How much do 49ers miss now-Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel?

The 49ers offense has looked stagnant over the first three weeks of 2022, prompting questions about now-Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel’s impact.

Yes, the San Francisco 49ers sorely miss their former offensive coordinator, now-Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.

To what degree, though, is an open-ended question.

McDaniel, of course, has his Dolphins out to a 3-0 start to begin the 2022 season, including wins over the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and even the vaunted Buffalo Bills, and the nature of those victories is proof enough Miami got its hiring choice right by plucking away the Niners’ assistant coach who had previously accompanied head coach Kyle Shanahan all the way back to their days together with the Houston Texans.

And even with major question marks surrounding Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa entering the year, McDaniel has Miami’s offense up to eighth best in scoring through three weeks.

On the flip side, Shanahan’s offense has largely floundered during the first three weeks, tied for fourth worst in scoring with a mere 47 points.

Granted, Shanahan has had to absorb a massive blow by losing quarterback Trey Lance to a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2, then having to re-insert veteran signal-caller Jimmy Garoppolo into the starting role after Garoppolo missed offseason workouts in the wake of shoulder surgery and amid trade speculation.

Garoppolo also didn’t partake in training camp practices or preseason games with the team.

Needless to say, how much worse off is San Francisco’s offense without McDaniel in the mix?

49ers do miss Mike McDaniel, but how much?

Prior to being named the Dolphins head coach last offseason, McDaniel earned a promotion with the 49ers entering 2021, jumping up from Shanahan’s run-game coordinator to the offensive coordinator, although the specifics of the role weren’t exactly clear.

However, a February 2022 piece from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer pointed out just how vital McDaniel’s work would be for Shanahan ahead of games:

"In San Francisco over the last few years, Shanahan would spend Mondays and Tuesdays almost exclusively on the passing game, going to work with top lieutenants like former pass-game coordinator Mike LaFleur, while McDaniel was left to draw up the team’s run game for the week.By the time Wednesday rolled around, what McDaniel would draw up could be so inventive that it’d take a couple of days for the other guys on the staff to wrap their heads around what he was thinking. But Shanahan had so much trust in McDaniel that he gave him great latitude to roll with those sorts of ideas—and they paid off with one of the NFL’s best run games."

Shanahan’s run-first offense clearly needed McDaniel, and the latter’s creativity undeniably helped spark some of the most effective rushing attacks in the league of the last few years, specifically with previously unheralded running backs like Raheem Mostert, Matt Breida, Jeff Wilson Jr. and Elijah Mitchell, who essentially became household names with each leading the 49ers in rushing in separate years.

Currently, with McDaniel no longer in the fray, the Niners are tied for 12th best in the league with an average of 4.5 yards per rush.

With McDaniel no longer a part of Shanahan’s offense, NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger told 95.7 The Game (h/t 49ers Webzone) he felt San Francisco sorely misses its prior run-game assistant and offensive coordinator in a big way:

"I thought they would miss him, and I think they [do]. It just looks very beige, this offense, if you’ve got to put a color to it. It’s just flat. I think Mike McDaniel is a big loss because what Mike does, nobody is willing—even if you’re willing to put the time in, you don’t know, really, what you’re looking at. He just has that skill.You can replace a running back coach. You can replace a run-game coordinator. They get replaced all the time. But [you can’t replace] somebody that is willing to do what Mike did. And so, I thought it would show up, and look, you had one explosive run by Wilson [in Week 3 against the Broncos]. You’re on your third running back. I understand that. One explosive run. Otherwise, they were struggling to get two yards a carry."

Related Story: Will Mike McDaniel outperform former 49ers DC Robert Saleh?

In defense of the 49ers’ 2022 efforts so far, going from one quarterback to another is never an easy task no matter what the context.

And, aside from the Niners’ memorable Super Bowl run in 2019, Shanahan’s offenses have historically gotten off to a slow start in any given season.

So, perhaps, McDaniel’s absence might be felt right now, but it’s still hard to truly gauge whether or not his departure has wholly impacted what San Francisco has wanted to do but otherwise can’t.

However, there’s little doubting the fact McDaniel is enjoying a lot more success in Miami than Shanahan is with the 49ers three weeks into the season.