McDaniel’s Old-School Soul Shines In Preseason
Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
There is simply nothing like the NFL. America’s pro football league has nearly perfected the entertainment aspect of its product, leading to what can only be described as sports addiction for the common fan. The moment the last second ticks off the Super Bowl, diehards are pining for the first second of the regular season.
The bated desire reaches its fever pitch with the preseason. The enthusiasm usually reserved for meaningful games gets injected into the monotony of backup-filled contests, until we collectively realize that they’re monotonous, backup-filled games. Sure, if you’re the sort of lunatic who’s super invested in the OLB4 position battle or whatever, maybe you’re having the time off your life. But most everyone else is just happy football is finally here, and bearing with these mediocre August games on their way to September.
This, of course, has always been a fan (and most of the time, player) sentiment. Coaches have historically valued their preseason reps the way desert hikers value their water. It was just less than a decade ago that the concept of resting your players in preseason was laughable. Now, with the influx of analytics, sports science, and young modern coaches has come a more modern, measured approach that’s at odds with the old-school generation. Joint practices have replaced preseason games, and getting familiar with your teammates and playbook has been replaced with load management.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who is leading the charge with three joint practices this preseason, would appear to be the poster boy for this evolution. But don’t let his bopping across practice to hip hop or his funny press conference responses fool you. McDaniel is an old-school football soul who loves his Augusts.
“The thing that really fires me up specifically in preseason games, where your major focus is on the players [and] not as driven by the score, is seeing specific things that have been coached.” McDaniel told the media after the team’s preseason opener on Friday. “You end up knowing the story and going through the journey of all these players. There’s a lot of things that we’re coaching them on. Then when guys specifically in game situations really harness stuff that we’ve focused on from a technical standpoint, it’s really cool to see.”
Despite all the attention he receives for being an “offensive guru” or a “scheme genius,” McDaniel truly loves player development and it shines in the preseason. Camp is when you can build foundations for players and therefore team success and he eats it up.
Jaylen Wright is a great example. All the rookies seemed to play well on Friday, but it was McDaniel’s attention to Wright and his journey that showed who he truly is as a coach.
“What I wanted to do was see a confident runner that found confidence after something that he didn’t like,” He said of Wright. “That’s the big thing in this league, is everything doesn’t go well all the time. He had a couple things he didn’t necessarily love in terms of a cut, a slip. I mean, even mid-play, I think he dribbled a screen pass, then still found some resilience. It was a good first outing for him because he got a little bit of everything and he finished strong.”
Seems like basic coach speak, you say? This is a fourth-string, fourth-round running back on a team that already boasts the most explosive running game in the league and an incredibly deep three-man rotation. Yet there is McDaniel, focused on the long-term teachable traits that will allow not just the team to be successful, but the player over the course of his career. He walks that super fine line that the best coaches do, being a player’s coach and a coach’s coach simultaneously. He’s Mike Tomlin-esque in that way.
The depth of his response on a question about Wright isn’t unique to the rookie running back. Anyone who has taken the opportunity to listen to one of McDaniel’s pressers understands the detail with which he consistently responds to player-specific inquiries. The man loves to identify talent and chip away at their barriers to greatness. He loves to take the guys on the journey. It’s something that is lost in the “cool genius” pop culture version of McDaniel that we all like to push around. If you’re paying attention, it’s always there.
Take solace in it as you suffer through what you believe to be an exhausting preseason waiting for “real football.” McDaniel is maximizing every moment, and even if it’s boring to you, it’s the opposite for him.
“You’re practicing for these moments. And you’re hopeful that in these moments that practice can pay dividends. So when you see that, it gets you pretty fired up.”
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