As Long As McDaniel Is In Charge, Dolphins Are A Destination
Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Mike McDaniel has gotten the Miami Dolphins over the hump of being a playoff team in his two seasons as head coach. While that hasn’t yielded a deep run, he has still done an elite job of building a culture that should bring South Beach some good playoff memories soon. After joining the Dolphins in February of 2022, McDaniel quickly earned a reputation for not being just a player’s coach, but the NFL’s premier player’s coach.
One of the most important relationships for a coach is with their franchise quarterback, and it has been no different with McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa. While others around the league have questioned Tagovailoa and his inability to find success in the playoffs, McDaniel has remained steadfast in his praise and belief that the former Alabama Crimson Tide star is the right guy to continue leading the team forward.
Last week, Tagovailoa signed a $212 million contract. Since then, he learned that his head coach was pleading his case to ensure his deal got done before the start of the season.
“Well, I think it says a lot,” Tagovailoa said after signing his new deal. “Word gets around quick and I don’t think he knows that I know, but I’ve been told from several birdies that are here in the facility, that are upstairs as well, that he went to bat for me the day that I went out and practiced 11-on-11, seven-on-seven before we went on that little break. That he went to bat for me with our owner, and I won’t go into details of things that I heard were said, but just know like, he is what he says. He says what he told me and he did what I was thinking he would do for me, and not just for me, but for any other player. So I’m very grateful for that.”
When a coach is going up to the owner to demand they show his quarterback the money, they are putting themselves on the line. It’s a shocking gesture… except when it’s coming from someone like McDaniel. It’s now clear that McDaniel is ride-or-die with Tua, and while the coach’s future is now directly tied to the success (or lack thereof) of Tagovailoa, he’s ensured that Tua is fully bought into McDaniels over the next few years.
McDaniel has brought in many quality players over his couple of years in Miami, including Braxton Berrios, who signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins before the 2023 season and then re-upped, signing another one-year contract this offseason. Berrios has been a solid fit for the Dolphins, and he has enjoyed playing for his head coach. Berrios and other players have noticed what McDaniel did with Tagovailoa’s contract, which has caused a positive ripple in the locker room.
“It says great things about Mike. He obviously has put everybody in positions to [succeed]. It says about the same as Tua, just how great of a player he is, how much of a team guy he is, how much of a leader, and how much he means to this organization. When you have everybody on the same path, on the same train, going the same way, it can be big.”
Being a players coach sometimes isn’t good, especially if they are soft on the players, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. McDaniel is a players’ coach, but he walks the tightrope of earning his players’ respect while being tough on his players, which makes him almost a perfect coach.
McDaniel is getting the best out of his players, but his demands are matched by the ferocity with which he fights for them, especially in contract negotiations. This ensures that he gets everything his players have, both on and off the field. From big-money star quarterbacks like Tagovailoa to kick returners like Berrios, the team has taken notice, and there is little doubt that others around the league have done the same. When players are free agents and deciding on their next team, McDaniel can be the tipping point for a player picking the Dolphins over going somewhere else.
Being a player’s coach isn’t going to get this Dolphins team into the Super Bowl by itself. But in a league where the margins are thin, the players knowing that their demanding coach has their player’s back, 100%, can definitely be that small edge that helps Miami ascend to the next level. Especially as word gets around to free agents that McDaniel is the guy you want to play for. As long as McDaniel is in charge, he ensures that Miami will be a destination. That’s something that should give Dolphins fans hope that McDaniel and Tagovailoa will lead this team back to the promised land.
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