Kliff Kingsbury Tipped As Miami’s Future Head Coach Amid McDaniel’s Hot Seat
Posted September 8, 2025
Has there ever been a coach who seemed more destined to wind up in Florida than Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury?
While Kingsbury may have turned down opportunities to interview for NFL head coaching jobs after last season, it’s hard to see him making that same decision if the Commanders thrive again this season.
Add that with what seems like another close to certain outcome — Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel eventually being fired — and you can see how Kingsbury might be the perfect fit as the next head coach in Miami.
Kingsbury was a rumored head coaching candidate in the last cycle, most notably tied to the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, but made the decision to return for at least one more season coaching superstar quarterback Jayden Daniels.
McDaniel, on the other hand, seems like a prime candidate to be the first NFL head coach fired this season. It might be a miracle if he makes it to Halloween.
McDaniel is in his fourth season as Miami’s head coach but coming off his first losing season after playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023. The Dolphins opened the 2025 season with a 33-8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1.
“Questions about Mike McDaniel’s long-term status with the Dolphins were already bubbling under the surface,” Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski wrote on September 8. “But a dismantling at the hands of the Colts, who hadn’t won a game in Week 1 since the 2013 campaign, firmly places the Miami head coach on the hot seat. The Dolphins looked completely unprepared for the start of the season, and Tyreek Hill’s obvious frustration on the sideline is a powder keg ready to explode.”
Dolphins Seem On Track For All-Time Terrible Year
While McDaniel’s fate seems sealed in Miami after his team looked lost, poorly coached and highly unmotivated in the opener, the bigger question might be exactly how bad the Dolphins are going to be this year.
With a lame duck head coach in McDaniel, lame duck quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa and a disgruntled best player in wide receiver Tyreek Hill, there’s definitely a chance the Dolphins could rival their 2007 team for the worst record in franchise history.
That season, the Dolphins went 1-15 and wound up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft, where they drafted offensive tackle Jake Long over future NFL MVP quarterback Matt Ryan, who went to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 3 overall.
That could mean a high pick in a quarterback rich draft in 2026 — one that could very well tie the 1983 and 2024 drafts with six quarterbacks taken in the first round.
Kingsbury Would Get Second Chance As NFL HC
It would be Kingsbury’s second stint as an NFL head coach — and second chance getting to pick a quarterback high in the first round.
Kingsbury went 28-37-1 as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2019 to 2022. His first move after being hired was to determine who the team would pick at No. 1 overall in the 2019 NFL draft and used the pick on Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray.
49ers Lose Two Key Pass-Catchers to Injuries, Could Miss Time in Weeks Ahead
The San Francisco 49ers came away with a 17-13 win against the Seattle Seahawks to start the 2025 NFL season, but it may have come at a great cost. Jauan Jennings and George Kittle suffered injuries that prevented them from finishing the season opener, which makes an already depleted room of pass-catchers that much thinner entering their Week 2 showdown against the New Orleans Saints.
George Kittle and Jauan Jennings Set to Undergo MRIs This Week
The 49ers offense got off to a red-hot start against the Seahawks with a 14-play 95-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a five-yard touchdown reception by George Kittle from Brock Purdy to give the 49ers an early 7-0 lead. Unfortunately, Kittle would sustain a hamstring injury later in the first half and would not return.
This development wasn’t ideal, but the 49ers still had Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, and Jauan Jennings to lean on in the passing game moving into the second half. In another stroke of bad injury luck, Jennings sustained a shoulder injury that forced him out of the game as well.
Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports provided an update for the pair of starting pass-catchers by writing, “The San Francisco 49ers will send both George Kittle and Jauan Jennings for more testing after both players were injured in Week 1. Kittle hurt his hamstring in the 49ers’ win. Jennings injured his shoulder. Both players will undergo MRIs to determine the severity of their injuries.”
These tests will likely determine how much time both Kittle and Jennings could miss in the coming weeks. If either player were to be sent to Injured Reserve (IR) for the next four weeks, they would miss games against the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Los Angeles Rams.
Kittle finished with four receptions for 25 yards and a score while Jennings posted just two receptions for 16 yards in the season opener.
How Will These Injuries Impact the 49ers Offense Moving Forward?
The Niners may have come away with the victory, but the offense did show signs of impact when both Kittle and Jennings left the field against Seattle.
Purdy’s final stat line 277 passing yards, two TDs, and two INTs showcased both his strengths and weaknesses over the span his first game of the 2025 NFL season.
Early on, he was efficient, accurate, and on-time with many of his throws. Yet, as the game pressed on and the injuries forced players down the depth chart into larger roles, Purdy started to press and put the ball in harm’s way a bit more frequently — which resulted in a pair of turnovers.
Jake Tonges stepped up three receptions for 15 yards and a game-winning score in the fourth quarter after Kittle left with the aforementioned hamstring injury. Yet, the Niners didn’t get much production from the rest of the WR room once Jennings went down.
Pearsall finished wth four receptions for 108 yards, but after Jennings exited the game in the second half, no other 49ers WR caught a pass throughout the rest of the contest.
If either of these starters miss any time moving forward, it will be interesting to see which WR can contribute to the passing attack until Kittle, Jennings, or Brandon Aiyuk return to the lineup.
