The Dolphins have parted ways with special teams coordinator Danny Crossman and wide receivers coach Wes Welker, per a team announcement. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel released a statement on his staff changes.
“I am grateful for Danny’s contributions and dedication to the Dolphins over the course of many seasons, as well as the numerous ways he helped me as a head coach,” McDaniel said. “I also want to thank Wes for his investment here. This was not a decision I came to lightly, but as I have evaluated the season and areas where we must improve, I believe that change is needed and am motivated to do what is best for the team as we move forward.”
Crossman arrived in Miami with then-head coach Brian Flores in 2019 and added assistant head coach to his title when Mike McDaniel replaced Flores in 2021. The Dolphins have finished in the bottom four teams in special teams grade in the last three years, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Welker, a former All-Pro receiver with the Patriots, was the 49ers receivers coach in 2019 and followed McDaniel to Miami in 2021. The Dolphins’ passing offense was a top-five unit in 2022 and 2023, which both featured first-team All-Pro nods for Tyreek Hill, but dropped to 15th this year.
Hill openly expressed frustrations with the team after their regular season finale, though the Dolphins have no plans to move on from their star wideout. The timing of Welker’s firing will raise speculation about a connection with Hill’s comments, but the two appeared to have a strong relationship during Miami’s stretch on Hard Knocks during the 2023 season.
Welker’s success with the Dolphins should draw him coaching interest from another team. He could even pursue a reunion with former Patriots coach Bill Belichick at the University of North Carolina. Crossman, meanwhile, may have to take an assistant position before earning another shot as a coordinator.
How Grier survives the mess he’s made after years of mediocrity blows my mind but I do like it as a Bills fan.
Yep. Agreed. It’s mind-boggling.
Local sports media in South Florida is very adroit at creating cults of personality around their favorite team leaders.
Pat Riley has won three NBA championships in his near 30 years with the Miami Heat (2006, 2012, 2013), but he is the godfather of the mystical “Heat Culture”. His boy wonder coach, Eric Spoelstra, has been Head Coach for 16 years, during which time, the team has won two of those three titles (2012, 2013) and compiled a 58.7% winning percentage, nearly matching his 58.2% in postseason games.
Riley and Spoelstra are the reigning kings of not-quite.
Stephen Ross is a relatively popular figure, who has been principal owner of the Dolphins for 16 years. During that period, of course, the Dolphins have won exactly zero Super Bowls, playing in, and losing a total of three playoff games. His boy wonder coach, Mike McDaniel, has coached the Dolphins to a record of 28-23, McDaniel has an astonishing record of three wins and fourteen losses against opponents with a winning record.
Sports media idolizes the brilliance of Riley, Spoelstra and McDaniel, and the Panthers are the current belles of the ball, because they won the Stanley Cup title, just this past year. In 20 of 31 seasons, they failed to qualify for the playoffs, at all, until Joel Quenneville arrived to breathe new life into the team, until he didn’t, when Andrew Brunette made them exciting, until he didn’t, but, now, thankfully, they have Paul Maurice , who is clearly the greatest Head Coach of all time.
I’m being a little bit facetious here, mind you, but South Florida sports fans have a history of creating legendary heroes, that are always almost good enough. Grier survives because the Dolphins have been a bad injury season, or a couple of players away, for the last 50 years, just ask any Dolphins fan. When you say Miami, you’re talking Super Bowl.
If the Fins want to get serious then fire McDaniel…he is terrible and all he did was find not one but two fall guys to cover up his own mediocrity.
Why do you think Tyreek Hill wants out?
It’s not just about money…he wants a coach that can lead and motivate and McDaniel isn’t that guy
Ah, yes. The Dolphins have reached their annual, “moving deck chairs around on the Titanic” phase of their season. Grier and McDaniel realize they’re awful at their respective jobs (and that includes hiring people), so having somehow survived another wasted season of football in Miami, they get to pick some scapegoats. Deja vu all over again……. Eff Stephen Ross for allowing it to happen over and over again.