After missing the 2025 playoffs with a record of 7-10, the Miami Dolphins parted ways with their head coach, Mike McDaniel, in 2026 and filled his void with Jeff Hafley. However, McDaniel didn’t stay on the market for long. Less than three weeks later, the Los Angeles Chargers hired him as their new offensive coordinator, pairing him with head coach Jim Harbaugh in hopes of finally getting Justin Herbert an elevated offensive lineup.
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But not everyone in the NFL community is buying this union of the Chargers and McDaniel. One of the loudest skeptics is their former nose tackle Breiden Fehoko, who called out McDaniel’s offense as a “gimmick” by citing his last game with McDaniel, who coached the Dolphins, in Week 14 of the 2022 season.
“Mike McDaniel’s gimmick offense will only last so long. I know this cause we gave it a belt to a** 2022 on Sunday night football,” Breiden Fehoko wrote on X. “When the league caught on to Miami, it was over. Your offensive line will have to protect, and your run game will have to be there in January. Show me Mike.”
Based on his run with the San Francisco 49ers from 2017 to 2021, McDaniel is known for creative offensive schemes, which is a concern for Fehoko. He believes that the franchise does not need pre-snap trickery or smoke screens, but rather an elite offense that could bring out Justin Herbert’s brilliant signal-calling on the gridiron.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh brought in Mike McDaniel as the new offensive coordinator to inject explosive creativity and speed up quarterback Justin Herbert’s processing time with quick-strike throws.
Over the last three seasons, Herbert has thrown for 3,000+ yards and has maintained an average of 20+ touchdowns for the Chargers. Despite this production, he has not had any success in the postseason.
To support his claim, he also talked about their game against the Dolphins at SoFi Stadium back in 2022, where the Chargers beat the Dolphins 23-17. Per Fehoko, an aggressive and agile defensive lineup could easily dominate McDaniel-designed offensive schemes.
McDaniel’s offense with the Miami Dolphins was ranked in the top 10 in total yards in 2022 and led the league outright in 2023. However, it collapsed to 26th and 25th in his final two seasons, as the Dolphins’ offensive line and run game both broke down.
Fehoko’s concerns about the new OC McDaniel might be valid, but not everyone in the league thinks in the same way. The 43-year-old certainly has a lot of talent and has been in the league for close to two decades. Although his time with the Dolphins did not end well, the team was on the verge of a breakdown anyway, and all his key players on the offense were injured. However, with the move to the Chargers, McDaniel now has a roster capable of doing some damage to NFL defenses.