Speaker 1: Fires touch stop Waddles knocked into the end zone of
Speaker 1: Miami type brown type window. Had to get that touchdown
Speaker 1: on that play, they give it. What is up, Dolph
Speaker 1: fans and welcome to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast network covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going, everybody, It's a Friday. I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield. On today's show, A Busy One, as we
Speaker 1: recap the introduction press conference of new Dolphins head coach
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel. Will hear from Stephen Ross and Chris Greer
Speaker 1: as well with some quotes from their opening statement at
Speaker 1: the Thursday presser. We'll get to the highlights from coaches
Speaker 1: Q and a session. We'll play the entire opening statement.
Speaker 1: We'll also talk about some offensive principles that he kind
Speaker 1: of touched on in his press conference, as well as
Speaker 1: some takes from around the league over this hiring of
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel around the web, I should say, from people
Speaker 1: in different sources around the league to get their perspective
Speaker 1: on the new Miami Dolphins head coach. Busy Busy episode
Speaker 1: here from the Baptist Health Studios. Inside the Baptist Health
Speaker 1: Training Complex. This is the Drivetime podcast. So we kicked
Speaker 1: off this podcast with the Thursday morning press conference and
Speaker 1: start here with Stephen Ross, who took to the podium
Speaker 1: first to address the attendants there at the Baptist Health
Speaker 1: Training Complex inside the field house, that practice field there,
Speaker 1: and he spoke a little bit about the process of
Speaker 1: hiring Mike McDaniel and the patient approach to get this
Speaker 1: thing right. And he spoke about the unsolicited calls that
Speaker 1: he received from other teams that had played in the
Speaker 1: NFC West where Mike McDaniel used to reside with the
Speaker 1: San Francisco four uniters, and he would ask them, why
Speaker 1: are you calling me to tell me about all of
Speaker 1: these great superlatives about this head coaching candidate, and they
Speaker 1: all said to get him out of the division, don't
Speaker 1: want him there anymore. And he also talked about how
Speaker 1: there's three qualities the Dolphins were really looking for in
Speaker 1: this head coaching search, Leadership, intelligence, and innovation, and Mike
Speaker 1: has them all, said the Miami Dolphins owner. And we'll
Speaker 1: hear from coach on those just in those things here
Speaker 1: in just a minute. And I think over the course
Speaker 1: in this entire process. On Thursday, coach proved each of
Speaker 1: those things, especially the innovation and intelligent thing for how
Speaker 1: to design an offense, how to create team culture, and
Speaker 1: the leadership for how to prove his value to the player,
Speaker 1: a topic we've covered here on the podcast all week long.
Speaker 1: Then we heard from Dolphins general manager Chris Greer, who
Speaker 1: touched on the attractiveness of this head coaching vacancy and
Speaker 1: the amount of calls the Dolphins got over the last
Speaker 1: few weeks about the vacancy. He said, we talked to many, many,
Speaker 1: very qualified candidates for this job in both pro and
Speaker 1: college football, and what resonated with us was how excited
Speaker 1: everybody was for the job, where our roster was and
Speaker 1: the talent level. It was learned that there was excitement
Speaker 1: and even into the last two weeks, you guys will
Speaker 1: be surprised. You'll be surprised the people that we're trying
Speaker 1: to call to get this job. And to finish Chris's
Speaker 1: statement there, I can attest to this, as you guys
Speaker 1: know from spending time with coach on the last podcast
Speaker 1: that Chris said this. You guys have all heard everything
Speaker 1: that's been about Mike, his intelligence, his passion, his work, ethic,
Speaker 1: the people that have met him in this building here
Speaker 1: over the last forty eight hours have all talked about
Speaker 1: the energy level and how he is he spent time.
Speaker 1: New coaches come in and it's easy, they'll spend five
Speaker 1: minutes with people, but he's literally in there talking for
Speaker 1: like an hour with people as I'm trying to get
Speaker 1: his attention on other things. And that's just who he is.
Speaker 1: He wants to genuinely know who people are, connect with them,
Speaker 1: and get to the wise. That's what makes him a
Speaker 1: unique person in terms of getting the best out of people.
Speaker 1: And then after that, we had the pleasure of hearing
Speaker 1: from the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Mike McDaniel,
Speaker 1: who took to the podium. Let's go ahead and roll
Speaker 1: his opening statement before we get to the Q and A.
Speaker 1: It's a it's an honor and privilege to stand in
Speaker 1: front of you guys here as the head coach of
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. You know, any any man standing at
Speaker 1: a podium like this would be honored. Would um it's
Speaker 1: a tremendous accomplishment. You'd feel great about that. But that's
Speaker 1: not why you get into coaching. It's standing at this
Speaker 1: podium you get into coaching because you love to coach football.
Speaker 1: You love to teach, and you love to make people better.
Speaker 1: And that's exactly who I am, who I have been,
Speaker 1: and who I'll be as the head coach of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. The I'd like to thank those wonderful words, UM,
Speaker 1: from both Steve Ross and Chris Greer. UM. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate the opportunity and the responsibility really UM, and it
Speaker 1: is a big one. But I like to talk about
Speaker 1: me coming here to Miami, UM about a week ago.
Speaker 1: It's coming um here to interview for a dream position,
Speaker 1: a dream of mine. And uh, that's what I thought
Speaker 1: it was. But as I walked through this building, the
Speaker 1: gorgeous building we stand in, UM, saw the people, looked
Speaker 1: into their eyes, felt their passion. I quickly realized that
Speaker 1: this was my dream job and I had to go
Speaker 1: get it. UM. That one of the things that really
Speaker 1: struck me with the Miami Dolphins organization was their interest
Speaker 1: in general. You know, it's a lot easier, UM, two
Speaker 1: go after a guy after five other teams have interviewed him,
Speaker 1: put them on a list. You know. Traditionally, that's that's
Speaker 1: the way it works, where people want whoever other people
Speaker 1: are interviewing, this was not the case. They looked at
Speaker 1: me for me, and that really galvanized my interest in
Speaker 1: this organization and and really told me a lot about
Speaker 1: who UM who was really targeting me. Told me a
Speaker 1: lot about what they were looking for. And that's why
Speaker 1: I knew it would be a good fit, you know,
Speaker 1: interviewing with UH Steve Ross, Chris Greer, UM, Brandon Short,
Speaker 1: Tom Garfinkel. It didn't take me long to realize this.
Speaker 1: This was the place that I was meant to be UM,
Speaker 1: so I better not screw this. In interview up UM
Speaker 1: you take you take a look at the facility UM
Speaker 1: that's built here, which is I feel like I'm in
Speaker 1: an SEC school. It's incredible. UM. The stadium, everything going
Speaker 1: on around it, I think it's a kind of epitomizes
Speaker 1: UM Steve's vision, and that vision is broad, it's grand,
Speaker 1: and it's trying to be great. And that's what I'm
Speaker 1: here to get the football too, and that's what we'll do.
Speaker 1: And really, really that's why I feel honor and I
Speaker 1: feel privileged just being up here in front of you guys.
Speaker 1: Say I'd be remiss if I didn't think the immense
Speaker 1: amount of people that had to do with with me
Speaker 1: even having this opportunity. You know, starting with Kyle Shannon,
Speaker 1: Jed yorke Um and his family, John Lynch and the
Speaker 1: forty Niners organization, their first class organization really um help
Speaker 1: facilitate me coming into my own I feel like and
Speaker 1: without the players, who who is the people that you
Speaker 1: really get into this business for all their support, all
Speaker 1: their hard work, um and and their commitment, none of
Speaker 1: this would have been possible. And I think all the
Speaker 1: forty nine players as well, the to get in a
Speaker 1: spot like this, it's almost overwhelming to think about how
Speaker 1: many people are along the ride with you that if
Speaker 1: one of them doesn't decide to invest in you, you
Speaker 1: may never get this opportunity. You know, It's one of
Speaker 1: the great things about coaching and the coaching profession is
Speaker 1: it takes a village to just get one individual capable
Speaker 1: of doing a job like this. You know, I can
Speaker 1: go down the list, um, start with Mike Shannon gave
Speaker 1: me my first job. Um it was unpaid though, so
Speaker 1: he didn't pay very well. Um. Gary Kubiak, who gave
Speaker 1: me my first page job with the Houston Texans, Kyle Shannon.
Speaker 1: Obviously I would have. I'm not sure what I'd be
Speaker 1: doing if it wasn't for him. You talked about guys
Speaker 1: like Sean McVeigh, Christ Matt Lafleur, Bobby Turner, Dan Quinn,
Speaker 1: Raheem Morris, Michael Floor, the list goes on and on. UM.
Speaker 1: I don't want to train your guys ear drums with that.
Speaker 1: But UM, there's just so many people and and I
Speaker 1: appreciate all all of those men that helped me become
Speaker 1: the man I am today. The each one, each individual
Speaker 1: that I mentioned, and um, each each coach has been
Speaker 1: really privileged to work alongside. They may be a better man,
Speaker 1: a better coach, a better teacher. And that's really what
Speaker 1: my focus is in life. They didn't make me a
Speaker 1: better father. I did that on my own. UM. I'd
Speaker 1: like to thank Richmond Flowers. It is surreal. Man, came
Speaker 1: a long way, and uh, you know how much I
Speaker 1: appreciate you. UM, and no one this emotional day for me. Um,
Speaker 1: and you made it somewhat coherent, I hope. Uh. Obviously,
Speaker 1: my family, my wife Katie McDaniel, we've come a long way.
Speaker 1: We got a long way to go. UM, don't do
Speaker 1: that to me, I'm trying to do press conference. UM,
Speaker 1: and my daughter a La June McDaniel. UM, You're a
Speaker 1: miracle and I can't wait to see what you grow into.
Speaker 1: Now back to uh, what we're all here for. So
Speaker 1: football okay in the Miami Dolphins and what you can
Speaker 1: expect from us Okay, Uh schematically offense, defense, special teams.
Speaker 1: You're gonna see, UM a unique UM, a unique design
Speaker 1: of everything that's tailored to our players. That's why it
Speaker 1: will be unique to us, because we'll tailor everything to
Speaker 1: our players. And that's first and foremost. But really the
Speaker 1: picture I'd like to present and what I'm here to
Speaker 1: do with the assistance of all these all these wonderful people,
Speaker 1: is creative ran of football here that is known as
Speaker 1: Miami football. And what that is and my Miami Dolphin
Speaker 1: football is all about passion energy. You should be able
Speaker 1: to turn on the TV and know who the team is,
Speaker 1: even if the color is distorted by by the energy
Speaker 1: that they play with, by how they bond together, things
Speaker 1: that you only get with true work and bond together. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's a team sport and we're gonna play as a team.
Speaker 1: And I promise you that will feel that the whole
Speaker 1: the whole thing that makes football so magical, the whole
Speaker 1: reason I've devoted my professional life to it, because you
Speaker 1: have all these people of different interests focused on one
Speaker 1: common goal. Okay, that one common goal of winning UM
Speaker 1: winning often winning playoff games and winning Super Bowls and
Speaker 1: that and that goal is what drives us. But it's
Speaker 1: the bond and everything we go through in that process
Speaker 1: that makes it memorable and makes it worth doing what
Speaker 1: we do. It's the essence of sports, really, and it
Speaker 1: epitomizes what the Miami Dolphins will become. It is I
Speaker 1: feel unbelievably fortunate, and it is so exciting to come
Speaker 1: into a team um of of energy, of youth, of talent,
Speaker 1: but more so of hunger that really matches the city
Speaker 1: of Miami, the fans and every person that is employed
Speaker 1: by the Miami Dolphins. I felt it immediately when I
Speaker 1: walked in the door. It gives me goose bumps right
Speaker 1: now to be a part of something like that um
Speaker 1: an organization. This is my seventh and I feel like
Speaker 1: when you're hired and fired that many times and bouncing
Speaker 1: around the NFL, you get a glimpse at a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of things, and you know when something
Speaker 1: has the ability to be great. And that's all I
Speaker 1: feel walking in out of these hallways, and I can't
Speaker 1: wait to serve each and every one of you. I
Speaker 1: think collectively. The one of the most powerful things UM
Speaker 1: within these hallways, within this organization that I think should
Speaker 1: be focused on UM is the lack of ego and
Speaker 1: and the the drive with a common goal, you know,
Speaker 1: as in interviewing, in this process, it's all about one
Speaker 1: thing and and that his rarity something special and I
Speaker 1: am so fortunate to be a part of. But that
Speaker 1: collectivity and and working together for UM with a shared
Speaker 1: sacrifice is something that can't be replicated and I am
Speaker 1: extremely fortunate to be a part of. Now. I think
Speaker 1: this is always odd because you're you're getting all hyped
Speaker 1: up for UM a media session and then we just
Speaker 1: go back and study film, puts, put coaching staffs together, UM,
Speaker 1: and UH then get ready to practice UM. Hopefully we
Speaker 1: teach the players what what the plays are before we
Speaker 1: do that. That that whole process UM, although it's anti chlimactic,
Speaker 1: it it is part of it. And and I can't
Speaker 1: I can't express the gratitude UM to everyone to allow
Speaker 1: me to be up here and to be a part
Speaker 1: of it um And there's no better time to start
Speaker 1: this whole process than right now, Thank you guys. So
Speaker 1: there you go. Just a couple of quick reactions there
Speaker 1: from his opening statement before we take our first break
Speaker 1: and then get to the Q and a number one
Speaker 1: when he had tears and was choked up when he
Speaker 1: was your talking about his journey with his wife and
Speaker 1: his daughter and Richmond Flowers and his wife was crying
Speaker 1: and he was trying not to cry. That was making
Speaker 1: me have to not cry. So that was an awesome moment.
Speaker 1: And then also talking about walking around the facility and
Speaker 1: just knowing how special it is. Yeah, you definitely feel
Speaker 1: that every time you're in that gorgeous facility. Also, the
Speaker 1: teaching aspect that he touched on, we're gonna hear more
Speaker 1: about that from him here in just a second. But
Speaker 1: it jives with the player testimonials we played for you
Speaker 1: guys on the Monday podcast, doesn't it Like all these
Speaker 1: people that have all these great things to say about him,
Speaker 1: you can see that what he's talking about is not
Speaker 1: just it's not just fluff. It's their substance to it.
Speaker 1: And it has had an impact in this league for
Speaker 1: the last decade and a half, talking about it being
Speaker 1: a dream job, how he had to go get it.
Speaker 1: Same coach, same the jokes about he didn't make me
Speaker 1: a better father, I did that? Like to do those
Speaker 1: jokes and stay on track. That is a sharp mind.
Speaker 1: And then Miami Dolphin football passion team playing for each other.
Speaker 1: I mean Christian Wilkins, right, That's the first person that
Speaker 1: comes to mind, but the entire operation operates that way
Speaker 1: because these guys do love football, and coach loves football,
Speaker 1: and I cannot wait to see the way those personalities
Speaker 1: and those minds melt together with Mike McDaniel and his players.
Speaker 1: All right, next, we're gonna get into the Q and
Speaker 1: A with media members talking to Mike McDaniel and his
Speaker 1: great lengthy answers in that introduction press conference. All of
Speaker 1: that coming up here next on the Drivetime podcast. Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: keep it right here. We have plenty to cover here
Speaker 1: from the Mike McDaniel introduction press conference, the coverage here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime podcast, and we kick off the Q
Speaker 1: and A session here with a question for coach about
Speaker 1: two a tongue of Bloa developing him and the thought
Speaker 1: behind the quarterback position in general. For Mike McDaniel, my
Speaker 1: belief in two is that he's a football player on
Speaker 1: this team that's trying to get better. And the biggest
Speaker 1: message I have for all players, really, the message should
Speaker 1: be about the team. And what I mean by that
Speaker 1: is it's really about the team collectively getting better and
Speaker 1: there's a responsibility of the quarterback to do so. But
Speaker 1: I'm not necessarily I'm not sitting here concerned with how
Speaker 1: good Tua can be. I'm concerned with as a collective unit,
Speaker 1: what we can grow together, because that's what win's football games.
Speaker 1: There there's I haven't seen a quarterback win a football
Speaker 1: game by himself ever. Really, Um, he has to have
Speaker 1: somebody throw too. He better not be getting tackled before
Speaker 1: he throws, so somebody better block um and the defense
Speaker 1: better not allow them to score. But the biggest thing
Speaker 1: for for me with t A is that i want
Speaker 1: him to come and work every day and I'm very
Speaker 1: confident that he will. I want to provide teachers that
Speaker 1: can develop him. I'm very confident and the people were
Speaker 1: we're discussing this week and the and the plan we
Speaker 1: have for that. And ultimately, all you want is a
Speaker 1: is a guy that's driven to be great, a guy
Speaker 1: that's driven to get better, and it gives you a chance.
Speaker 1: Um And it's my job to make sure that he
Speaker 1: has the best chance to showcase his talents. Um and
Speaker 1: and that and that's everyone's job. Really. Two things that
Speaker 1: I want to go ahead and talk about. Number One,
Speaker 1: I love the fact that he talked about the team game,
Speaker 1: because I can't stand one of my biggest pet peeves
Speaker 1: is when football games are picked based upon the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: because we have seen inferior quarterbacks topp all superior quarterbacks
Speaker 1: and vice versa and everything in between. Because it is
Speaker 1: a team game that requires fifty three men executing their job.
Speaker 1: You heard him talk about it right there. You have
Speaker 1: to block on offense, you have to make tackles on defense,
Speaker 1: you have to do things on special teams to execute.
Speaker 1: And when football games we undertake the quarterback position is
Speaker 1: very important. But I love the fact that he addressed
Speaker 1: the fact that it is in fact the team game.
Speaker 1: Number Two, I love the idea of him talking about
Speaker 1: teachers and developing to a in in this offense, in
Speaker 1: this system, with this organization and talking about the confidence
Speaker 1: he has in the plan for the potential teachers they
Speaker 1: have in mind to make that happen. So very good
Speaker 1: stuff there from coach. Let's move on to this next
Speaker 1: one here, in which coach was asked what makes him
Speaker 1: ready for this opportunity to coach at the National Football
Speaker 1: League level. Here's Mike McDaniel. It's it's funny that every
Speaker 1: head coach, you know, there's a lot of talk about
Speaker 1: being ready to be a new head coach and and
Speaker 1: I think, um, you guys have had new head coaches.
Speaker 1: The thing that kind of trips me up is every
Speaker 1: single head coach in the history of football has never
Speaker 1: been a head coach until they're head coach. Really, it's
Speaker 1: every year of my experience, especially the last five years
Speaker 1: that head coach Kyle Shanahan in the fort he really
Speaker 1: relied on me, allowed me to be uh his right
Speaker 1: hand man, and and open my eyes to all the
Speaker 1: things that head coach does not to mention all the
Speaker 1: other years where I've had great teachers, And the key
Speaker 1: for me is paying attention. It's right in front of me.
Speaker 1: And so when I do get my opportunity, I've been
Speaker 1: fully aware whenever that day comes the responsibility. It brings
Speaker 1: the responsibility you have to every individual that's employed in
Speaker 1: the organization, their families, every player. So the when when
Speaker 1: they called I was I was kind of nervous about
Speaker 1: an interview because I don't major in that. I major
Speaker 1: in UM connecting with players, teaching them and helping them grow.
Speaker 1: But after getting the job, no, I feel I know
Speaker 1: there's gonna be things that I'm not that that are
Speaker 1: new to me, but it's more about being prepared for
Speaker 1: the moment because everybody has to have their first time
Speaker 1: to do it, and I know that I'm prepared for
Speaker 1: the moment. I know there's gonna be things that are
Speaker 1: that are new and challenging, but that doesn't make me
Speaker 1: nervous because I've been preparing for this my entire career.
Speaker 1: And that's a common theme you'll hear from coach talking
Speaker 1: about the reps that he has taken himself as a
Speaker 1: coach to put himself in position after a fifteen year
Speaker 1: NFL career to get into this position. And if you
Speaker 1: recall that the clip I played from the Monday podcast
Speaker 1: where he's talking to high school quarterbacks in a high
Speaker 1: school quarterback camp, with a QB collective. He talks about
Speaker 1: one of the kids not really paying attention when he's
Speaker 1: not up in the rep and he says, what are
Speaker 1: you doing that? Get get your mental reps and don't
Speaker 1: waste any possible reps. So he breathes it, he believes it,
Speaker 1: he preaches it, all that stuff. He's he's genuine and
Speaker 1: I think that all comes off in this press conference.
Speaker 1: Next one here, who will call plays in two for
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. Mike McDaniel has that answer. I plan
Speaker 1: on calm plays myself. Um. But one thing that I've noticed,
Speaker 1: um in my journey is that successful play callers don't
Speaker 1: isolate themselves. Um. They utilize the people around them. That's
Speaker 1: what a head coach should do. You don't do I'm
Speaker 1: not up here doing anything by myself, or I won't be,
Speaker 1: you know, after this press conference ends, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: be going into a hole and hanging out by myself
Speaker 1: and thinking about stuff. You're working with people. So the
Speaker 1: higher your leadership um with with regard to a head coach,
Speaker 1: the more people you have to lead. As an offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: you call plays. But if you're a head coach and
Speaker 1: calling plays, you better be reliant and feel very good
Speaker 1: about the people in your offensive staff. So it's been
Speaker 1: a meticulous process, um, I think, uh, not as meticulous
Speaker 1: as this head coaching search apparently, but it's been very
Speaker 1: meticulous because that that's that's what you're preparing for. You know,
Speaker 1: I know exactly what the season is gonna bring, UM
Speaker 1: in terms of you know, there there are so many
Speaker 1: things that go on in the course of the season,
Speaker 1: and there's stressors you have to worry about, UM kind
Speaker 1: of focusing the direction of the team. But that's why
Speaker 1: you spend this time in the off season finding the
Speaker 1: people that you can rely on, that you can trust,
Speaker 1: UM and work with, so they can help you gain plan,
Speaker 1: help you solve problems. Um, we can get the best
Speaker 1: plan together, and then you know, when the players own
Speaker 1: the plan, you're just calling plays, but they make them
Speaker 1: come to life. So that one in this next one,
Speaker 1: I think are my two favorite answers of the entire
Speaker 1: press conference because number one, to go back to this
Speaker 1: previous answer there from coach my biggest pet peeve I think,
Speaker 1: and this is my second pet people in the podcast
Speaker 1: today is speaking about a topic that you're less qualified
Speaker 1: than the person that you're talking to one and we
Speaker 1: see this all the time in all walks of life.
Speaker 1: Right My old personal growth moment for myself was being
Speaker 1: able to step back and say I don't know much
Speaker 1: about this. It's okay to say I don't know or
Speaker 1: I need to read or watch or learn more about
Speaker 1: this topic before I speak on it. And I think
Speaker 1: that's a certain level of maturity and ego lists operation
Speaker 1: that Mike McDaniel operates with in terms of I don't
Speaker 1: have to be the only one to have my fingerprints
Speaker 1: on this. I want to have everybody in the process
Speaker 1: helped me out and surround himself with people that he
Speaker 1: can trust to make the right decisions. I thought that
Speaker 1: was a fantastic answer, and again it's genuine. I believe
Speaker 1: him to the fullest. I think that's exactly what he's
Speaker 1: gonna do. He seems to really be a guy of
Speaker 1: his word, and that's a great word right there. And
Speaker 1: the reason I like this next one, and we'll talk
Speaker 1: about some offensive principles of philosophies here on the third
Speaker 1: segment of this edition of the Drivetime podcast Travis Wingfield
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast Network, is that it's not just about
Speaker 1: the system you've ran in the past. It's about always
Speaker 1: evolving and adding to your plate. Here's Mike McDaniel on
Speaker 1: the offensive system he grew up in and what he
Speaker 1: hopes to bring to Miami. Uh, I understand what you're
Speaker 1: getting at with the question. I really like the but
Speaker 1: connecting it to winning, that's that's a team deal. But
Speaker 1: for offensive offensively with regard to scheme I have, I
Speaker 1: have an interesting story because you know, I started with
Speaker 1: Mike Shanahan, immediately went to Gary Kubiak, and it's rare
Speaker 1: to work, um fifteen years in the NFL across six
Speaker 1: teams and have the same system. So in that what
Speaker 1: what you end up doing in the same system. You're
Speaker 1: not constantly trying to relearn how to do things. You're
Speaker 1: constantly evolving to the point, you know, when you're at
Speaker 1: your fourth or fifth year within the offense and then
Speaker 1: you go to your third team, now you're you're reinstalling.
Speaker 1: So you found your it's your third rep of first
Speaker 1: introducing the same scheme. While also it's your there's a
Speaker 1: completely different set of players, so within your scheme you
Speaker 1: are tailoring it to whoever they are. You you go,
Speaker 1: I mean what was it my second year in in Washington. Collectively,
Speaker 1: we we drafted uh um Robert Griffin third and ran
Speaker 1: a bunch of zone read. You know how much zone
Speaker 1: read experience our staff had zero And we didn't get
Speaker 1: any go to any clinics. We didn't. UM. We we
Speaker 1: really did it with the old, old fashioned hard way grind.
Speaker 1: And what that afforded all of us when you're talking
Speaker 1: about all the guys that were there in Washington, is
Speaker 1: in our formative years, our our minds are open to
Speaker 1: adapting to whatever means necessary to whatever player skill sets,
Speaker 1: all the way to the quarterback. So because of that,
Speaker 1: every single year, you know, people call our our schemes
Speaker 1: so creative. Really we're just adapting. We're adapting to defenses
Speaker 1: were deaf into. Our players were constantly evolving, and I
Speaker 1: think that's important, UM, and that's uh a winning formula.
Speaker 1: I think I think it it puts players in position
Speaker 1: to succeed. And that's the key drive for the scheme.
Speaker 1: That's why you know, it's it's less trying to be
Speaker 1: creative for creative sake, it's more UM solving problems UH
Speaker 1: in different ways and having different tools to inabilities to
Speaker 1: do so. I have nothing to add to that. It
Speaker 1: was brilliant and I've had the previous two of my
Speaker 1: favorite I think this might be my favorite of all.
Speaker 1: What's your process or how do you teach players? Just
Speaker 1: listen to this UM that it's an evolving process. That
Speaker 1: that you know, I got into the NFL and two
Speaker 1: thousand five, UM, Twitter, Instagram and a d D addictions
Speaker 1: weren't really prevalent or existed UM, and that's just an
Speaker 1: example of how things change over time. I think, UM.
Speaker 1: The one thing in terms of studying the learning process
Speaker 1: in general is that people can attach to ideas when
Speaker 1: they're when they're in a linear story or if you
Speaker 1: can tell a story and they can you can go
Speaker 1: from point A to point B, two point c. And
Speaker 1: I've been fortunate within this scheme to coach every single
Speaker 1: position UM in this offense. And whether you're whether you're
Speaker 1: dealing with different players or different personalities, that is one
Speaker 1: true common denominator is that you have to you have
Speaker 1: to have a starting point of understanding that you can
Speaker 1: bridge to the next point UM beyond that tape video,
Speaker 1: edited cut ups and organizing them so that you can
Speaker 1: battle that a d D issue that we that was aforementioned. Um,
Speaker 1: those things are powerful things that will be prominent within
Speaker 1: UM with our coaches that we that we really invest
Speaker 1: our time. But understand UM that how valuable the player's
Speaker 1: time is, how short term attention spans are. You better
Speaker 1: bring um some energy better, you better entertain them while
Speaker 1: uh getting them to learn whatever it is. But you
Speaker 1: always have to listen, ask questions, see if they get it,
Speaker 1: and adjust. My wife has been a teacher for twelve
Speaker 1: years in elementary school and she always tells me about
Speaker 1: how you can't just master the curriculum. You have to
Speaker 1: master the students in terms of knowing how to how
Speaker 1: to teach those particular students. I thought this was so
Speaker 1: profound by coach because understanding attention spans ino is I mean,
Speaker 1: they're short, right. That's the reason why like vine was
Speaker 1: so popular, or TikTok right now is so popular, all
Speaker 1: these short clips that people want to see. That's how
Speaker 1: people's minds work in two and to not just sit
Speaker 1: there and cram the curriculum down someone's throat and say
Speaker 1: you're gonna get this until you You're gonna work on
Speaker 1: this until you get it. But if you're not gonna
Speaker 1: get it, I'll adjust my approach and my style. I
Speaker 1: think that's a great sign for coach. They're heading forward
Speaker 1: with how he wants to attack things. A few more
Speaker 1: highlights here. I want to just touch on real quick
Speaker 1: before you take our last break and then get to
Speaker 1: our final segment. Here, coach was asked about the twenty
Speaker 1: year playoff victory drought and asked why are you the
Speaker 1: person that you'll be able to end that? And he
Speaker 1: said why not? And he said, it's not about me.
Speaker 1: It's about relationships and players. It's not an individual ordeal.
Speaker 1: I just like the way he talked about how the
Speaker 1: last twenty years has no relevance on this next season.
Speaker 1: That's actually a point. I'm in the postgame show with
Speaker 1: Sethan o j so many times and I love the
Speaker 1: fact that McDaniel agrees in that front. He also was
Speaker 1: asked about how much Dolphins tape he's watched since getting
Speaker 1: this job or since preparing for this job, and he
Speaker 1: said a lot, and you kind of laughed about it.
Speaker 1: Obviously that's what he does. And talking about the game
Speaker 1: tape and what he saw that he loved on defense
Speaker 1: and defense that he doesn't want to have to go
Speaker 1: against He loved see what he saw on that side
Speaker 1: of the football and an offense having some tools to
Speaker 1: work with there as well. But he also talked about
Speaker 1: how players play hard and you can see that on tape.
Speaker 1: We agree, coach. We we saw that all year long
Speaker 1: on the Tuesday All twenty two review episodes here of
Speaker 1: Drive Time. That much was clear, and so coach rapped
Speaker 1: at the press conference there with a couple more questions.
Speaker 1: You can find this thing and it's entirety up on
Speaker 1: our YouTube channel, the Miami Dolphins YouTube channelhere. You can
Speaker 1: also find Dolphins Today as well as my sit down
Speaker 1: and join on Torres interview with Coach McDaniel. We'll go
Speaker 1: ahead and finish up this podcast on the other side,
Speaker 1: taking a look at some of the basic one on
Speaker 1: ones of wide zone and running the football. We'll also
Speaker 1: talk about some of the comments from writers and national
Speaker 1: pundits around the landscape. That's next here on the Drivetime
Speaker 1: Podcast with Travis Wingfield. All right, the Friday show rolls
Speaker 1: on here. We have a couple more things to talk
Speaker 1: about here on this edition of the Drivetime podcast. So
Speaker 1: just a really great press conference there from Coach McDaniel,
Speaker 1: giving us a good glimpse of what he hopes to
Speaker 1: bring here to the Miami Dolphins and the confidence with
Speaker 1: which he's spoke about those things he aims to bring
Speaker 1: to the Miami Dolphins. And I want to go ahead
Speaker 1: and go to the national media reaction over the hiring
Speaker 1: of Mike McDaniel and kick it off from Good Morning
Speaker 1: Football on Tuesday morning, Peter Schreeger talking about the hiring
Speaker 1: of Mike McDaniel. Here's Peter Schrader. Afternoon. Mike McDaniel got
Speaker 1: to the facility in David, Florida, and they met for
Speaker 1: ten hours with owner Stephen Ross and general manager Chris Greer,
Speaker 1: and he laid it out and one of the big
Speaker 1: things that he told them was, I'm going to maximize
Speaker 1: what Toa can do best. I'm not going to think
Speaker 1: that Toa is going to hold us back. And he
Speaker 1: made the case for why Tua can be the quarterback there. Um,
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel's story is interesting. Well, everyone was fawning and
Speaker 1: praising Laflora and McVeigh and Kyle Shanahan from that Washington staff.
Speaker 1: You actually were on that team. Mike McDaniel was a
Speaker 1: coach on that team too. He's always gotten the best
Speaker 1: out of his quarterbacks, and as much as he's given
Speaker 1: the credit for the run game and where they do
Speaker 1: a debot, I think the quarterback question was such a
Speaker 1: big one in Miami, and he had answers for what
Speaker 1: he wants to do with to a very high on too.
Speaker 1: I got to speak to him this weekend and he's
Speaker 1: very high one. I think Peter would go back and
Speaker 1: amend the Davy comment Miami Gardens. But that's okay, Peter,
Speaker 1: friend of the podcast, and I'll never forget. You know,
Speaker 1: this reminds me of of this game that I always
Speaker 1: referenced back to when I first really kind of fell
Speaker 1: in love with the Shanahan scheme. And call me late
Speaker 1: on that. That's okay, But I'll never forget watching the
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen Divisional round game between Minnesota and San Francisco
Speaker 1: the Niners Super Bowl year, and they dominated that game
Speaker 1: from start to finish. They just had their way in
Speaker 1: the short intermediate passing game because of the success of
Speaker 1: the running game and the lanes it created with false
Speaker 1: steps and quick, decisive lightning fast release in the passing
Speaker 1: game sound familiar. I would highly recommend going back and
Speaker 1: watching that game to get an ideal look at what
Speaker 1: the system can do at its best in terms of
Speaker 1: efficiency running the football and a defense having no answers
Speaker 1: for sixty minutes. Another piece of content here from The Athletic,
Speaker 1: Ted Win, a great writer who covers the Las Vegas Raiders.
Speaker 1: He might have gone on national at this point now,
Speaker 1: but he's a phenomenal writer for the Athletic, and he
Speaker 1: wrote the monster piece back in the summer of nineteen
Speaker 1: about the running game and how analytics having a negative
Speaker 1: view on the running game and how some of those
Speaker 1: numbers in the running game analytically can be misleading. When
Speaker 1: wrote about a conversation he had with a coach of
Speaker 1: an analytics driven team. Didn't specify who, but that coach
Speaker 1: said that some of the stats to prove the passing
Speaker 1: game superiority over the run game could be flawed or
Speaker 1: maybe don't tell the whole story because they rely on
Speaker 1: averages that could be swayed by big plays. Now, this
Speaker 1: point doesn't need my input, but it's my podcast, so
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give it. Anyways, Remember all season how I
Speaker 1: would talk about run down wins versus losses and looking
Speaker 1: at those in lieu of just straight up rushes and yards.
Speaker 1: Because if you run the ball twenty two times and
Speaker 1: on twenty of those I hold you to three or
Speaker 1: fewer yards, I feel really good about that. I feel
Speaker 1: like I won twenty of twenty two plays. Even if
Speaker 1: you hit let's say a forty yarder and a twenty
Speaker 1: yarder that winds up giving you twenty two rushes for
Speaker 1: approximately a hundred yards. That's a win for the offense. Right,
Speaker 1: I would strongly disagree because I want twenty of the
Speaker 1: twenty two plays even though you averaged almost five yards
Speaker 1: per carry. That's the variance versus averages argument. Here's what
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel said in that same story quote A lot
Speaker 1: of stats are not quantifiable in terms of pass game.
Speaker 1: In regards to the run end quote here and win rights.
Speaker 1: McDaniel and several other coaches explained that a strong run
Speaker 1: game affects the type of personnel on the field and
Speaker 1: the structure of the defense. For example, to stop the run,
Speaker 1: defenses have to keep run stuffing defensive lineman in the
Speaker 1: game who aren't as skilled as Russia at Russian the passer,
Speaker 1: or they have to keep bigger linebackers in the game
Speaker 1: who aren't as skilled in coverage. Back to the McDaniel quote,
Speaker 1: a lot of defenses could take away explosive pass games
Speaker 1: if they were able to play too high, two man
Speaker 1: all day. The reason they can't you have run fits
Speaker 1: that are a hat short in the running game. You
Speaker 1: have to earn single safety. In this league, single safety
Speaker 1: opens up some passing holes with five eligibles and three deep.
Speaker 1: You have to earn that. And to earn that, you
Speaker 1: have to draw another guy into the box because they're
Speaker 1: afraid you're gonna run it. End quote ted Ted then
Speaker 1: goes on to detail how the Falcons were able to
Speaker 1: gash one of the league's best defense is led by
Speaker 1: Luke Keikley and Thomas Davis in that season with the
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers because of the previous weeks two d and
Speaker 1: seventeen yards on the ground the Falcons had against the
Speaker 1: Saints and the very first play of the game and
Speaker 1: he clips this off in the piece go check it
Speaker 1: out on the athletic you can see the influence of
Speaker 1: linebackers taking steps forward with a safety rotating from a
Speaker 1: two high look pre snap down into the box, creating
Speaker 1: one on one opportunities on the outside for Julio Jones
Speaker 1: and a chunk game to start the game through the air,
Speaker 1: Ted writes. McDaniel also said that in that game they
Speaker 1: knew they were overmatched up front and called runs just
Speaker 1: to keep the defense honest. Though they were an outside
Speaker 1: zone team. They called quote unquote safer runs inside run
Speaker 1: or inside zone in a duo that are quicker hitting
Speaker 1: and carry less risk of losing yardage. The objective of
Speaker 1: rushing in this game wasn't to necessarily gained yards, but
Speaker 1: to maintain the defense's respect of the run game and
Speaker 1: to aid the offensive line. Very fascinating stuff there. Albert
Speaker 1: Breer on his Monday Morning quarterback piece on Sports Illustrated,
Speaker 1: he had some good detail on McDaniel in the hiring.
Speaker 1: Here's his blurb, As is the fact that Mike McDaniel
Speaker 1: is widely seen among those in the Shanahan coaching tree
Speaker 1: as the other side of Kyle's brain. In fact, the
Speaker 1: thirty eight year old Yell graduate maybe the smartest branch
Speaker 1: off of that tree. And it's reflected and how close
Speaker 1: Shanahan kept McDaniel over the years. Shanahan always surrounded himself
Speaker 1: with smart young coaches, but McDaniel was the only one.
Speaker 1: He took to work with him at all five of
Speaker 1: his NFL stops as a coordinator or head coach Texas, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta,
Speaker 1: and San Francisco, and in each of those places, shanahan
Speaker 1: had no issue delegating to McDaniel, which is a good
Speaker 1: sign of his trust and a guy he first got
Speaker 1: to know as a ball boy for his dad's Broncos
Speaker 1: teams in San Francisco. Over the last few years, Shanahan
Speaker 1: would spend Mondays and Tuesdays almost exclusively on the passing game,
Speaker 1: going to work with top lieutenants like former pass game
Speaker 1: coordinator Michael Fleur, while McDaniel was left to drop the
Speaker 1: team's run game for the whole week. By the time
Speaker 1: Wednesday rolled around, what McDaniel would drop up could be
Speaker 1: so inventive that it could take a couple of days
Speaker 1: for the other guys on the staff to wrap their
Speaker 1: heads around what he was thinking. But Shanahan had so
Speaker 1: much trust to McDaniel that he gave him great loud
Speaker 1: tude to roll with these sorts of ideas, and they
Speaker 1: paid off with one of the NFL's best running games.
Speaker 1: The question now with McDaniel will be how he'll be
Speaker 1: in front of the room when things go wrong, And
Speaker 1: it's a fair question to ask, But based on what
Speaker 1: I know about how McDaniel's grown in that regard and
Speaker 1: how comfortable he is in his own skin, I think
Speaker 1: he'll be all right. And I will say that I'm
Speaker 1: pretty certain that going forward his Dolphins are going to
Speaker 1: be a difficult team to coach against. Very nice stuff
Speaker 1: there from Albert Brier. Let's go ahead and finish up
Speaker 1: with one more blurb here from Peter King on his
Speaker 1: Football Morning in America piece. He writes, the McDaniel path
Speaker 1: started when he was a five ninety six pound receiver
Speaker 1: at Yale two decades ago. In the span of a
Speaker 1: few months, he went from the Yale campus to an
Speaker 1: intern under the gruff and demanding offensive line coach of
Speaker 1: Alex Gibbs in Denver. Six years later, Kyle Shanahan promoted
Speaker 1: him to offensive coordinator with the Niners. McDaniel prides himself
Speaker 1: on communication, and I hear one positive point from mc
Speaker 1: daniel was Miami learning Deebo Samuel spent a half hour
Speaker 1: in his offensive Cordiners office every Tuesday as that week's
Speaker 1: game plan was being finalized. Samuel in a recommendation to Miami,
Speaker 1: also credited McDaniel with teaching him how to be a
Speaker 1: better pro. Really good stuff from around the web there,
Speaker 1: Ted Wynn, Albert Brier, and Peter King. A big thanks
Speaker 1: to those guys for writing those great stories and giving
Speaker 1: us content here on the Drivetime podcast. And add one
Speaker 1: last piece of content here written by Adam Beasley. You
Speaker 1: all know him, formerly of the Miami Herald, now with
Speaker 1: Pro Football Network. He had a great SoundBite or an
Speaker 1: interview rather with former Brown's receiver Andrew Hawkins, who played
Speaker 1: in the receiver's room with Cleveland under Mike McDaniel, and
Speaker 1: he said this quote, of all the coaches I've been around,
Speaker 1: I'm not just saying this from an XS and OS perspective.
Speaker 1: I would put Mike up against any of them, and
Speaker 1: the reason being he's an innovator. Not that other guys
Speaker 1: aren't incredible coaches and aren't with XS and os because
Speaker 1: they are. But the way he approached the game was
Speaker 1: new for me because he was completely unconventional and flipped
Speaker 1: the rules on his head. End quote. He also then
Speaker 1: talked about how they made it a point to not
Speaker 1: get pressed at the line of scrimmage and that receiver's room,
Speaker 1: and he said, we're going to automate this process. Coach
Speaker 1: McDaniel did to Hawkins to where you're going to take
Speaker 1: all the thinking out of getting off the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: You're gonna stick to these three principles on it. You're
Speaker 1: gonna stick to these two releases, and you're never gonna
Speaker 1: get jammed. You're never gonna get jammed at the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage if you do these two things, and you
Speaker 1: would bend this philosophy that I am showing you. And
Speaker 1: Andrew Hawkins also said that inteen I don't think there
Speaker 1: was a single sever if you go back and watch
Speaker 1: that film, I don't think there was a single receiver
Speaker 1: for us that got jammed at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: It was the wildest thing. It got to the point
Speaker 1: that teams stop trying to even press us. So teaching
Speaker 1: a big part of that press conference opening statement and
Speaker 1: here proof in the Pudding with Andrew Hawkins. So what
Speaker 1: a fun week that was. Press conference, in the books,
Speaker 1: interview with Mike McDaniel. In the meantime, that is gonna
Speaker 1: be my time you all please be sure to subscribe
Speaker 1: to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating,
Speaker 1: Leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Wingfield NFL. You can follow the team at Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins across all social accounts. Get to those accounts following.
Speaker 1: We have plenty of content coming your way over the
Speaker 1: course of this week. Also, don't forget the fish Tank
Speaker 1: podcast with Seth and o J. And of course our
Speaker 1: YouTube channel where you can find the introduction press conference
Speaker 1: from Mike McDaniel. We have that available up on YouTube
Speaker 1: as well as Dolphins Today and last but not least,
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, Caroline, Daddy is
Speaker 1: coming home.