When the Miami Dolphins decided to part ways with Mike McDaniel as head coach, the surge of excitement could be felt across multiple fan bases, hoping that such a heralded offensive mind might end up with their favorite organization. As the dust begins to settle, it's becoming more and more certain that McDaniel is headed to the AFC West in the very near future.
McDaniel was among the few men vying for the Buffalo Bills head coaching job, but reporter Dianna Russini (The Athletic) has word that he decided against the meeting and that "the two sides never met."
Instead, Russini notes that McDaniel is still in line for the Las Vegas Raiders head coaching gig with a fallback plan that keeps him in the division. That much has been known for a while as McDaniel confirmed interest in an offensive coordinator job with the L.A. Chargers, should nothing materialize at the head coaching level.
The AFC West is now clearly in view for the former Miami Dolphins head coach, which means Chiefs fans will be seeing a lot of Mike McDaniel.
The Raiders' official site has identified 14 candidates for the head coaching role, although a few of those have already taken other jobs. Kevin Stefanski was hired by the Atlanta Falcons, while Jeff Hafley became McDaniel's replacement in Miami. Jesse Minter took the Baltimore Ravens job.
That still leaves a lot of interviewees vying for the role, so the music might still play for a while before the Raiders make a call. Given the limitations around interviewing coaches from still-active postseason teams, the Raiders might be okay with waiting until after the conference championships (or later) to talk to key candidates.
Among those hoping to get a call from the Raiders is Matt Nagy, the former Chicago Bears head coach and, as of recently, the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. He's been replaced by Eric Bieniemy, who reunited with K.C. after three years away from the team. Nagy is also interviewing for the Arizona Cardinals head coaching role after the team fired Jonathan Gannon earlier this winter.
If McDaniel fails to win the Raiders' job, he's got a nice place to land in L.A., which would allow him to stay in the sun and work with one of the league's better quarterbacks in Justin Herbert. There are worse places to lick one's wounds after getting fired from a head coaching role. No matter what happens, Chiefs fans will be seeing plenty of McDaniel in the near future.