder. McDaniel has also been open about his personal journey with sobriety, having faced struggles with alcoholism earlier in his coaching career. He credits his former head coach in Atlanta, Dan Quinn, with assisting him in getting into treatment, and he has maintained his sobriety since 2016.

McDaniel is married to his wife, Katie. The couple has one daughter.

After graduating from Smoky Hill High School in 2001, McDaniel attended Yale University as an invited walk-on wide receiver. Given his smaller stature, coaches and teammates initially distinguished him from a teammate of the same name by calling him Little Mike McDaniel. Although he saw little game action during his collegiate career and primarily worked on the scout team, he developed a reputation for rigorous preparation, weight room dedication, and intensive film study.

During his time with the Yale Bulldogs, McDaniel began demonstrating early coaching instincts. He frequently worked with younger players after practices to refine route running and technique, including future Miami Dolphins assistant Chandler Henley. McDaniel earned his bachelor's degree in history from Yale before turning his focus entirely to a professional coaching career.

McDaniel entered the NFL coaching ranks in 2005 at age 22, serving as a coaching intern for the Denver Broncos under head coach Mike Shanahan. In 2006, he became an offensive assistant for the Houston Texans under Gary Kubiak, where he worked alongside offensive coordinators Troy Calhoun, Mike Sherman, and Kyle Shanahan. Following a two-year stint in the United Football League as running backs coach for Dennis Green with the California Redwoods and Sacramento Mountain Lions, McDaniel returned to the NFL in 2011.

He joined the Washington coaching staff from 2011 to 2013, reuniting with Mike Shanahan and working on a staff that featured future head coaches Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, and Matt LaFleur. McDaniel coached wide receivers in Washington in 2013, helping Pierre Garçon lead the NFL with 113 receptions, before serving as wide receivers coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2014 and an offensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons from 2015 to 2016. In Atlanta, he was part of the staff that reached Super Bowl LI.

In 2017, McDaniel followed Kyle Shanahan to the San Francisco 49ers, serving as run game specialist and later run game coordinator. Under his scheme design, the 49ers built one of the league's most productive rushing attacks, reaching Super Bowl LIV following the 2019 season. In January 2021, San Francisco promoted McDaniel to offensive coordinator.

On February 6, 2022, the Miami Dolphins hired McDaniel as the 14th head coach in franchise history. He made his head coaching debut with a 20-7 win over the New England Patriots, becoming the first Dolphins coach since Nick Saban in 2005 to win his debut game. McDaniel led the Dolphins to a 9-8 record in 2022, securing Miami's first postseason berth since 2016.

In his second year, McDaniel directed one of the most explosive offenses in modern NFL history. In Week 3 of the 2023 season, the Dolphins defeated the Denver Broncos 70-20, becoming the first team in the Super Bowl era to score 70 points in a game and establishing a new league record with 726 total offensive yards. Miami finished the regular season with an 11-6 record and made back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 2001.

The Dolphins posted an 8-9 mark in 2024 and concluded the 2025 season with a 7-10 record. On January 8, 2026, Miami relieved McDaniel of his coaching duties after four seasons at the helm.

Following his departure from Miami, McDaniel remained in high demand for his offensive scheme design and play calling. On January 26, 2026, the Los Angeles Chargers hired McDaniel as their offensive coordinator on the staff of head coach Jim Harbaugh.