PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles should immediately bring in Mike McDaniel as an offensive consultant — get him in the building now — as they did with Vic Fangio on defense at the end of 2023.
Fangio became the D-coordinator prior to 2024, and the Eagles’ defense has evolved into a championship unit ever since.
McDaniel, whom the Miami Dolphins fired Thursday, didn’t pan out as a head coach, but he got the most out of oft-injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. And his team played hard for him late in year, when the writing was on the wall that he might be fired.
McDaniel is an offensive wizard from the cabal of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. The Eagles need someone like him.
Sirianni has already said the team has no plans to replace rookie offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who has faced criticism all year for inconsistent results and a lack of creativity — and he’s right that it wouldn’t make sense to replace him just before the playoffs.
“We’re not changing the play caller, but we will evaluate everything,” Sirianni said. “It’s never just about one person. You win as a team, you lose as a team, and you try to evaluate everything.
“I have confidence in the entire group. If I thought it was one thing, I’d make those changes.”
Fine. But it definitely wouldn’t hurt to bring in a mind like McDaniel as a new voice.
It may be too late in the week for McDaniel to have a major impact in the Wild Card round Sunday against the 49ers (4:30 p.m., FOX). But if the Eagles win — and that’s certainly not a given — he could be a big help going forward while also contributing some tidbits for Sunday.
Plus, McDaniel knows Shanahan’s system inside-out and could help Fangio, who also knows Shanahan, against San Francisco.
McDaniel’s best offensive season with the Dolphins came with a healthy roster in 2023, his second year as head coach and primary offensive architect. That season represented the full realization of McDaniel’s vision: speed everywhere, heavy pre-snap motion, explosive chunk plays and a run game that stressed defenses both horizontally and vertically.
Miami finished No. 1 in total offense and No. 2 in scoring, producing one of the most statistically dominant offenses of the past decade.
The Dolphins scored 496 points, an average of 29.2 per game, while piling up 6,822 total yards (401.3 per game).
The Dolphins also led the NFL in total touchdowns (61) and passing yards (4,514), pairing a prolific aerial attack with a complementary ground game that finished sixth in rushing yards (2,308) and first in rushing touchdowns (27).
On a per-play basis, the offense averaged 6.5 yards, second-best in the league, underscoring its week-to-week explosiveness rather than simple volume.
The positive stats go on forever. This isn’t supposed to be an Excel spreadsheet.
Of course, if the Eagles do hire McDaniel and he eventually becomes OC, they’d run the risk of him leaving after a year for a head coaching job — a seemingly endless cycle of coordinators that has been an issue throughout Hurts’ career.
On the other hand, can the Eagles afford not to bring him in?
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Thursday practice report: DNP – LG Landon Dickerson (rest), OL Brett Toth (concussion). LIMITED – TE Grant Calcaterra (ankle), DT Jalen Carter (hip), TE Dallas Goedert (knee), RT Lane Johnson (foot). FULL – LB Nakobe Dean (hamstring), S Marcus Epps (concussion), EDGE Azeez Ojulari (hamstring), EDGE Jaelan Phillips (ankle).
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