List of Miami Dolphins head coaches

Don Shula on USO tour. He holds NFL record for wins.
Mike McDaniel, hired in 2022, is the team's current head coach.

The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in Miami Gardens, Florida. They are members of the East Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins began play in 1966 as an expansion team in the American Football League (AFL), and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger. The team has played their home games at Hard Rock Stadium, originally known as Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Landshark Stadium, and Sun Life Stadium, since 1987.[1] The Dolphins are currently owned by Stephen M. Ross.[2]

There have been thirteen head coaches for the Dolphins franchise. The team's first head coach was George Wilson, who coached for four complete seasons.[3] Don Shula, who coached the Dolphins for 26 consecutive seasons, is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (392), the most regular-season game wins (257), the most playoff games coached (31), and the most playoff-game wins (17). Shula is also the only Dolphins head coach to win a Super Bowl with the team, winning two. He was named the United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year twice during his tenure with the Dolphins.[4] Mike McDaniel is the current head coach of the Dolphins since his hiring on February 6, 2022.[5]

Key

# Number of coaches[N 1]
Yrs Years coached
First First season coached
Last Last season coached
GC Games Coached
W Wins
L Loses
T Ties
Win% Win – Loss percentage
00† Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach
00* Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Dolphins

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2023 NFL season.
# Image Name Term[N 2] Regular season Playoffs Accomplishments Ref.
Yrs First Last GC W L T Win% GC W L
1 George Wilson 4 1966 1969 56 15 39 2 .286 — [3]
2 Don Shula † 26 1970 1995 392 257 133 2 .658 31 17 14 Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (1997)
2 Super Bowl championships (VII, VIII)
5 AFC championships (1971, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1984)
11 AFC East Division Champion (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1994)
19 Playoff Berths
2 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1970, 1972) 		[4][6]
3 Jimmy Johnson † 4 1996 1999 64 36 28 0 .563 5 2 3 Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (2020)
3 Playoff Berths 		[7]
4 Dave Wannstedt 5 2000 2004[N 3] 73 42 31 0 .575 3 1 2 1 AFC East Division Champion (2000)
2 Playoff Berths 		[8]
5 Jim Bates* 1 2004[N 3] 7 3 4 0 .429 — [9]
6 Nick Saban* 2 2005 2006 32 15 17 0 .469 — [10]
7 Cam Cameron* 1 2007 16 1 15 0 .063 — [11]
8 Tony Sparano 4 2008 2011[N 4] 61 29 32 0 .475 1 0 1 1 AFC East Division Champion (2008)
1 Playoff Berth 		[12]
9 Todd Bowles 1 2011[N 4] 3 2 1 0 .667 — [13]
10 Joe Philbin 4 2012 2015[N 5] 52 24 28 0 .462 — [14]
11 Dan Campbell 1 2015[N 5] 12 5 7 0 .417 — [15]
12 Adam Gase 3 2016 2018 48 23 25 0 .479 1 0 1 1 Playoff Berth [16]
13 Brian Flores* 3 2019 2021 49 24 25 0 .490 — [17]
14 Mike McDaniel* 2 2022–present 34 20 14 0 .588 2 0 2 2 Playoff Berths [18]

Notes

  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Dolphins. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once.
  2. ^ Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
  3. ^ a b Dave Wannstedt resigned during bye week with a 1–8 record. Defensive coorditor, Jim Bates, served as interim head coach for the remaining 7 games.
  4. ^ a b In Week 14, Dolphins dropped to 4–9, head coach Tony Sparano was fired and replaced by assistant coach Todd Bowles on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.
  5. ^ a b After the team started 1−3, Philbin was fired by the Dolphins. Dan Campbell, the team's tight ends coach, served as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season and recorded a 5−7 record.

References

General
  • "Miami Dolphins Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "History". Dolphin Stadium. Archived from the original on October 24, 2006. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  2. ^ "Contacts - Administration". Miami Dolphins. NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "George Wilson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Hickok, Ralph (April 17, 2008). "NFL Coach of the Year Award". Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
  5. ^ @MiamiDolphins (February 6, 2022). "We have agreed to terms with Mike McDaniel. Welcome to Miami, Coach!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "Don Shula Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  7. ^ "Jimmy Johnson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  8. ^ "Dave Wannstedt Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  9. ^ "Jim Bates Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  10. ^ "Nick Saban Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  11. ^ "Cam Cameron Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  12. ^ "Tony Sparano Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  13. ^ "Todd Bowles Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  14. ^ "Joe Philbin Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  15. ^ "Dan Campbell Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  16. ^ "Adam Gase Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  17. ^ "Brian Flores Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  18. ^ "Mike McDaniel Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 14, 2024.