Ten notable comments from new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel as he made the media rounds for 1-on-1 interviews in recent days:
▪ On Tua Tagovailoa, to WQAM’s Joe Rose, Dan Le Batard and dolphins.com’s Travis Wingfield: “Players have scars and need people to believe in them; that’s the only business I’m in… I knew through the draft process he’s a guy of integrity. There’s a lot of pressure when you’re a high draft pick.
“I wanted to let him know I’m excited to work with him… From what I heard, his work ethic is outstanding…. I can tell he’s really going to attack it. He’s a player with a chip on his shoulder….
“We need to teach him our system. He needs to work on fundamentals. And you need to have other offense around him.”
McDaniel reminded that “the first year I was with Jake Plummer and the Broncos and we went to the AFC Championship Game.”
And McDaniel told ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques: “What I’ve seen is a skill set that’s very successful in this offense. You’re seeing a very accurate passer that receivers love to catch footballs from - tight spirals and accurate throws, which are huge for run after the catch. I also see great athleticism, some natural pocket movement and a tough competitor that’s willing to stand in there when necessary.”
▪ To Le Batard, on a player besides Tagovailoa that he believes he can extract something special from: “Waddle! Waddle!” he said of receiver Jaylen Waddle.
“I talked with him [the day after being hired] and he understands his leadership role on this team. The easiest way to get yards is to give it to a really talented player. I would start him in fantasy” leagues.
▪ To Le Batard on the unique skill that he believes he brings to a team: “One of greatest strengths I’ve been afforded is adaptability. Every player traditionally has their career year with us. I’m very adept at getting the best players the ball in unique ways and adjusting to their skill set.”
▪ To Le Batard on what he can extract from an offensive line that allowed the most pressures in the league: “I have watched the tape. I see... some pieces to work with. It’s a point of emphasis. I’m making sure we have guys that can teach what we need to teach. We add players that are of value and we emphasize stuff.
“Historically our system does help people.... I’m running a system that I’ve run with six different teams for 15 years and that’s unprecedented. Why? Because Kyle Shanahan kept getting jobs at different places.”
Boston College’s Matt Applebaum — who is expected to be hired as the Dolphins’ new offensive line coach, per ESPN — guided a BC running game that finished 11th among 130 FBS teams in run blocking, per Pro Football Focus. The Dolphins ranked 30th of 32 teams in PFF’s run blocking grades.
▪ McDaniel, to Wingfield about why running the ball well will now be prioritized: “[A good] run game empowers the quarterback. There are a lot of people pretty excited about throwing the ball. That gives an advantage to people who try to run the ball. When you run the ball, you’re taking time off the clock. Because you have to have the ball to score unless you turn it over, there will always be a competitive advantage if you run the ball” well.
The Dolphins were 31st in yards per carry average at 3.5 last season. The 49ers were tied for 15th at 4.3.
▪ To Le Batard, on one of his most emotional moments from his first week on the job: He was speaking to employees from several departments and realizing the franchise hasn’t “won a playoff game in 20 years or whatever, but they’re so invested in the team.
“When I started talking about what it would feel like to win a playoff game, that was a pretty emotional moment. Knowing how [important] the Dolphins must feel to them. How moving it would be to bring the franchise hope.”
▪ He told Le Batard that “I’m fully into analytics. I might not rely on what analytics says to do. You take that [expletive], in but I’m not going to sit there and say 73 percent” of the time something works historically, so I’ll do it.
▪ On why he’s ready for the job: He mentioned that 49ers coach Shanahan “really relied on me, allowed me to be his right-hand man, and opened my eyes to all the things the head coach does. I know I’m prepared for the moment. He involved me in a lot of his decisions so I have a picture of how you’re supposed to go through it.”
▪ He told ESPN’ s Marcel Louis-Jacques that he “spent a good amount of time” with defensive coordinator Josh Boyer before retaining him.
Asked what contributed to that decision, he said: “You learn that when something is not broke, and there are also relationships with players that come into it...And I relied on people who hired me who have been in the building with him. It’s a calculated decision that’s very informed. The proof is in the pudding. It’s a top 10 defense last year that I would not want to play against. Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
▪ McDaniel, to ESPN on hiring 49ers assistants Jon Embree and Wes Welker to coach the Dolphins’ tight ends and receivers, respectively: With Embree, “almost every player he’s ever had has their career year under him.
“[And with Welker], I’m really excited about where he is in his career. When he first came to San Francisco, it was his first position job. There’s a huge part of your whole process when you’re developing as a coach, of going to a place as a first-time position coach, learning how to own that. I thought Wes was ready to take another step.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 1:18 PM.
