Umm… does someone need to do a wellness check on Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel?
We are now officially a month away from the NFL season firing back up, which means that a) I’m trying to scrounge together some extra cash for some Anytime Touchdown parlays and b) teams are in training camp preparing for competition to begin in just a matter of weeks.
Coaches are also talking to the media as anticipation grows for the new season. Usually, the coaches have to warm up a bit and knock the rust off just as the players have to. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see a couple of play callers already in midseason form. Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid made a wild speeding joke about Rashee Rice last week, and now we’ve got one of the weirder press conference moments from Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel.
If you are in search of a little background information on McDaniel, the bright football mind battled with the darkness of alcoholism and depression for many years, and his addiction almost pushed him out of football altogether. When McDaniel was a 25-year-old assistant coach with the Falcons in 2008, he nearly threw away his entire football coaching career.
He was often late for morning meetings in Atlanta, and was fired because of it. That’s why he now leaves his home in Fort Lauderdale at two in the morning to get to the Miami Dolphins practice facility every day – something he’s done since he took over the job of head coach in February of 2022.
It’s unfortunate that now, just a couple of years removed from being praised as one of the greatest offensive minds the NFL has ever seen, Mike McDaniel seems to be coaching for his job. After a couple of underperforming seasons (and his starting quarterback struggling to avoid concussions), this is considered by many a make-or-break year for Mike McDaniel.
So it was interesting to hear him correct a member of the media when they told him good morning:
“You should stand corrected. Good morning? False. Great morning. Let’s go.”
McDaniel getting a technical with his greetings.
The reporter then presented Mike McDaniel with a follow-up question, inquiring why the head coach would insist on it being a great morning rather than a good one. Could it be some exciting news that the team got? Did the head coach have his coffee paid for by a stranger? Why would it be a great morning and not a good morning?
According to Mike McDaniel, this is why:
“Because we’re another day closer to death.”
Oh…
That’s definitely not the answer that I – or anyone else really – was expecting. Let’s hope that McDaniel was just joking a bit (even though he said that dark thought very stoically), or trying to be existential and it just came off on the strange side. Regardless of what he meant, social media wasn’t very nice in their response to the Dolphins head coach:
Damn, got Aristotle up on the podium today
— Hate First Sports (@hatefirstsports) August 4, 2025
Tyreek Hill turning him into depressed Edgar Allen Poe
— ApexBets (@Tippinbets) August 4, 2025
Why did he feel the need to even say this shit? pic.twitter.com/DYmVMdocZs
— Lamar (@DrDray35) August 4, 2025
This might be the weirdest guy in the league
— kinsey (@TigressTakes) August 4, 2025
If I told someone good morning and they said FALSE. ITS A GREAT MORNING there would for sure be one of us closer to death
— T’Vondre Sweat’s Stiff Arm (@traviebird00) August 4, 2025
