Dolphins Q&A: Who are some potential options for Mike McDaniel’s offensive coordinator hire?

Here’s the latest installment of our Miami Dolphins Q&A, where South Florida Sun Sentinel writers David Furones and Omar Kelly answer questions from readers.

Q: Do we have a list of potential OC’s he’s interested in hiring? I’d also like to know who he’s interested in as QB coach. Is he looking to call plays now, like Shanahan? Or is he going to leave this up to his coordinator? — @JerseyFinFan on Twitter

A: New Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel can go one of two ways with this hire: He can look for an experienced play-caller and veteran coach that can offer guidance and complement him as a younger head coach — or he can go with another young offensive mind whose philosophy falls in line with his own and whom he can shape to work under him the way he wants.

I believe the offensive coordinator hire ends up being one where he goes the like-minded younger assistant route, especially if he can get the wisdom and guidance from an older coach elsewhere — say, if he could land former Broncos coach Vic Fangio, who has been reported as a name of interest for defensive coordinator.

The first known name to reportedly get an interview, as of Tuesday afternoon, is out. The Athletic is reporting that Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach Charles London is interviewing to be McDaniel’s offensive coordinator. London completed his first season in that role in 2021 after stints as running backs coach with the Chicago Bears, Houston Texans and Penn State in the past decade.

A good place to look for more candidates would be qualified assistants on the 49ers’ staff that McDaniel may want to bring with him for a promotion. Granted, you also have to remember McDaniel’s departure in San Francisco creates a vacancy for one of those assistants to get that promotion by staying there.

49ers tight ends coach Jon Embree, wide receivers coach Wes Welker and quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello would be a few candidates from the San Francisco staff. Embree just completed his fourth season leading his position group, which includes one of the top tight ends in George Kittle, and is also coach Kyle Shanahan’s assistant head coach. Welker has been wide receivers coach dating back to the Super Bowl appearance in the 2019 season, and a move to Miami would bring him back to where he first made a name for himself in his professional career as a player with the Dolphins.

Continuity with a 49ers offensive assistant would help McDaniel maintain a lot of the same concepts he used in San Francisco. The 49ers averaged 6.1 yards per play in 2021, which ranked first in the NFL, utilizing the outside-zone run combined with big plays in the passing game.

And what if he actually could pluck a veteran coach from the 49ers who already worked closely under him? Running backs coach Robert Turner Jr. has 25 years of coaching experience and has been with McDaniel and Shanahan through stops in San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington. McDaniel and Turner have obviously worked well together leading the efficient 49ers rushing attack in recent years.

A dream scenario to get that experienced voice, although unlikely, would be to bring back former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell. Health concerns caused Caldwell to step away when he joined the Dolphins in Brian Flores’ first season in 2019 as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. Caldwell interviewed for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears head coach jobs that went to Doug Pederson and Matt Eberflus, respectively, this offseason.

Interestingly, McDaniel himself was a candidate for the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator job when there was an opening under Flores last offseason, which eventually went to co-coordinators George Godsey and Eric Studesville after Miami and Chan Gailey parted ways.

Pep Hamilton was a candidate then too, so he would’ve been a natural name to consider again, but he was just promoted to offensive coordinator with the Houston Texans after spending last year as the team’s quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator. The year before, he was Los Angles Chargers quarterbacks coach in 2020, Justin Herbert’s rookie season.

Matt Canada received interest from the Dolphins last offseason, as well, and the Pittsburgh Steelers promoted him from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He just completed his first NFL season in such a role after having extensive college coordinating experience.

As far as play-calling goes, if I were McDaniel, I wouldn’t throw that onto my plate as a first-time head coach without having previously done it, but he could decide to do so if he feels capable of handling the extra responsibility.

Another 49ers assistant to keep an eye on could be offensive quality control assistant Leonard Hankerson. If Welker stays in San Francisco, could McDaniel bring Hankerson, the former NFL, University of Miami and St. Thomas Aquinas High wide receiver, back home as a receivers coach?

Have a question?

Email David Furones, or tag @OmarKelly or @DavidFurones_ on Twitter.