{"id":683220,"date":"2026-01-17T02:42:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683220\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T02:42:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:42:36","slug":"i-watched-as-cold-billionaire-nfl-owner-fired-my-head-coach-this-is-what-happened-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683220\/","title":{"rendered":"I watched as ‘cold’ billionaire NFL owner fired my head coach… this is what happened"},"content":{"rendered":"

By DANIEL MATTHEWS, US SENIOR SPORTS WRITER<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 11:56 EST, 16 January 2026 | Updated: 11:56 EST, 16 January 2026 <\/p>\n

Dolphins tight end Darren Waller has lifted the lid on his awkward meeting with Mike McDaniel just moments before the head coach was fired.<\/p>\n

Waller was enjoying his traditional end-of-season exit interview with McDaniel when Miami’s billionaire owner Stephen Ross walked in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Damn this s*** is cold,’ Waller thought after McDaniel was removed from his post minutes later. The Dolphins went 7-10 in the 2025 regular season and missed out on the playoffs once more.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old learned his fate on the morning of January 8 – not long after Waller arrived for his 9.30am meeting with the head coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It was a wild year, front to back – I was at the scene of the crime<\/a>, bro. I think I was the last person that saw him before he got fired,’ Waller told former quarterback Johnny Manziel on his ‘Glory Daze’ podcast.<\/p>\n

‘My exit meeting was that Thursday morning from 9.30 to 10. So I get there… and we’re talking for like 10 minutes and he’s like: “I definitely want you back next year”<\/p>\n

\"Miami <\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross fired Mike McDaniel after a disappointing 2025 season<\/p>\n

\"McDaniel <\/p>\n

McDaniel learned his fate on January 8 – not long after Darren Waller arrived for his meeting<\/p>\n

‘We were just reflecting on the year and things he was thinking about doing differently in the upcoming year.<\/p>\n

‘And then Stephen Ross kicked the door in at like 9:42. He comes in, joins in the conversation – we’re just all talking, reflecting on the year – and Stephen Ross said: “We’d love to have you back next year…”<\/p>\n

‘And then the conversation kind of hits a lull and I’m sitting across the desk from Mike and Stephen Ross is standing there just kinda looking at me like\u2026’<\/p>\n

Manziel filled in the blank by replying: ‘It\u2019s time for you to get the hell out!’<\/p>\n

Waller revealed how the head coach then promised him they would ‘finish this conversation later’ but that never came to pass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘So I go out of the meeting, go downstairs and get a massage,’ the tight end continued. ‘I come up from the massage, check my phone and he\u2019s fired. I\u2019m like: “Damn this s*** cold, for real.”‘<\/p>\n

There are currently eight vacant head coaching roles in the NFL – including the Dolphins – and McDaniel has already interviewed with the Falcons, Titans, Browns and the Ravens.<\/p>\n

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\n I watched as ‘cold’ billionaire NFL owner fired my head coach… this is what happened<\/p>\n