Infamous Cleveland Browns draft bust Johnny Manziel got people talking this week about an Instagram picture of him wearing a Miami Dolphins bucket hat with Biscayne Bay in the background.
That prompted someone on X to ask Manziel if he’s plotting a return to football (his last professional snap came in the Fan Controlled Football League in 2022).
Miami Dolphins’ Defensive Coordinator Search Has Johnny Manziel Tie
“Absolutely not,” Manziel replied. “My time for football has came and went. I just love Tua [Tagovailoa] and Mike McDaniel so I’m always going to show support. [I’m] a fan of people in the sport of football, not teams.”
Absolutely not, my time for football has came and went. I just love Tua and Mike McDaniel so I’m always going to show support. Im a fan of people in the sport of football, not teams… https://t.co/N5O6T26Qph
— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) January 30, 2024
But just because Manziel will never wear aqua and orange doesn’t mean his embarrassing NFL legacy won’t impact this year’s Dolphins.
Because two assistants who suffered through his disastrous rookie season could join forces in South Florida a decade later.
McDaniel was the Browns’ wide receivers coach the year Cleveland drafted Manziel (2014). The organization’s decision to overrule then-offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and take Manziel 22nd overall is a major reason Shanahan and McDaniel left the team after just one “wild” season.
“I tried to stay in my lane at that time. It was kind of hairy situation,” McDaniel said on The Pivot Podcast last fall. “It was up in the air whether or not there was congruence of thought in that draft pick, let’s say. So we knew what it was and at that time, it was more like ‘See.’ That was a wild time there.”
Getting out of what at the time was a pro sports cesspool was the best decision McDaniel and Shanahan ever made. They landed together in Atlanta weeks later before both moving on to San Francisco, reaching the Super Bowl with each franchise. (Shanahan is back for a third time with the 49ers next week.)
If those two bright offensive minds decided to tie their fates to Johnny Football, it’s unlikely that their careers would have been the same.
Shanahan got the 49ers’ job because of the great work he did with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. And McDaniel got the Dolphins’ job because of the great work he did with the Niners’ run game.
Now, he’s considering a reunion with a colleague they left behind in Cleveland in early 2015: Anthony Weaver, the current Ravens associate head coach who is a serious candidate for the Dolphins’ vacant defensive coordinator position.
Weaver and McDaniel never worked together before 2014 and haven’t worked together since. But that short time together left enough of a mark on McDaniel that he’s considering entrusting a defense with championship-level talent to his old colleague.
Weaver is one of six known candidates to replace Vic Fangio as the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator, a job Weaver held for one year with the Texans in 2020.
MORE: Ron Jaworski — Dolphins Players Who Criticized Vic Fangio ‘Did Not Want To Work’
The 43-year-old ex-player has also had stops with the Jets and Bills in his 11-year coaching career.
In his one season as Texans defensive coordinator, Houston ranked bottom six in points per game (29), yards per play (6.2), yards per carry (5.2), yards per pass (7.6), and third-down efficiency (47.5%).
But that was with far inferior talent compared to what the Dolphins are expected to have in 2024.
Weaver’s competition for the Dolphins DC job: Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile; former Bills defensive coordinator and ex-Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier; Houston Texans linebackers coach Chris Kiffin; Dolphins outside linebackers coach Ryan Slowik; and ex-Chargers head coach Brandon Staley.
As the 2023 NFL season comes to a close, the 2024 NFL Draft is on the horizon. Pro Football Network has you covered with everything from team draft needs to the Top 100 prospects available. Plus, fire up PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator to put yourself in the general manager’s seat and make all the calls!
