{"id":699006,"date":"2026-01-23T13:50:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699006\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T13:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:50:20","slug":"mike-mcdaniel-interviews-for-bills-head-coaching-spot-after-taking-chargers-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699006\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike McDaniel interviews for Bills\u2019 head coaching spot after taking Chargers job"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mike McDaniel isn\u2019t quite ready to don a Dodgers hat and scream <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KcADqxnQA_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u201cI Love L.A.\u201d<\/a> just yet.<\/p>\n<p>Days after the Chargers reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/20\/sports\/mike-mcdaniel-landing-chargers-offensive-coordinator-job-in-stunner\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">landed the ex-Dolphins coach<\/a> to be their offensive coordinator, McDaniel will now interview for the Bills\u2019 head coach opening, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AlbertBreer\/status\/2014661643129561215\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">per Sports Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>McDaniel reportedly will honor his Chargers pact should he not land in Buffalo.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38263613\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/miami-dolphins-head-coach-mike-116452843.jpg\" alt=\"Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel on the field.\" class=\"wp-image-38263613\"  \/>Could Mike McDaniel head to Buffalo instead of L.A.? Rich Storry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>While this may seem unusual, this is at least the second known instance of an assistant seeking better opportunities during this cycle while agreeing to a coordinator role.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings agreed to an extension with <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/21\/sports\/brian-flores-gets-new-vikings-contract-as-defensive-coordinator\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">defensive coordinator Brian Flores<\/a>, but only should he not land one of the five remaining head coach openings with the Bills, Steelers, Raiders, Browns and Cardinals.<\/p>\n<p>The Giants, Titans, Packers, Falcons and Ravens have each filled their vacancies.<\/p>\n<p>This potential change to McDaniel\u2019s 2026 plans is due to the Buffalo job only becoming open Monday after the team moved on from Sean McDermott after the 33-30 overtime playoff loss to the Broncos.<\/p>\n<p>McDaniel reportedly agreed to the deal with the Chargers the next day, and Buffalo is now assembling candidates for the coveted position.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/21\/sports\/brian-daboll-to-interview-with-bills-after-sean-mcdermott-firing\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Former Giants coach Brian Daboll<\/a> and current Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady are among those McDaniel will be competing with for the job.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38263618\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/head-coach-mike-mcdaniel-miami-115125938.jpg\" alt=\"Head coaches Mike McDaniel and Sean McDermott speaking after a game.\" class=\"wp-image-38263618\"  \/>Mike McDaniel (l) and former Bills coach Sean McDermott (r). Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The idea of a McDaniel-Josh Allen pairing is certainly tantalizing since McDaniel is an offensive-minded coach who guided some top offenses in Miami.<\/p>\n<p>While the Dolphins did not enjoy the success they expected during his tenure, several offensive players experienced great individual seasons under his tutelage.<\/p>\n<p>After Buffalo\u2019s season ended in part due to underwhelming play from the receivers, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/21\/sports\/bills-press-conference-goes-off-the-rails-over-keon-coleman-draft-blame\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">including the besieged Keon Coleman<\/a>, the idea of McDaniel developing them seemingly has value.<\/p>\n<p>One intriguing subplot about this candidacy is that McDaniel\u2019s teams were known for being rather soft when playing in cold weather and Buffalo is one of the most frigid environments in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>McDaniel went 35-33 across four seasons with the Dolphins, while posting an 0-2 playoff record that included a 34-31 wild-card road loss to the Bills in 2023 with backup Skylar Thompson starting at quarterback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike McDaniel isn\u2019t quite ready to don a Dodgers hat and scream \u201cI Love L.A.\u201d just yet. Days&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[215,214,53,2086,7,872,251,4836,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-699006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buffalo-bills","8":"tag-bills","9":"tag-buffalo","10":"tag-buffalo-bills","11":"tag-buffalobills","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-josh-allen","14":"tag-miami-dolphins","15":"tag-mike-mcdaniel","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115944739956286264","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}