Report: Mike McDaniel was Eagles top OC target before joining Chargers staff

It’s not official yet, but all signs are pointing to Mike McDaniel joining Jim Harbaugh and his staff out in LA. Shortly after that news broke, Jeff Darlington reported McDaniel was the Eagles’ top choice for OC — but they were never even granted an interview with the former Dolphins head coach.

As Darlington put it, “The lure of getting back to California and coaching Justin Herbert proved strongest.”

Mike McDaniel was the Eagles top choice, reportedly. But I don’t know if I believe it

The Bucs and the Eagles both pursued McDaniel as their top OC target. The Bucs were especially diligent in their courtship, and McDaniel was very engaged with them throughout. Ultimately, the lure of getting back to California and coaching Justin Herbert proved strongest. https://t.co/CGKw5wgGTz

— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) January 21, 2026

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There will always be a sector of Eagles fandom that can’t get out of the doom-and-gloom mindset. So naturally, Eagles Twitter started freaking out over this hire, acting like it’s “damning” the Birds couldn’t even get their top guy in the building for a sit-down interview.

But let’s just look at Mike McDaniel for a second and forget the Eagles’ POV. McDaniel is a West Coast guy. He’s coached in California twice, and his wife is from the state. And as much as I like to clown on Justin Herbert, teaming up with Harbaugh and getting full control of that offense isn’t a bad gig at all. If I were McDaniel, the choice feels pretty obvious.

And we also have to look at Mike McDaniel’s body of work — and his personality. As sexy as his offensive system is, it’s never won anything. Not even a playoff game. It also fell off hard after his first two seasons in Miami. They went from 6,822 yards and 61 touchdowns in 2023, to 5,112 yards and 38 touchdowns in 2025. That’s 2nd in yards in 2023, down to 24th in 2025.

It’s also worth pointing out that his system doesn’t really fit the current Eagles roster. He doesn’t like to run the ball, no matter what the retards on Twitter try to tell you. His offense ranked 24th in rushing attempts this past season. In his first year with Miami, they were 31st. We all want the Eagles offense to look different in 2026, but it still has to make sense with the personnel and the overall team philosophy. This one just doesn’t.

Then there’s the Mike McDaniel personality factor. I like him, but that’s probably because I’ve only ever watched him from afar. When things get tough, his press conferences are borderline unlistenable. Go back and listen to some of them from this past season — they were getting memed to hell for a reason.

And I’ve been an Eagles fan long enough to know this relationship could go south in a heartbeat. Truthfully, I don’t think McDaniel is built for this type of environment. He’s never coached in the Northeast. It’s different up here. Going from San Fran, to Miami, and now back to LA, he clearly values the low-stakes vibe of those places — and by low stakes, I mean the media landscape. Frankly, I’m not even sure Chargers fans exist. Nobody’s going to care that much about his success out there, not like they would here.

So yeah, I’m not heartbroken over missing out on Mike McDaniel. He was the hot name, and the Eagles almost never get the hot name. It’s not how they do business — and more often than not, it works out in their favor.