Stephen A. Smith livid over Miami Dolphins ousting GM: ‘The brother gets fired first?’

Much to the surprise of Stephen A. Smith, the Miami Dolphins decided general manager Chris Grier should be the first domino to fall.

In a season where the Dolphins are once again failing to meet expectations, changes to the front office and coaching staff seemed imminent. Those changes began Friday morning, when owner Stephen Ross announced the Dolphins reached a mutual decision to part ways with Grier. Upon hearing the news, Stephen A. Smith began to speculate why Grier would lose his job just a few days before the trade deadline, but head coach Mike McDaniel was able to keep his.

“It was about Tua, it was about Mike McDaniel. And the brother gets fired first?” – Stephen A. Smith responds to Miami Dolphins parting ways with GM Chris Grier pic.twitter.com/r9A2B0VLyD

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 31, 2025

“This is BS. That’s the first fire? Really? That’s what we’re doing?” Smith asked before claiming the Dolphins entered the season with potential because of the talent on their roster. “It was about Tua, it was about Mike McDaniel. And the brother gets fired first? All I know is this, I better hear Mike McDaniel’s name today. It better not be just Chris Grier… I’m all for brothers as head coaches and GMs, we know what battles I’ve been fighting for over 30 years. But when you don’t get the job done, you don’t get the job done. I got it. Don’t tell me it’s just him. Don’t tell me we gonna leave Mike McDaniel in place.”

“I’ll be damned if it gets to stop there. Oh, hell no,” Smith continued. “This team is nosediving and he’s the first to go? It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. That’s all I’m trying to say. It just does. I don’t like it…I just find it hard to stomach watching these dudes that we sit up here and look at Mike McDaniel still having a job as a head coach. I just find it hard to stomach.”

Much to Smith’s dismay, ESPN’s Adam Schefter later reported McDaniel is expected to keep his job at least for the remainder of the season.

“Mike McDaniel with the glasses, giving one-word answers at the press conference, looking like a man from the Geek Squad from Best Buy…that brother gets to keep his job for the rest of the season? Nah, that’s BS. That man needs to be gone too.”– Stephen A. Smith pic.twitter.com/heJt7F9OF4

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 31, 2025

No one thinks McDaniel is the long-term answer at head coach for the Dolphins, but there is more urgency to move on from the general manager. If Miami decided a rebuild is necessary and reasoned Grier won’t be the GM to administer it, then he shouldn’t oversee the upcoming trade deadline either.

Additionally, in terms of Smith raising an eyebrow at Grier’s firing while the quarterback and head coach keep their jobs, it’s worth pointing out that Tua Tagovailoa is of Samoan descent while Mike McDaniel is biracial.

Any bad taste in Smith’s mouth or uneasiness in his stomach should be relieved by the fact that Grier had been in Miami’s front office for more than a quarter-century and served as general manager for nearly a decade. And during his tenure with the Dolphins, Grier became the longest tenured GM without a playoff victory in NFL history. If anything, the more reasonable question around Miami parting ways with Grier should be, what took so long?