The Minnesota Vikings fell short of expectations in 2025, but they did clear a hurdle in the NFC North. They swept the Detroit Lions after having lost their previous five meetings against their division foe.
This season, the Vikings held the Lions to 34 points and 536 total yards in their two wins. Detroit finished the year 9-8 and missed the playoffs. They fired offensive coordinator John Morton after one season, replacing Ben Johnson.
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But the Lions could be in line to land one of the hottest names on the coaching market right now. Last week, Ian Rapaport reported that Detroit reached out to former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel for their offensive coordinator job.
McDaniel went 35-33 in four seasons with the Dolphins. They made the playoffs each of his first two years but lost both games.
But a 2-7 start to the 2025 season put McDaniel on the hot seat immediately. The Dolphins bounced back to get to 6-7 but still finished the year 7-10.
McDaniel spent the 2021 season as the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator after serving as their run game coordinator the previous five years.
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Four teams are interviewing McDaniel for their head coaching vacancies. McDaniel will have to decide whether to accept one of those jobs if offered, or return to a coordinator position and reevaluate his head-coaching opportunities in the future.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: A fired head coach could become a problem for the Vikings in 2026