MIAMI — Mike McDaniel tried to insert levity into an uncomfortable conversation, much like he has in many other moments of discomfort the past four years.

The Miami Dolphins head coach was asked about the hot seat his cheeks reside in, and whether Dolphins owner Steve Ross had given him a clearly defined expectation — double-digit wins, a playoff victory — for the 2025 season.

McDaniel filibustered for a while, which is his usual. Then the head coach/amateur comedian, who is beginning his fourth season in his role as the leader of South Florida’s NFL franchise, jokingly compared himself to Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.

“I want to be on that hot seat he was on last year,” McDaniel said about Sirianni, who arrogantly yelled at his own fans during a 20-16 victory against the Cleveland Browns, which got the Eagles to 3-2.

Are we talking about the same Sirianni that has never had a losing season in Philadelphia, and has appeared in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl 59 earlier this year by dominating the Kansas City Chiefs to cap off a 14-3 regular season?

The same Sirianni who owns a 48-20 record, which gives him the third-highest winning percentage in Super Bowl era for all coaches with 50-plus games?

“What else can I expect?” McDaniel said, referring to his status on the hot seat considering Ross stated that “continuity in leadership is not to be confused with an acceptance that status quo is good enough,” when the 84-year-old owner announced he was retaining McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier after Miami’s season-closing 32-20 loss to the New York Jets, which put the team at 8-9 for the 2024 season.

Ross never clarified what the “status quo” was, but he’s likely referring to Miami’s now 25-year drought of not winning a postseason game.

Ross has always had the standard of doing things “first in class” when it comes to all his sports holdings. But success continues to evade the Dolphins, and might lead to Ross firing his fourth head coach, and fourth top-level executive since becoming majority owner in 2009.

“You are not entitled to the position. Ultimately, if it’s deemed that the organization would be best served with someone else [running it], I’m more on board with that than people realize,” said McDaniel, who owns a 28-23 record in the regular season, and has lost both his playoff games.

“That’s why I was able to not change when the same people are pointing out my failures [hyped] me up through success,” McDaniel continued. “This is the fastest-changing world in sports.”

Problem with the Sirianni turnaround comparison, joke is that there wasn’t a turnaround.

The Eagles were 11-6 in 2023, and got sideswiped by injuries late that season, eventually losing to Tampa Bay in the NFC wild-card game.

But don’t get it twisted, the Eagles are majestically built by general manager Howie Roseman, who added elite tailback Saquon Barkley, linebacker Zack Baun, offensive lineman Mekhi Becton and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson last offseason.

All of them were significant contributors who helped patch the Eagles leaks.

They also lured Vic Fangio from the Dolphins and he turned the Eagles defenders into the NFL’s top ranked defense, which along with Barkley carried a heavy load in 2024.

McDaniel isn’t as fortunate.

Chris Grier is no Howie Roseman. Not even close.

Anthony Weaver isn’t Fangio, but he’s not far off based on what he achieved (a top-10 defense) with less as Fangio’s replacement in Miami last season.

And the Dolphins don’t have a Barkley, who rushed for 2,005 yards and scored 15 touchdowns last season. But they do have a talent who was rated by his peers as the top player in the NFL in Tyreek Hill, who is coincidentally [or not] coming off his second worst season in the NFL, and on Monday got challenged by McDaniel to be the “pace car,” setting a better standard for the team.

Miami’s roster doesn’t even come close to comparing to Philadelphia, even after the Eagles got savaged in free agency by the rest of the league this month.

Philadelphia has a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who doesn’t struggle to stay healthy like Tua Tagovailoa does.

The Eagles have a physical rushing attack, unlike Miami. And they are strong in the trenches, which happen to be the Dolphins’ underbelly at the moment considering the offensive line and defensive line remain hot messes heading into the NFL Draft.

And unlike the Eagles, the Dolphins don’t have a scouting and coaching staff who can turn water into wine.

That means McDaniel, who on Monday stressed he’s building a team where the culture gets set by its draft classes (which is laughable considering how they conducted business the first two seasons), has his work cut out for him.

A good first step would be holding his players and coaches more accountable for what happens throughout the season, basically becoming a better leader.

“I see the patterns of what it is to be a head coach, and the responsibilities and realities of it are very clear,” McDaniel said. “Mr. Ross has only been supportive to me. Ultimately, the way I look at it, I expect him to act on what I believe my position to be.

“I’m not entitled to my position as a head coach of the Miami Dolphins. As we work together, he knows my expectations are to be the best person for the job ...

“Was I the best person for the job last year? We lost more than we won. We were 8-9. There are a bunch of variables in that. There are variables in success,” McDaniel continued. “If we were closer to the season we were chasing, if we’d won two more games, does that make me a different coach?”

While McDaniel does have a point, just like there are variables to success there are also variables in failure.

It’s a well-built roster.

Does the team have enough star power? How about enough leadership?

Have the players tuned on the head coach? Do they still believe?

Unfortunately for McDaniel, very few of those variables are on his side at the moment, and that’s why a Sirianni turnaround seems quite unrealistic, which is why the joke fell flat, going down like an open can of soda that has been sitting out for days.

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