Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is a wordsmith of the highest order. A towering oratory presence for a man so slight of frame compared to the grown-ass gents he puts in position to succeed on NFL game days. A perpetually fascinating juxtaposition of a human, whose unassuming, self-deprecating nature and oft-humorous demeanor are magnetic.
But don’t let that fool you. When it comes to competition and cutting-edge schematics, McDaniel is a maverick/revolutionary/stone-cold killer. How he manages to juggle it all is beyond me.
All I’d have to say about it to Mike McDaniel if I saw him in the flesh? Please keep it coming.
McDaniel’s brainiac play calls, and as Tyreek Hill once put it, “wheelbarrow nuts” are parts of what make him a great coach. What also plays into that is his one-of-one personality, which thankfully is on display for all of us to bask in during his weekly press conferences. For all of McDaniel’s prowess in that department, he’s in rare form this week in particular.
Following Sunday’s 31-16 romp over the Giants that wasn’t as close as the scoreboard indicated, McDaniel playfully called out the gaggle of Dolphins reporters who gassed up trade rumors involving Jonathan Taylor and Dalvin Cook.
Although he’s now on injured reserve, rookie third-round pick De’Von Achane is the NFL’s second-leading rusher. Achane is averaging a cool 12.1 yards per carry, making starter Raheem Mostert’s healthy 5.4 clip look paltry by comparison.
Being a little facetious in saying that by the way, hope it comes across. Mostert is a boss.
Speaking of Achane, when the question arose about his eventual return from injured reserve — presumably off Miami’s Week 10 bye — McDaniel’s answer about how “fair” it was to expect the Texas A&M product back was an all-timer.
Like, who is this guy? Seriously. The audacity to say these things and somehow pull them off. I know that McDaniel’s best friend Dan Soder is a comedian. Does Soder feed him material? Did McDaniel absorb all that hilarity by proximity-dependent osmosis? Questions we may never know the answers to.
Another great instance of McDaniel’s self-effacing nature came from a boots-on-the-grounder who brought up how the Fins offense had gained the most total yards through five games in NFL history.
@nfl nobody is having more fun than coach mike 😂 #mikemcdaniel #miamidolphins #nfl ♬ original sound – NFL
Is that a nod to Shooter McGavin at the end there? I’m swooning.
Speculation arose once the Fins acquired mercurial wide receiver Chase Claypool in a recent trade. In denying any notion that Claypool may switch positions to tight end, McDaniel made a delightful comparison involving backup quarterback Mike White (whose awesome response is also below).
Can’t imagine what it’ll be like for Claypool to join a beyond-competent offense. As opposed to the Stone Age outfit the Steelers have sported for a spell, or whatever the hell the Bears were doing before they snapped their 14-game losing streak. Must be a culture shock in the best way…
To cap it all off on McDaniel, how about we get philosophical with an existentialist monologue that Kierkegaard would smile upon.
Since he’s already graced us with close to an hour of presser gold, not sure if we’ll see McDaniel on the mic again till after this Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers. Miami is a two-touchdown home favorite and, as mentioned, left all sorts of points on the field against the G-Men.
Feels like we have another upbeat, post-victory podium sesh from McDaniel on the horizon once the Fins presumably beat the piss out of the winless Panthers.
Until then, please enjoy. If you’ve somehow yet to appreciate the mad genius of Mike McDaniel to date, this is a decent introduction, along with the following clip from Andrew Hawkins about McDaniel’s very real coaching chops.
