Darren Waller was just hoping for an end-of-season pat on the back.
To end his comeback NFL season, Waller had an up-close view of when coach Mike McDaniel was fired by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
“I was at the scene of the crime, bro. I think I was the last person that saw him before he got fired,” Waller told Johnny Manziel on the “Glory Daze” podcast, adding that his exit meeting was scheduled from 9:30 to 10 a.m. ET on Jan. 8.
“Stephen Ross kicked the door in at like 9:42 … And then the conversation kind of hits a lull and I’m sitting across the desk from Mike and Stephen Ross is standing there kinda looking at me like…”
Manziel followed: “It’s time for you to get the hell out.”
Waller added that McDaniel and Ross said they hoped to have Waller, 33, back for next season before the awkward encounter reached its peak, forcing him to leave.
He tallied 24 catches for 283 yards and six touchdowns in his return after sitting out the 2024 season following his retirement while with the Giants.
“So I go out of the meeting, and I go downstairs to get a massage,” Waller said. “I come up from the massage, look at my phone and he’s fired, and I’m like, ‘Damn this s–t cold, for real.’”
McDaniel has interviewed across the NFL as he decides between top-tier offensive coordinator jobs and the eight head coaching gigs in the league.
The Dolphins ended the season 7-10, a difficult campaign in which they benched Tua Tagovailoa in favor of rookie Quinn Ewers.
Tagoavailoa is already hoping for a change of scenery after things went awry in 2025.
The Dolphins have cast a wide net when searching for a new head coach, with Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley the current betting favorite at Kalshi, though Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula was previously favored.
