Speaker 1: To us fires touch stop waddle stocked into the end
Speaker 1: zone of Miami Pro Tip window. They had to get
Speaker 1: that touchdown on that play, they give it. What is up?
Speaker 1: Dolphans 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? I am your host Travis Winfield
Speaker 1: And on today's show, Tom Pella Sero joins us to
Speaker 1: talk about the Dolphins newest head coach Mike McDaniel, some
Speaker 1: weekend tape study and how coach and staff can taylor
Speaker 1: the offense to the weapons they have. Plus that's a
Speaker 1: rap on the NFL season, a few things we learned
Speaker 1: after crowning a champion on Sunday. From somewhere in South Florida.
Speaker 1: This is the Drivetime Podcast Miami Dolphins. We have another
Speaker 1: great guest lined up for you today on the show.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and welcome and NFL net Works own
Speaker 1: Tom Pellisero, and I'm joined now by NFL Network reporter
Speaker 1: and Sirius XM radio host Tom Pellisero. And Tom, I
Speaker 1: heard that we have the hottest super Bowl on record
Speaker 1: on tap, I would have pushed all of my chips
Speaker 1: to the middle of the table if that would have
Speaker 1: been happening here in South Florida, but I guess it's
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles this weekend. The difference, Travis is it's
Speaker 1: a drying heat out here. You can just feel the
Speaker 1: sun baking on you. You don't feel like you're in
Speaker 1: a swamp and gotta change closed five times. Of course today.
Speaker 1: That was a summer lesson when I first moved down here,
Speaker 1: was that if you go outside at all, you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to go back and take a shower, like you
Speaker 1: mentioned there. So you know, we talked about California, south Florida.
Speaker 1: Pardon the bad transition here, Tom, but from one California
Speaker 1: to Florida transplant. Is the new head coach of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins and Mike McDaniel and Tom you had mentioned
Speaker 1: on one of your hits. I think it was this
Speaker 1: week that you crossed past with coach McDaniel quite a
Speaker 1: while back. What do you remember What do you first
Speaker 1: remember hearing about him as he kind of began his
Speaker 1: sent in the coaching ranks and on stood out to
Speaker 1: you about him early on. Well, I initially met Mike
Speaker 1: through Kyle Shanahan many years ago, and Mike has been
Speaker 1: a long time Kyle Shanahan assistant. UM, he had brought
Speaker 1: him along to every place he'd ever been, between obviously
Speaker 1: being in Houston and being in Cleveland and Atlanta, San Francisco.
Speaker 1: I'm sure I'm missing one in there, but they've always
Speaker 1: been side by side for a long time. And then
Speaker 1: you know, obviously got to know him a little bit
Speaker 1: better at the Super Bowl uh five years ago when
Speaker 1: the Falcons were in it, and had a fascinating conversation,
Speaker 1: a deep conversation with Mike that started a Super Bowl
Speaker 1: media day and continued on the phone over a couple
Speaker 1: of nights. We just Mike talk to me about some
Speaker 1: of the things that he's dealt with in the past,
Speaker 1: and some of the challenges that he's had to overcome
Speaker 1: in his personal life. The way that the Falcons helped
Speaker 1: him through all of that. UM, you know, certainly when
Speaker 1: you get to know him, when you talk to him,
Speaker 1: and I think that's already a parent for just a
Speaker 1: press conferences and and you know the vir videos and
Speaker 1: everything else there. He's a multilayered guy. He was certainly
Speaker 1: unique individual, highly intelligent individual, and somebody that I think
Speaker 1: that the Dolphins fans are going to really enjoy hearing
Speaker 1: from five times a week come to see. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: did a whole round the whole gamut of media yesterday
Speaker 1: after his press conference, and he kind of has that
Speaker 1: dry humor where he'll give you a joke and kind
Speaker 1: of see how you react and then continue on. And
Speaker 1: a few of the guys got a sample of that.
Speaker 1: I got a sample of that. I think I missed
Speaker 1: the boat on my joke opportunity with coach, But I
Speaker 1: guess I'll learn as I go along. I would say
Speaker 1: that that's fair. You know. The one thing of Mike
Speaker 1: is he's He's very authentic, and Kyle Shanahan said that
Speaker 1: recently the Mike is himself. He is and Kyle has
Speaker 1: also referred to him as an acquired taste. He's just
Speaker 1: he's a little bit different of a personality than a
Speaker 1: lot of times get from head coaches. But when you're evaluating,
Speaker 1: and I think that this goes for teams across the league,
Speaker 1: every team is gonna have its own criteria in terms
Speaker 1: of what they're looking for in their head coach, and
Speaker 1: not everybody is gonna lead the same way and out
Speaker 1: of her per ssonality is going to fit into a
Speaker 1: precise box. And this is what we think the head
Speaker 1: coach is going to be. So provided that you feel
Speaker 1: like you can translate your skills that you've used in
Speaker 1: assistant coaching roles into the head coaching role, it's just
Speaker 1: a matter of taking that and going, Okay, can we
Speaker 1: see this winner lose? Can this guy be the person
Speaker 1: who stand in front of the room winner lose? And
Speaker 1: I know the Dolphins did a ton of background on
Speaker 1: Mike McDaniels of diget into some of those same issues,
Speaker 1: you know, can he be that guy? How does he
Speaker 1: interact with people? What can he draw out with people?
Speaker 1: Obviously they found the answers that they were very satisfied with,
Speaker 1: and that's why he's their head coach. Yeah, you mentioned,
Speaker 1: you know, the Dolphins doing their background research on him,
Speaker 1: Stephen Ross at the press conference multiple times, out of
Speaker 1: the box thinker and we've heard that all the time.
Speaker 1: And Tom, you're obviously as well connected as anybody in
Speaker 1: this league. And you know, as this and even past
Speaker 1: hiring cycles have come and gone, has there been one
Speaker 1: common trade that people kind of mentioned about coach McDaniel
Speaker 1: And if so, what is that? One trade. Intelligence is
Speaker 1: the number one thing, and that's always been there for Mike.
Speaker 1: You know, he went to Yale and he's, you know,
Speaker 1: just a very well thought out person. I think that
Speaker 1: just in terms of football, A big part of it is,
Speaker 1: you know, he has a reputation as an innovator, not
Speaker 1: an imitator. In other words, there's so much play stealing
Speaker 1: that goes on in the NFL, and sometimes people can
Speaker 1: get the impression that somebody's really thinking, you know, has
Speaker 1: these new ideas, when really all they're doing is watching
Speaker 1: college stape, watching other NFL teams, plucking plays With Mike
Speaker 1: and working with Kyle Shanahan. They do some things. They
Speaker 1: will show things that nobody has seen. They can take
Speaker 1: a guy like Kylie use Check, who you know, was
Speaker 1: a guy who you wonder, okay, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: what's his role. They made him like a seven million
Speaker 1: dollar fullback because they saw him as this chess piece
Speaker 1: that they can move all over the place. And you know,
Speaker 1: that's something that's a comment trade. Within that offense, Mike
Speaker 1: has a heavy uh hand in the running game. He
Speaker 1: has in the past with the forty Niners. That's kind
Speaker 1: of been a balance there because Kyl Shanahan's obviously a
Speaker 1: brilliant past game guy, knows how to get the people open.
Speaker 1: Mike was kind of his second set eyes on game
Speaker 1: day too. So the way that Mike can see the game,
Speaker 1: he sees things that other people don't see, and that
Speaker 1: obviously is something that you know, schematically has been a
Speaker 1: serving well as he not only moves into his first
Speaker 1: head coaching opportunity, but his first opportunity really calling plays
Speaker 1: all the time as well. It's a great trait to have, obviously,
Speaker 1: But I'm curious, how do you think that will benefit
Speaker 1: him in both assembling his coaching staff and then ultimately
Speaker 1: the collaboration with the coaches he has on staff. Well,
Speaker 1: I know the Mike it it put a lot of
Speaker 1: time in with the coaching staff. There have been some
Speaker 1: things that have been you know, relatively set up for
Speaker 1: a while in terms of the types of people that
Speaker 1: he was going to be bringing in. You'll see those
Speaker 1: names Trick went out here in the coming weeks. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the expectation is Josh Boyer and much of the defensive
Speaker 1: staff remain in place because a lot of people who
Speaker 1: are eager to work with Mike. There are a lot
Speaker 1: of veteran coaches who are eager to work with Mike
Speaker 1: because again, even though his profile was lower and you know,
Speaker 1: you don't see him in a press conference, he doesn't
Speaker 1: talk away some other guys do. People who have been
Speaker 1: around him know how smart he is. Some of the
Speaker 1: smartest coach is in the NFL worked with Mike at
Speaker 1: various stops. Talk about the sounding board that he can be,
Speaker 1: and so when he gets a head coaching job, absolutely
Speaker 1: there are people who want to go into this with
Speaker 1: him and want to be a part of it. You know,
Speaker 1: he may too. We'll see how the exact composition of
Speaker 1: the staff happens. I would not be surprised if you
Speaker 1: bring in a former NFL head coach, somebody who can
Speaker 1: help with some of the administrative stuff. You see that
Speaker 1: with a lot of first time head coaches. They'll bring
Speaker 1: people in just to kind of ease some of that
Speaker 1: administrative burdens just so much that comes with being the
Speaker 1: head coach. But I fully believe that it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a really strong staff he puts together in Miami, because
Speaker 1: that's the type of respect that Mike has in terms
Speaker 1: of being a football line in the league. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: mentioned the respect among his coaching peers. And obviously a
Speaker 1: big part of getting a head coaching job is your
Speaker 1: ability to round out a coaching staff, but also recruiting players.
Speaker 1: I know it's not you know, on the college or
Speaker 1: even high school level, but when you when you look
Speaker 1: at how his his makeup and his character can possibly
Speaker 1: attract free agents, do you think that also will go
Speaker 1: a long way and making players want to come here
Speaker 1: and play for Mike McDaniel. I would say that if
Speaker 1: any of those players want to do homework on Mike McDaniel,
Speaker 1: they should call the forty Niners players and here the
Speaker 1: types of things that those guys uh say about him.
Speaker 1: You know, everybody from obviously Kyle Eustchack has been very
Speaker 1: outspoken about what Mike means to him. Guys like Deebo
Speaker 1: Samuel I know, um, you know, put together some thoughts
Speaker 1: that he got to the Dolphins during the interview process
Speaker 1: because he wanted them to know he always he was
Speaker 1: preparing for a playoff game. Deebo wanted him to know
Speaker 1: how special of a guy that Mike is. You know,
Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to see just kind of you know,
Speaker 1: obviously he's he's talked to a tongue by lower already.
Speaker 1: We saw that video, the expectations. He's there, he's a believer,
Speaker 1: and he pitched them on the plan for how he
Speaker 1: was going to you know, how he was gonna work
Speaker 1: with two of It wasn't well, here's our options quarter like, No,
Speaker 1: here's how we're gonna get the most out of to
Speaker 1: And that's something we've seen throughout Myke's career. Two is,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of quarterbacks. Obviously again he's been with
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan, but basically every quarterback that that Mike's been
Speaker 1: in countering has had their best year when he's been there.
Speaker 1: And part of that because they've run football so effectively,
Speaker 1: and that's a big thing that Mike does, and so
Speaker 1: talent acquisitions. Always the Dolphins are always aggressive in free agency.
Speaker 1: They're not afraid to spend money. Steve Ross is willing
Speaker 1: to invest in the team. I would anticipate that that continues,
Speaker 1: and I think that if yeah, again, if I players
Speaker 1: call around to the forty Niners players or even guys
Speaker 1: who have played for Mike in the past, I mean
Speaker 1: guys like Andrew Hawkins, who I worked with here at
Speaker 1: NFL Network, will tell you he's one of the smartest
Speaker 1: guys you know that you're ever going to come across
Speaker 1: a lot of people that have a lot of love
Speaker 1: for Mike, and I think that word of mouth is
Speaker 1: a big part of you know, when you're when you're
Speaker 1: kind of analyzing where to end up. Yeah, you mentioned
Speaker 1: the testimonials. I was going to mention that Andrew Hawkins quote.
Speaker 1: He talked about receivers room in Cleveland, how he believes
Speaker 1: they never got pressed or jammed to the line because
Speaker 1: of the techniques and the stuff that Mike McDaniel taught them.
Speaker 1: So really good stuff there across the board on those testimonials.
Speaker 1: And you had mentioned in your reporting that he kind
Speaker 1: of presented some well thought out plans for specific players,
Speaker 1: and the idea of developing players and getting the best
Speaker 1: out of them is very high on the to do list.
Speaker 1: What's the book on his ability to do that, to
Speaker 1: take players and take them to their absolute peak of
Speaker 1: their performance. It's very strong. And that's another one of
Speaker 1: the big selling points with Mike is player development. And
Speaker 1: yes he has plans for that for the entire offense,
Speaker 1: but also specifically for developing to a Toko Valoa who
Speaker 1: when he was healthy last season to have played well
Speaker 1: and they won. Maybe I don't know off the top
Speaker 1: of my head you might have what to his record
Speaker 1: as the starting quarterback, but it's pretty good. You know,
Speaker 1: his issue has been injuries, which was his issue and
Speaker 1: at Alabama to all the way through just you know,
Speaker 1: got banged up a lot. This season. He dealt with
Speaker 1: the rib injury. I think he had a hand or
Speaker 1: a thumb or some kind of injury too, So he's
Speaker 1: dealt with stuff when he was healthy down the stretch.
Speaker 1: That's the best we saw in play. Now you bring
Speaker 1: in somebody who this is what they do. They are
Speaker 1: a guru. In terms of offense, It'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see two because two has played so much from the
Speaker 1: shotgun throughout the course of his career, and that was
Speaker 1: kind of the idea when the Dolphins first drafted him,
Speaker 1: which was bringing chan gaily run that spread it out, shotgun,
Speaker 1: quick hitting type of an offense. Well, Mike's history in
Speaker 1: that offense, the outside zone scheme, it's a lot of
Speaker 1: play actions, a lot of blue legs, it's a lot
Speaker 1: of under center stuff. So how Mike balance is that
Speaker 1: in terms of getting to under center, which I would
Speaker 1: I won't guarantee anything, but I would certainly bet they
Speaker 1: will see two under center more than he has been
Speaker 1: in the past. And then you know some of the
Speaker 1: other fundamentals that offense, things like turning your back to
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage on playthings which a lot of
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks haven't done. So how they kind of teach
Speaker 1: some of these elements of the offense while also preserving
Speaker 1: what toa is comfortable with. I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be an important part of how this offense and this
Speaker 1: entire team involves. It's very interesting because there's some carry
Speaker 1: over in terms of the Niners lead in the NFL
Speaker 1: last year and twenty one personnel you mentioned Kyle, you
Speaker 1: check a big part of that. The Dolphins like the
Speaker 1: NFL and twelve personnel with two tight ends, so maybe
Speaker 1: there is some carry over there. And earlier, Tom you
Speaker 1: mentioned you know your relationship with Mike and it goes
Speaker 1: back quite a few years, and you've detailed some of
Speaker 1: the obstacles he's overcome and his coaching career, in his
Speaker 1: life and all that kind of ties together. How do
Speaker 1: you think that helps him connect to his players? Well, certainly,
Speaker 1: Mike had a you know, unique, a lot of unique
Speaker 1: things in his life going all the way back to
Speaker 1: his childhood. And of course he's addressed, um, the race issue,
Speaker 1: which became the sort of Twitter sensation in recent days
Speaker 1: because of the current environment. There are things that are
Speaker 1: going on within the league. But growing up with a
Speaker 1: black father and a white mother and seeing certain things
Speaker 1: that may have been a little bit difficult people experienced. Um.
Speaker 1: And then obviously as he got out of college and
Speaker 1: got into the NFL, one thing that that followed him
Speaker 1: was problems with alcohol. You know, he had issues going
Speaker 1: back to and we talked about all this five years
Speaker 1: ago with the Super Bowl. You know, things like you know,
Speaker 1: being in his office in Cleveland and you know, having
Speaker 1: a drink to try to jumpstart his creativity, and coming
Speaker 1: in Atlanta sometimes you know, smelling like alcohol on a
Speaker 1: Saturday morning before I walk through. And he got to
Speaker 1: the point where Mike had the self awareness to go
Speaker 1: to Thomas mit Rock and Dan Quinn and say, I
Speaker 1: need some help. I think I need did to do
Speaker 1: something here, And so he went and he got treatment
Speaker 1: and he's you know, over the past five years here, Um,
Speaker 1: you have been a different person. As he told me
Speaker 1: at the time, you realize people like him a lot
Speaker 1: more when he's not drinking. You know, that's brought out.
Speaker 1: I think even more of the creativity than Mike has um,
Speaker 1: just in terms of his ability to focus on not
Speaker 1: having other things that are, you know, going on in
Speaker 1: his life. I think that it's a good trade in
Speaker 1: a head coach, not in any way you know, compare
Speaker 1: personal issues to professional but I do think it's a
Speaker 1: good trade in a head coach, sometimes, especially a first
Speaker 1: time head coach, to say I can't do this all
Speaker 1: of my own. I need help, I need to delegate,
Speaker 1: I need input from different people. And I think those
Speaker 1: are all lessons that Mike is going to apply now.
Speaker 1: Um that he's a head coach and he's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that too. He's gonna be fun to cover,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be fun to watch how his offense involves.
Speaker 1: The fans are gonna have fun too. In the end,
Speaker 1: it's all about winning football games, and that's what he's
Speaker 1: gonna be tasked with. You're not taking over a bottom
Speaker 1: feeder here with the Dolphin. You're taking over a team
Speaker 1: that's had a winning record the past couple of years.
Speaker 1: Even though you know, not going to the playoffs, but
Speaker 1: certainly been a competitive team, probably too streaky for anybody's
Speaker 1: liking long losing streaks, long winning streaks. During the course
Speaker 1: of time there, Mike said'm certainly you know, I'm sure
Speaker 1: it's gonna try to be smoothing that stuff out. But
Speaker 1: he's taken over a team that's got some talent the
Speaker 1: guy guys like Jalen Waddle, who's really intriguing young player
Speaker 1: on offense, who thought about six billion passes uh this season.
Speaker 1: They've obviously got some you know, all pro caliber talent
Speaker 1: on the defense too. Let's see how they bring it together.
Speaker 1: Let's see how they do, you know, through free agency
Speaker 1: and the draft pers careers there, so you've got continuity
Speaker 1: on the personnel side. I think this the whole thing
Speaker 1: is gonna be really interesting to watch because Mike is
Speaker 1: and again I don't mean to minimize this, but he
Speaker 1: is outside the box in terms of you don't immediately
Speaker 1: meet him or you know, have a conversation and go, Okay,
Speaker 1: that guy's a future head coach, but understanding how smart
Speaker 1: he is, the impact he's had on so many different teams,
Speaker 1: the way the players view him, the way that everybody
Speaker 1: in the building views him. Uh, there is real upside
Speaker 1: to him being a head coach, and I'm really excited
Speaker 1: to see it. Well, Tom, I gotta say, you got
Speaker 1: me wanting it to be September already. It's it's a
Speaker 1: few months away. But no, please, no, just I'm not
Speaker 1: I'm not ready for you. Yeah. I understand you've been
Speaker 1: a busy man. This is this last entire season, the
Speaker 1: extra week to extend your scheduling for further So we'll
Speaker 1: go ahead and enjoy the break in the time off
Speaker 1: before we give you that, though, quick, Tom, one more question.
Speaker 1: What do you think ultimately will make Mike a successful
Speaker 1: head coach in this league? Well, Tom will tell and
Speaker 1: I think that everybody's got trades. There's a reason guys
Speaker 1: get hired, and everybody believes that, you know, the guy
Speaker 1: they're hiring is gonna have the trades to be a
Speaker 1: successful head coach if it pans out that way from Mike,
Speaker 1: and if he is able to be as good as
Speaker 1: he has the capability of doing. It's just that the
Speaker 1: way that he sees the game is very unique. The
Speaker 1: way that he can pick things out, innovate, um be
Speaker 1: able to push the envelope on certain things, and some
Speaker 1: of them may seem minor some of them if you're
Speaker 1: just a fan tuning into the game, it may be imperceptible.
Speaker 1: But you're always challenging the status quo. And when you're
Speaker 1: doing that, not simply by watching tape of what other
Speaker 1: people are doing. You're figuring out unique things that you
Speaker 1: can do. You're figuring out ways that you can adjust
Speaker 1: on the fly. It's that ability it's really gonna help
Speaker 1: Mike and what he's gonna have to grow into is
Speaker 1: just the leadership role. Being at the front of the
Speaker 1: room every day. He's obviously been an offensive coordinator. He's
Speaker 1: been heavily involved. I've seen him present. You might see
Speaker 1: the guy at the press conference and not recognize them
Speaker 1: in terms of the guy presenting in the room because
Speaker 1: they are a little bit different. Um, he has some experience,
Speaker 1: ere it's the first time for everything, so growing into
Speaker 1: that that leadership role, in the front of the room role,
Speaker 1: but being able to rely on I'm as smart as
Speaker 1: anybody in terms of how they're drawing this up and
Speaker 1: the ex's nose and the way that we're gonna game
Speaker 1: plan every week. That is what in the short term
Speaker 1: is going to have the give the Mike the opportunity
Speaker 1: to be really good. Well yeah, I mean it's from
Speaker 1: the sounds of it, sounds like when he needs to,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of look in the mirror and and
Speaker 1: make improvements as he goes along. He's certainly capable of
Speaker 1: that as he gets kind his feet went his experience
Speaker 1: here in South Florida. Tom Pellicero, NFL Network, Serious XM Radio, Tom,
Speaker 1: really appreciate your time today. I understand you're going back
Speaker 1: on the network for a live hit. Keep an eye
Speaker 1: out for those scooters out there. Okay, we'll do appreciate
Speaker 1: And there he goes Tom Pellicero, NFL Network. Great stuff
Speaker 1: there on the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: And before we get to our first break here, want
Speaker 1: to go ahead and just let you guys know that
Speaker 1: we will have the entirety of the coaching staff updated
Speaker 1: for you when we haven't finalized and published and everything
Speaker 1: on Miami Dolphins dot com and we announced it. We'll
Speaker 1: cover it here on the Drivetime podcast. But I want
Speaker 1: to go ahead and let you know that we did
Speaker 1: hear from Mike McDaniel on local radio here in South
Speaker 1: Florida on Friday that Wes Welker would be joining his
Speaker 1: staff as a receiver's coach, and that Josh Boyer would
Speaker 1: stay on as the defensive coordinator. Mike McDaniel himself confirmed that,
Speaker 1: So that is what we're going forward with. We'll get
Speaker 1: you updated on the rest of the coaching staff as
Speaker 1: we go forward. Next, I watched some tape this weekend.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about what I saw, so we'll
Speaker 1: do that next turn on the Drift Time podcast. Travis
Speaker 1: Wingfield keep it locked right here the B block here
Speaker 1: on a Monday edition of the Drive Time podcast. And
Speaker 1: when I set out to record this podcast, I did
Speaker 1: not intend on putting more coach sound bites into this episode.
Speaker 1: But then I heard the Lebotard podcast and look, I'm
Speaker 1: very proud of the interview I did with Coach McDaniel.
Speaker 1: He made it one of the more memorable moments of
Speaker 1: my career so far. But my goodness, was this Lebotard
Speaker 1: spot good. I guess that's how you generate a national
Speaker 1: audience and launch your own podcast network. Huh. But I
Speaker 1: think a lot of this supplements the segment I had
Speaker 1: planned on doing. And there's a theme I want to
Speaker 1: focus on with his answers that jives with this segment
Speaker 1: that I had planned, but I just wanted to relay
Speaker 1: this part, he said. With regards to the resources he's
Speaker 1: provided in this position as head coach of the Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 1: he talked about putting in request for certain things and
Speaker 1: the expensing process can sometimes take some time. And he
Speaker 1: said that he heard stories about being here in Miami. Hey,
Speaker 1: you want to hyper barrack chamber and a peloton is
Speaker 1: gonna cost you three dollars and then it shows up
Speaker 1: the next day. The thought of giving this man all
Speaker 1: the resources he needs, you have to love that all right,
Speaker 1: back to the theme here, and he really detailed some
Speaker 1: of his approach to the offensive side of the ball
Speaker 1: and sort of taking inventory of the assets that he has.
Speaker 1: It's threefold, the quarterback, the offensive line with the running game,
Speaker 1: and wattle, Wattle. Let's go ahead and start here first
Speaker 1: with two a tongue of Vola. His answer about what
Speaker 1: too One needs to improve on this offseason. He needs
Speaker 1: to work on playing the position of quarterback. We we
Speaker 1: need to teach him our system. He needs to work
Speaker 1: on fundamentals You get with him and without any shortcut.
Speaker 1: You see things he's comfortable with within your offense, and
Speaker 1: then you need to have other offense around the original
Speaker 1: point of focusing on the run game within our system.
Speaker 1: The first year that I had that, I was in
Speaker 1: coach he Knows with Jake Plummer and the Broncos and
Speaker 1: we went to a c championship game. One could say that, hey,
Speaker 1: Jake Plummer needs to work at playing in the pocket
Speaker 1: on third down more. Or you can say we need
Speaker 1: to run the ball, we need to feature what he's
Speaker 1: good at, and yes, he needs to work at it all.
Speaker 1: But more of the focus was let's create the offense.
Speaker 1: Let's establish the system. He should know how to call
Speaker 1: the plays where everyone's at, but let's have an offense
Speaker 1: that he operates within. So it's hard for me to
Speaker 1: say this one thing. I want him to work. I
Speaker 1: want him to be invested, and I want to see
Speaker 1: what happens with that. And that reminds me so much
Speaker 1: of things I learned when I first got into reading
Speaker 1: war and Sharp's work. Who does so much work on
Speaker 1: analytics and down in distant situational football, And that's essentially
Speaker 1: I think what coaches kind of driving home there was
Speaker 1: creating more advantageous situations, not just for your quarterback but
Speaker 1: for the entire offense. And the ability to run the
Speaker 1: football cannot only put you in better down and distances,
Speaker 1: especially when you go away from tendencies and run the
Speaker 1: ball when you're expected to pass, and pass the ball
Speaker 1: when you're expected to run. But the influence it has
Speaker 1: on the defense is also tenfold. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 1: get to this next clip here of him talking about
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Here's coach McDaniel. Um. I think historically,
Speaker 1: if you go back and look from year to year,
Speaker 1: you know what was the Atlanta Falcons o line productivity
Speaker 1: in two thousand fourteen. Historically, our system does help people
Speaker 1: because we commit the stuff and all those things back there.
Speaker 1: Very aware of that. But to me, that's where we
Speaker 1: have to flourish. So that is obviously a point of
Speaker 1: emphasis because we haven't. But the line of scrimmage is
Speaker 1: paramount importance. That was the pillar of our success in
Speaker 1: San Francisco last five years. I mean, it makes perfect
Speaker 1: sense if you can have success in terms of gaining yards,
Speaker 1: possessing the football, and then also having an influence on
Speaker 1: how the defense attacks your passing game. When you do
Speaker 1: want to dial up the ball through the air. It
Speaker 1: makes so much sense. How about the offensive line. Let's
Speaker 1: go and continue this follow up here about being within
Speaker 1: one system across six different teams, here's coach McDaniel. But
Speaker 1: I'm running a system that I've ran with six different
Speaker 1: teams for fifteen years and one system which no one
Speaker 1: really talks about. But that's unprecedented. Why because Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 1: kept getting jobs at different places? What does that mean?
Speaker 1: You learn how to play with different types of players
Speaker 1: and then you adjust, which is why we're We're not like,
Speaker 1: I'm not creative for creative sake. I'm just trying to
Speaker 1: trying to put players in success and we've got a
Speaker 1: lot of different ways to do it because we've had
Speaker 1: to adapt to a lot of different players. We didn't
Speaker 1: know how to do zone read until we got his
Speaker 1: own read quarterback, and so are we zone read guys,
Speaker 1: And to only do that, no one had done it
Speaker 1: in Pistol. We just didn't Pistol because it made sense.
Speaker 1: So stuff like that. You know, being in the same
Speaker 1: system for that long, the system completely evolves and doesn't
Speaker 1: even look the same, but you learn how to figure
Speaker 1: stuff out. Um, once you get all your assets. We're
Speaker 1: gonna circle back to that one. But first, real quick,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and finish up here. You're gonna hear
Speaker 1: Lebotard's question towards coach and he doesn't even finish the
Speaker 1: question before giving him an answer. Let's go back to it.
Speaker 1: Give me a name, please, just to excite the Dolphin
Speaker 1: fan base where you were looking at the roster and
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, I can get I can get something
Speaker 1: special at that guy. Okay, Wattle? All right, so you're
Speaker 1: you're telling you're promising us, you could promise it Wattle.
Speaker 1: If he's healthy, you're gonna see a little Deebo Samuel.
Speaker 1: You're gonna see someone who's used super versatile. No. I
Speaker 1: just I just talked with him on Monday, and I
Speaker 1: think he understands his leadership role on this team. He's
Speaker 1: a phenomenal talent. And guess what the best and easiest
Speaker 1: way to uh get yards is give it to a
Speaker 1: really talented player. Is the last five or four or
Speaker 1: five years have led the league in the act. The
Speaker 1: reason is because we we're addicted to getting our skill
Speaker 1: position players that are good with running the ball the ball,
Speaker 1: and so yes, I would start him in fantasy. Beyond that,
Speaker 1: I think, UM, I think you should see some jumps
Speaker 1: in the Miami Dolphins offense next year. What those look like,
Speaker 1: UM will be determined this offseason and the way the
Speaker 1: players work and attack things moving forward. Welcome. You can
Speaker 1: hear that entire interview on the Lebotard Show with Stu
Speaker 1: Got's on the Dan Lebotard podcast Network. Great great stuff
Speaker 1: there and to just finish up here real quick. Lebotard
Speaker 1: asked him about the best trait that he brings to
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, and McDaniel said, the true strength he's been
Speaker 1: afforded over his career is adaptability. He then points out
Speaker 1: how many players have had their career years within this
Speaker 1: system and again not a rigid system, but the system
Speaker 1: with adaptations to fit those players. Coach said that variables
Speaker 1: and different positions and how they helped him understand the
Speaker 1: best way to get the ball to the best players
Speaker 1: in unique ways and adjusting to their skill set. He
Speaker 1: thinks that empowers the quarterback. The run game empowers the quarterback,
Speaker 1: and he finishes up with this quote, adapting to talent
Speaker 1: and versatility to do whatever our skill set necessitate, necessitates
Speaker 1: would probably be my best trade. So we know there's
Speaker 1: a draft still to happen, obviously, and the most cap
Speaker 1: space when next month's free agency period opens up, so
Speaker 1: he can get to work putting his fingerprints on this roster.
Speaker 1: But what about what he's inheriting here in South Florida?
Speaker 1: How can he adapt to that? Where are some of
Speaker 1: the potential upshots on this roster? Well, first, I think
Speaker 1: it's important to understand a little bit about the zone
Speaker 1: running scheme, specifically wide zone. Now, Coach himself has talked
Speaker 1: about how they've altered their systems, not just in that interview,
Speaker 1: but in other various articles and interviews that he's given
Speaker 1: before about tendency breakers, and we'll touch on that here
Speaker 1: in just one moment. But in my interview with coach
Speaker 1: last week, he talked a little bit about play design,
Speaker 1: how his thought was to come up with salutations to
Speaker 1: the problems the defense presents, and how from there you
Speaker 1: can sequence off the stuff you have, And that, to
Speaker 1: me is a big reason you're attracted to what he
Speaker 1: brings from not just the head coach side of things,
Speaker 1: but the offensive structure side, because this is a playbook
Speaker 1: that has developed over the better part of two decades
Speaker 1: and just keeps adding chapters with the more experience that
Speaker 1: he gains. A law of the zone read stuff he
Speaker 1: mentioned with Robert Griffin the third and how none of
Speaker 1: the staff there in Washington had any experience with that
Speaker 1: and they didn't go to any clinics to learn that.
Speaker 1: They just did the old fashioned grind route. Grind it out,
Speaker 1: develop your offense for the player. So why I'm telling
Speaker 1: you all this because I think there are opportunities to
Speaker 1: maximize the incumbents on offense before you even consider supplementary
Speaker 1: pieces in the player acquisition period of the calendar. That
Speaker 1: is the most prevalent offensive system. This is, I should say,
Speaker 1: the most prevalent offensive system in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: And it's not close between Shanahanna San Francisco, la Fleura
Speaker 1: in Green Bay, now McDaniel in Miami. How about Mike
Speaker 1: la Fleur's the o C with the Jets a new
Speaker 1: head coach in Minnesota with Kevin O'Connell coming off this tree,
Speaker 1: We're up to what a quarter a third of the
Speaker 1: league having ties back to this system and the godfather
Speaker 1: of it is well, Mike Shanahan. But you could argue
Speaker 1: that his Son's resume is closing ground fast and might
Speaker 1: have already pulled a max first stepping on the last
Speaker 1: lap of the F one season and overtaken top position.
Speaker 1: And if Kyle Shanahan is sort of the model, well,
Speaker 1: who was in the office right next to his for
Speaker 1: the last five years. Who's the coach that Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 1: brought with him to every stop in Cleveland, Atlanta, and
Speaker 1: San Francisco as his right hand man. Mike McDaniel so
Speaker 1: again coaches Rollo decks of plays and principles as rivaling
Speaker 1: that of the Miami Dade and Broward phone books combined.
Speaker 1: But wide zone has been one of the most successful
Speaker 1: elements of that offense. And that's where I want to
Speaker 1: start here. First zone means you're gonna get a zone
Speaker 1: step to start to play from the offensive line. That's
Speaker 1: where every offensive lineman takes their first step in the
Speaker 1: same direction, ideally in unison to the play side of
Speaker 1: the formation. Their aim is to block an area opposed
Speaker 1: to having a specific assignment like you see in gap
Speaker 1: in power schemes. This creates more flexibility to run against
Speaker 1: multiple fronts and gives you a lot of opportunities to
Speaker 1: utilize one of our favorite terms here on the podcast,
Speaker 1: the old catching climb to the second level and wall
Speaker 1: off those linebackers flowing to the football and then use
Speaker 1: that flow against them. Matt Bowen and ESPN analyst wrote
Speaker 1: about zone and he says the NFL teams that feature
Speaker 1: the zone concepts look to have backs who have vision,
Speaker 1: speed through the hole, and cut back ability to find
Speaker 1: the running lanes at the point of attack. Some examples
Speaker 1: he listened with Lashawn McCoy, Arian Foster, Matt Forte, Reggie Bush,
Speaker 1: Jamal Charles and Marshawn Lynch and Alfred Morris. Remember that
Speaker 1: podcast we did last week. Alfred Morris blew up as
Speaker 1: a sixth round rookie in this running scheme in Washington
Speaker 1: and Shanahan and McDaniel were in the Capitol. So there
Speaker 1: are so many different types of zone concepts, and I
Speaker 1: don't think this is the platform to get into the
Speaker 1: nitty gritty of each and to go through every single rule.
Speaker 1: But I think the most basic explanation is this that
Speaker 1: play side initial step puts your offensive line in position
Speaker 1: to reach, which is a block where you're out flanked
Speaker 1: and you have to get wider than a player who
Speaker 1: began wider than you are at the start of the play.
Speaker 1: You have to get around that portion of the block,
Speaker 1: get your butt out there, and wall that thing off.
Speaker 1: And interestingly enough, the Niners offensive line had a pretty
Speaker 1: specific prototype on the offensive line, but that doesn't always
Speaker 1: equate to the norm or even the preference. In fact,
Speaker 1: I found a pretty interesting little clip when coach McDaniel
Speaker 1: was asked about this last season with the Niners and
Speaker 1: their average height weight across the offensive line. Here's coach
Speaker 1: history of smaller offensive lineman. Um, but that's really we
Speaker 1: haven't invested second round draft picks in the offensive lineman.
Speaker 1: We've prefer everyone to be pounds and six if you could,
Speaker 1: if you could engineer that. I found that interesting because
Speaker 1: here in Miami there are a bunch of recently drafted
Speaker 1: first and second rounders, and to a man, those guys
Speaker 1: do have the size athletic profile that coaches kind of
Speaker 1: hinting at about right there. Maybe not six ft ten,
Speaker 1: four hundred pounds, but a pretty consistent six ft three,
Speaker 1: six ft four pound range. And this to me is
Speaker 1: fastening because to see how they want to approach the
Speaker 1: construction of the offensive line under one of the game's
Speaker 1: most successful run game coordinators over the last half decade
Speaker 1: certainly bears witnessing, and so I think it only stands
Speaker 1: to benefit that group. I think it stands to benefit
Speaker 1: the quarterback and the receivers. More on that in just
Speaker 1: one second, but a couple more notes here. The best
Speaker 1: wide zone teams can run the same concepts from a
Speaker 1: variety of groupings and formations. That talks about the versatility
Speaker 1: which jives with this offensive line we currently have in place.
Speaker 1: And then for the quarterback, one nice part about the
Speaker 1: system is typically has a this or that type of scenario.
Speaker 1: Audibles that a quarterback can check to in order to
Speaker 1: take advantage of favorable box counts. Are also get out
Speaker 1: of bad run looks. It's imperative that the quarterback can
Speaker 1: I d these types of things. And I forget who
Speaker 1: it was. Might have been Dan Orlovsky, there was a
Speaker 1: former quarterback who really broke down the importance of quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in the running game getting out of bad looks, things
Speaker 1: of that nature. And guess what coach said similar things
Speaker 1: in his Lebotard spot talking about to and playing the
Speaker 1: quarterback position. Those are the details you never see in
Speaker 1: the box score. And you sure as hell won't see
Speaker 1: it in the discourse after games. Big key here, and
Speaker 1: in a given playbook, you'll have your concept, and this
Speaker 1: is beyond the running game, the best look to run
Speaker 1: that concept against a look that could give that concept problems,
Speaker 1: and then the looks with checks to give you answers
Speaker 1: to those problems. So again, you don't always consider the
Speaker 1: quarterback's role in the running game, but it's absolutely paramount
Speaker 1: and I trust that McDaniel can get to UH playing
Speaker 1: at a high level in that regard. And the best
Speaker 1: part about all this at such an evolved system in
Speaker 1: terms of how long it's been around, how much has
Speaker 1: been added to it based upon adjustment and tendency breakers,
Speaker 1: and what it does is gives the defense so much
Speaker 1: to think about, which just causes slower play and slower reaction.
Speaker 1: We talked about the different looks you'll see. Having that
Speaker 1: knowledge with a resolution to it, and the ability to
Speaker 1: get the defense to false step, to get their eyes
Speaker 1: off where they're supposed to be. All of these things
Speaker 1: open lanes in the passing game. So that's the run
Speaker 1: game basics, like not even one on one high school
Speaker 1: level introduction, but also how it can impact the quarterback
Speaker 1: off the running game, and it also dictates the way
Speaker 1: the defense plays as I go back to this article
Speaker 1: from twenty nineteen on The Athletic where McDaniel was one
Speaker 1: of the many many coaches interviewed about this and talking
Speaker 1: about creating defensive personnel groupings where they have to subtract
Speaker 1: rushers in passing situations and then keep those rushers on
Speaker 1: the field and running situations and calling it accordingly. It's
Speaker 1: all situational based and coach McDaniel want to create as
Speaker 1: many advantageous situations for you and the passing game possible.
Speaker 1: So who else can benefit from that spacing? Well? Waddle
Speaker 1: waddle right. One thing I love the Niners did was
Speaker 1: incorporate the screen game as a look into their r
Speaker 1: P O looks. So you have flow in one direction
Speaker 1: with an option for the quarterback to give and then
Speaker 1: he can also pull it out and flip it out
Speaker 1: to the screen, or he can come to the backside
Speaker 1: and find the slant route. And there are so many
Speaker 1: examples of Garoppolo doing just this and getting the ball
Speaker 1: to the backside slant to a receiver who has easy
Speaker 1: inside access because of the pre step spacing and look motion,
Speaker 1: and then depending on how the safety reacted to the
Speaker 1: run fake and screen look, potentially a foot race to
Speaker 1: the end zone or a one on one situation in
Speaker 1: the open field. To surmise here motions, motions and more
Speaker 1: emotions pre snap indicators, man and zone. Also on motion.
Speaker 1: The ability for the jet sweeps widens the edge and
Speaker 1: creates an extra fit for the defense. Also, it creates
Speaker 1: that flow. There's examples of the up back and twenty
Speaker 1: one personnel Kyle you check you motioned him from the
Speaker 1: left of the right, and when they flow at that motion,
Speaker 1: the niners will then hit wind back runs, which creates
Speaker 1: again advantageous lever situations for the offensive line. You get
Speaker 1: some ghost motion looks with the receiver runs back around
Speaker 1: the quarterback, and then they also can incorporate some wham
Speaker 1: looks with unblocked defensive tackles, which becomes the responsibility of
Speaker 1: the quarterback to read the option for that give the flare,
Speaker 1: the pop pass, all that stuff. It creates options for
Speaker 1: the quarterback. It creates conflict, identify those passing lanes and
Speaker 1: attack them, create vulnerabilities and exploit them. It influences blocks,
Speaker 1: blocks from the edge and the force defender to cause
Speaker 1: a false step on them, which helps the actual blocker
Speaker 1: that draws him in the assignment. I think about a
Speaker 1: trap or a guard pulling around play side. You fake
Speaker 1: a block on that force defender, his footwork gets out
Speaker 1: of sync, the guard comes over and wipes him out.
Speaker 1: It's so much complimentary stuff that helps each other out
Speaker 1: and supports everybody, like coaches talked about, and the fun
Speaker 1: part about it from those looks, wrinkles developed off of that.
Speaker 1: It's game plan specific and at think it really benefits
Speaker 1: the line, the run game in general. TWA and waddle
Speaker 1: not bad. Huh. That's my very early observation from some
Speaker 1: teap some tape detail. More to come this offseason. I'm
Speaker 1: halving a blast looking at this stuff already. Coming up
Speaker 1: next the big game, the Super Bowl. We'll talk about
Speaker 1: some lessons learned from that game and the season at
Speaker 1: large next here on the Drivetime Podcast. Travis Wingfield your host.
Speaker 1: We'll come right back back here on the Monday edition
Speaker 1: of the Drivetime Podcast, and the Rams are the world
Speaker 1: champions of one football season. They overcome injuries in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and with a great I think it was
Speaker 1: fift team play. Drive there at the end put it
Speaker 1: into the end zone for the go ahead score of
Speaker 1: the kid from Yakoma, Washington, where I lived for about
Speaker 1: five years of my life, has the game winning touchdown
Speaker 1: and ultimately the Super Bowl m v P to bring
Speaker 1: home with him. And I think within that game, plenty
Speaker 1: of lessons exist and really ultimately what you can take
Speaker 1: away from the entire NFL season this year and look,
Speaker 1: every game hinges on a few moments. I mean there's
Speaker 1: a we see some blowouts and lopsided games and things
Speaker 1: that get away late in the fourth quarter and so
Speaker 1: on and so forth, But in large part, most games
Speaker 1: are one within a few moments of the game. And
Speaker 1: the best way to be able to ensure that you
Speaker 1: make those plays when you need to with a higher
Speaker 1: frequency than not making those plays is to give yourself
Speaker 1: multiple ways to win games. We saw the long touchdown
Speaker 1: pass to t Higgins, which was, you know, the Bengals
Speaker 1: opportunity to take advantage of one on one coverage to
Speaker 1: their second receiver in terms of the primary targets that
Speaker 1: those guys receive, the ability to control the game on
Speaker 1: the ground for them with Joe Mixing at times had
Speaker 1: them ahead late in that game for for long stretches
Speaker 1: of that game and help them control the game on
Speaker 1: the defensive side as well. Playmakers that can create explosive
Speaker 1: pass players again with Chase and Higgins. We saw with
Speaker 1: Cooper Cup in the game Odell Beckham early before his injury,
Speaker 1: offensive lines that can handle relentless rush. The Bengals couldn't
Speaker 1: put the Rams away because they just could not keep
Speaker 1: enough rushers off Joe Burrow. How about a defensive struggle
Speaker 1: back and forth. It featured the most dominant at ball
Speaker 1: player in all of all time for my money, and
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald. And that's my second lesson in this game. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I'm not talking like goat or whatever you want to
Speaker 1: describe it as or you're classified as, but just on
Speaker 1: a snap for snap basis, who not just wins their
Speaker 1: matchup on a down by down basis, but a guy
Speaker 1: who dominates them. I was texting a buddy about that
Speaker 1: final driving. I just said, there's no way Donald doesn't
Speaker 1: make a play here, and sure enough he does, back
Speaker 1: to back plays in fact, incredible. I think we saw
Speaker 1: the importance of multiple options in the passing game regarding
Speaker 1: Cup and Beckham, and also again with Higgins, winning that
Speaker 1: one on one matchup on the other side, with Chase
Speaker 1: commanding attention in the passing game as well, and Hella
Speaker 1: Rams went out and got Beckham after losing Robert Was
Speaker 1: to an injury. Do you think they realized how important
Speaker 1: it was to have a secondary option that was also
Speaker 1: capable of consistently beating one on one coverage when he
Speaker 1: gets it with Woods and Cup and then now Beckham,
Speaker 1: I think the third one here and really the biggest one,
Speaker 1: and I suppose the ultimate takeaway from this game and
Speaker 1: the playoffs and the strange reason that was one that
Speaker 1: featured a pair of four seeds in the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: which I don't believe had ever happened before this season
Speaker 1: was just the overall parody that the league has really achieved.
Speaker 1: And how I think looking at things in a one
Speaker 1: game sample size is just always it's always gonna be
Speaker 1: too much one way or the other, good or bad.
Speaker 1: Like seasons are long, the journeys are winding for damn
Speaker 1: near every team except for a handful of all time
Speaker 1: great teams that never really had the hiccups, and even
Speaker 1: those teams probably did. And I always want to try
Speaker 1: my best to enjoy these seasons because they seem to
Speaker 1: get shorter every single year. So that's a rap. The
Speaker 1: Rams are world champions. That's my time on this edition
Speaker 1: of Drive 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, as well as Instagram. You can follow
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins across all socials at Miami Dolphins. Check
Speaker 1: out the Fish Tank with Seth and o J. They
Speaker 1: have a great episode coming your way Tuesday. I won't
Speaker 1: spoil that one yet, but fun we want to hear
Speaker 1: that one. Check out the YouTube channel with Joanna Torres
Speaker 1: on Dolphins Today as well as myself and all of
Speaker 1: our coach Mike McDaniel content that's been up there in
Speaker 1: the last couple of days and throughout the last week
Speaker 1: here as he gets the job here in Miami as
Speaker 1: the head coach and last but not least, Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot Com until next time finds up Caroline, Daddy gets
Speaker 1: coming home