Takeaways From Introduction Press Conference and National Media Weighs in on Mike McDaniel

Mike McDaniel. Will hear from Stephen Ross and Chris Greer as well with some quotes from their opening statement at the Thursday presser. We'll get to the highlights from coaches Q and a session. We'll play the entire opening statement.

We'll also talk about some offensive principles that he kind of touched on in his press conference, as well as some takes from around the league over this hiring of Mike McDaniel around the web, I should say, from people in different sources around the league to get their perspective on the new Miami Dolphins head coach. Busy Busy episode here from the Baptist Health Studios. Inside the Baptist Health

Training Complex. This is the Drivetime podcast. So we kicked off this podcast with the Thursday morning press conference and start here with Stephen Ross, who took to the podium first to address the attendants there at the Baptist Health Training Complex inside the field house, that practice field there, and he spoke a little bit about the process of hiring Mike McDaniel and the patient approach to get this

thing right. And he spoke about the unsolicited calls that he received from other teams that had played in the NFC West where Mike McDaniel used to reside with the San Francisco four uniters, and he would ask them, why are you calling me to tell me about all of these great superlatives about this head coaching candidate, and they all said to get him out of the division, don't

want him there anymore. And he also talked about how there's three qualities the Dolphins were really looking for in this head coaching search, Leadership, intelligence, and innovation, and Mike has them all, said the Miami Dolphins owner. And we'll hear from coach on those just in those things here in just a minute. And I think over the course

in this entire process. On Thursday, coach proved each of those things, especially the innovation and intelligent thing for how to design an offense, how to create team culture, and the leadership for how to prove his value to the player, a topic we've covered here on the podcast all week long. Then we heard from Dolphins general manager Chris Greer, who touched on the attractiveness of this head coaching vacancy and the amount of calls the Dolphins got over the last

few weeks about the vacancy. He said, we talked to many, many, very qualified candidates for this job in both pro and college football, and what resonated with us was how excited everybody was for the job, where our roster was and the talent level. It was learned that there was excitement and even into the last two weeks, you guys will be surprised. You'll be surprised the people that we're trying

to call to get this job. And to finish Chris's statement there, I can attest to this, as you guys know from spending time with coach on the last podcast that Chris said this. You guys have all heard everything that's been about Mike, his intelligence, his passion, his work, ethic, the people that have met him in this building here over the last forty eight hours have all talked about the energy level and how he is he spent time.

New coaches come in and it's easy, they'll spend five minutes with people, but he's literally in there talking for like an hour with people as I'm trying to get his attention on other things. And that's just who he is. He wants to genuinely know who people are, connect with them, and get to the wise. That's what makes him a unique person in terms of getting the best out of people. And then after that, we had the pleasure of hearing from the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Mike McDaniel,

who took to the podium. Let's go ahead and roll his opening statement before we get to the Q and A. It's a it's an honor and privilege to stand in front of you guys here as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. You know, any any man standing at a podium like this would be honored. Would um it's a tremendous accomplishment. You'd feel great about that. But that's not why you get into coaching. It's standing at this podium you get into coaching because you love to coach football.

You love to teach, and you love to make people better. And that's exactly who I am, who I have been, and who I'll be as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. The I'd like to thank those wonderful words, UM, from both Steve Ross and Chris Greer. UM. I really appreciate the opportunity and the responsibility really UM, and it is a big one. But I like to talk about me coming here to Miami, UM about a week ago. It's coming um here to interview for a dream position,

a dream of mine. And uh, that's what I thought it was. But as I walked through this building, the gorgeous building we stand in, UM, saw the people, looked into their eyes, felt their passion. I quickly realized that this was my dream job and I had to go get it. UM. That one of the things that really struck me with the Miami Dolphins organization was their interest in general. You know, it's a lot easier, UM, two go after a guy after five other teams have interviewed him,

put them on a list. You know. Traditionally, that's that's the way it works, where people want whoever other people are interviewing, this was not the case. They looked at me for me, and that really galvanized my interest in this organization and and really told me a lot about who UM who was really targeting me. Told me a lot about what they were looking for. And that's why I knew it would be a good fit, you know, interviewing with UH Steve Ross, Chris Greer, UM, Brandon Short,

Tom Garfinkel. It didn't take me long to realize this. This was the place that I was meant to be UM, so I better not screw this. In interview up UM you take you take a look at the facility UM that's built here, which is I feel like I'm in an SEC school. It's incredible. UM. The stadium, everything going on around it, I think it's a kind of epitomizes UM Steve's vision, and that vision is broad, it's grand,

and it's trying to be great. And that's what I'm here to get the football too, and that's what we'll do. And really, really that's why I feel honor and I feel privileged just being up here in front of you guys. Say I'd be remiss if I didn't think the immense amount of people that had to do with with me

even having this opportunity. You know, starting with Kyle Shannon, Jed yorke Um and his family, John Lynch and the forty Niners organization, their first class organization really um help facilitate me coming into my own I feel like and without the players, who who is the people that you really get into this business for all their support, all their hard work, um and and their commitment, none of

this would have been possible. And I think all the forty nine players as well, the to get in a spot like this, it's almost overwhelming to think about how many people are along the ride with you that if one of them doesn't decide to invest in you, you may never get this opportunity. You know, It's one of the great things about coaching and the coaching profession is it takes a village to just get one individual capable

of doing a job like this. You know, I can go down the list, um, start with Mike Shannon gave me my first job. Um it was unpaid though, so he didn't pay very well. Um. Gary Kubiak, who gave me my first page job with the Houston Texans, Kyle Shannon. Obviously I would have. I'm not sure what I'd be doing if it wasn't for him. You talked about guys like Sean McVeigh, Christ Matt Lafleur, Bobby Turner, Dan Quinn,

Raheem Morris, Michael Floor, the list goes on and on. UM. I don't want to train your guys ear drums with that. But UM, there's just so many people and and I appreciate all all of those men that helped me become the man I am today. The each one, each individual that I mentioned, and um, each each coach has been really privileged to work alongside. They may be a better man, a better coach, a better teacher. And that's really what my focus is in life. They didn't make me a

better father. I did that on my own. UM. I'd like to thank Richmond Flowers. It is surreal. Man, came a long way, and uh, you know how much I appreciate you. UM, and no one this emotional day for me. Um, and you made it somewhat coherent, I hope. Uh. Obviously, my family, my wife Katie McDaniel, we've come a long way. We got a long way to go. UM, don't do that to me, I'm trying to do press conference. UM,

and my daughter a La June McDaniel. UM, You're a miracle and I can't wait to see what you grow into. Now back to uh, what we're all here for. So football okay in the Miami Dolphins and what you can expect from us Okay, Uh schematically offense, defense, special teams. You're gonna see, UM a unique UM, a unique design of everything that's tailored to our players. That's why it will be unique to us, because we'll tailor everything to

our players. And that's first and foremost. But really the picture I'd like to present and what I'm here to do with the assistance of all these all these wonderful people, is creative ran of football here that is known as Miami football. And what that is and my Miami Dolphin football is all about passion energy. You should be able to turn on the TV and know who the team is, even if the color is distorted by by the energy that they play with, by how they bond together, things

that you only get with true work and bond together. Okay, it's a team sport and we're gonna play as a team. And I promise you that will feel that the whole the whole thing that makes football so magical, the whole reason I've devoted my professional life to it, because you have all these people of different interests focused on one common goal. Okay, that one common goal of winning UM winning often winning playoff games and winning Super Bowls and

that and that goal is what drives us. But it's the bond and everything we go through in that process that makes it memorable and makes it worth doing what we do. It's the essence of sports, really, and it epitomizes what the Miami Dolphins will become. It is I feel unbelievably fortunate, and it is so exciting to come into a team um of of energy, of youth, of talent, but more so of hunger that really matches the city of Miami, the fans and every person that is employed

by the Miami Dolphins. I felt it immediately when I walked in the door. It gives me goose bumps right now to be a part of something like that um an organization. This is my seventh and I feel like when you're hired and fired that many times and bouncing around the NFL, you get a glimpse at a lot of a lot of things, and you know when something has the ability to be great. And that's all I feel walking in out of these hallways, and I can't wait to serve each and every one of you. I

think collectively. The one of the most powerful things UM within these hallways, within this organization that I think should be focused on UM is the lack of ego and and the the drive with a common goal, you know, as in interviewing, in this process, it's all about one thing and and that his rarity something special and I am so fortunate to be a part of. But that collectivity and and working together for UM with a shared sacrifice is something that can't be replicated and I am

extremely fortunate to be a part of. Now. I think this is always odd because you're you're getting all hyped up for UM a media session and then we just go back and study film, puts, put coaching staffs together, UM, and UH then get ready to practice UM. Hopefully we teach the players what what the plays are before we do that. That that whole process UM, although it's anti chlimactic,

it it is part of it. And and I can't I can't express the gratitude UM to everyone to allow me to be up here and to be a part of it um And there's no better time to start this whole process than right now, Thank you guys. So

there you go. Just a couple of quick reactions there from his opening statement before we take our first break and then get to the Q and a number one when he had tears and was choked up when he was your talking about his journey with his wife and his daughter and Richmond Flowers and his wife was crying and he was trying not to cry. That was making me have to not cry. So that was an awesome moment. And then also talking about walking around the facility and

just knowing how special it is. Yeah, you definitely feel that every time you're in that gorgeous facility. Also, the teaching aspect that he touched on, we're gonna hear more about that from him here in just a second. But it jives with the player testimonials we played for you guys on the Monday podcast, doesn't it Like all these people that have all these great things to say about him, you can see that what he's talking about is not just it's not just fluff. It's their substance to it.

And it has had an impact in this league for the last decade and a half, talking about it being a dream job, how he had to go get it. Same coach, same the jokes about he didn't make me a better father, I did that? Like to do those jokes and stay on track. That is a sharp mind. And then Miami Dolphin football passion team playing for each other.

I mean Christian Wilkins, right, That's the first person that comes to mind, but the entire operation operates that way because these guys do love football, and coach loves football, and I cannot wait to see the way those personalities and those minds melt together with Mike McDaniel and his players. All right, next, we're gonna get into the Q and A with media members talking to Mike McDaniel and his great lengthy answers in that introduction press conference. All of

that coming up here next on the Drivetime podcast. Travis Wingfield, keep it right here. We have plenty to cover here from the Mike McDaniel introduction press conference, the coverage here on the Drivetime podcast, and we kick off the Q and A session here with a question for coach about two a tongue of Bloa developing him and the thought behind the quarterback position in general. For Mike McDaniel, my belief in two is that he's a football player on

this team that's trying to get better. And the biggest message I have for all players, really, the message should be about the team. And what I mean by that is it's really about the team collectively getting better and there's a responsibility of the quarterback to do so. But I'm not necessarily I'm not sitting here concerned with how good Tua can be. I'm concerned with as a collective unit, what we can grow together, because that's what win's football games.

There there's I haven't seen a quarterback win a football game by himself ever. Really, Um, he has to have somebody throw too. He better not be getting tackled before he throws, so somebody better block um and the defense better not allow them to score. But the biggest thing for for me with t A is that i want him to come and work every day and I'm very confident that he will. I want to provide teachers that

can develop him. I'm very confident and the people were we're discussing this week and the and the plan we have for that. And ultimately, all you want is a is a guy that's driven to be great, a guy that's driven to get better, and it gives you a chance. Um And it's my job to make sure that he has the best chance to showcase his talents. Um and and that and that's everyone's job. Really. Two things that

I want to go ahead and talk about. Number One, I love the fact that he talked about the team game, because I can't stand one of my biggest pet peeves is when football games are picked based upon the quarterback position, because we have seen inferior quarterbacks topp all superior quarterbacks and vice versa and everything in between. Because it is a team game that requires fifty three men executing their job.

You heard him talk about it right there. You have to block on offense, you have to make tackles on defense, you have to do things on special teams to execute. And when football games we undertake the quarterback position is very important. But I love the fact that he addressed the fact that it is in fact the team game.

Number Two, I love the idea of him talking about teachers and developing to a in in this offense, in this system, with this organization and talking about the confidence he has in the plan for the potential teachers they have in mind to make that happen. So very good stuff there from coach. Let's move on to this next one here, in which coach was asked what makes him ready for this opportunity to coach at the National Football

League level. Here's Mike McDaniel. It's it's funny that every head coach, you know, there's a lot of talk about being ready to be a new head coach and and I think, um, you guys have had new head coaches. The thing that kind of trips me up is every single head coach in the history of football has never

been a head coach until they're head coach. Really, it's every year of my experience, especially the last five years that head coach Kyle Shanahan in the fort he really relied on me, allowed me to be uh his right hand man, and and open my eyes to all the things that head coach does not to mention all the other years where I've had great teachers, And the key for me is paying attention. It's right in front of me. And so when I do get my opportunity, I've been

fully aware whenever that day comes the responsibility. It brings the responsibility you have to every individual that's employed in the organization, their families, every player. So the when when they called I was I was kind of nervous about an interview because I don't major in that. I major in UM connecting with players, teaching them and helping them grow.

But after getting the job, no, I feel I know there's gonna be things that I'm not that that are new to me, but it's more about being prepared for the moment because everybody has to have their first time to do it, and I know that I'm prepared for the moment. I know there's gonna be things that are that are new and challenging, but that doesn't make me nervous because I've been preparing for this my entire career.

And that's a common theme you'll hear from coach talking about the reps that he has taken himself as a coach to put himself in position after a fifteen year NFL career to get into this position. And if you recall that the clip I played from the Monday podcast where he's talking to high school quarterbacks in a high school quarterback camp, with a QB collective. He talks about one of the kids not really paying attention when he's not up in the rep and he says, what are

you doing that? Get get your mental reps and don't waste any possible reps. So he breathes it, he believes it, he preaches it, all that stuff. He's he's genuine and I think that all comes off in this press conference. Next one here, who will call plays in two for the Miami Dolphins. Mike McDaniel has that answer. I plan on calm plays myself. Um. But one thing that I've noticed, um in my journey is that successful play callers don't

isolate themselves. Um. They utilize the people around them. That's what a head coach should do. You don't do I'm not up here doing anything by myself, or I won't be, you know, after this press conference ends, I'm not gonna be going into a hole and hanging out by myself and thinking about stuff. You're working with people. So the higher your leadership um with with regard to a head coach, the more people you have to lead. As an offensive coordinator,

you call plays. But if you're a head coach and calling plays, you better be reliant and feel very good about the people in your offensive staff. So it's been a meticulous process, um, I think, uh, not as meticulous as this head coaching search apparently, but it's been very

meticulous because that that's that's what you're preparing for. You know, I know exactly what the season is gonna bring, UM in terms of you know, there there are so many things that go on in the course of the season, and there's stressors you have to worry about, UM kind of focusing the direction of the team. But that's why you spend this time in the off season finding the people that you can rely on, that you can trust, UM and work with, so they can help you gain plan,

help you solve problems. Um, we can get the best plan together, and then you know, when the players own the plan, you're just calling plays, but they make them

come to life. So that one in this next one, I think are my two favorite answers of the entire press conference because number one, to go back to this previous answer there from coach my biggest pet peeve I think, and this is my second pet people in the podcast today is speaking about a topic that you're less qualified than the person that you're talking to one and we see this all the time in all walks of life.

Right My old personal growth moment for myself was being able to step back and say I don't know much about this. It's okay to say I don't know or I need to read or watch or learn more about this topic before I speak on it. And I think that's a certain level of maturity and ego lists operation that Mike McDaniel operates with in terms of I don't have to be the only one to have my fingerprints on this. I want to have everybody in the process helped me out and surround himself with people that he

can trust to make the right decisions. I thought that was a fantastic answer, and again it's genuine. I believe him to the fullest. I think that's exactly what he's gonna do. He seems to really be a guy of his word, and that's a great word right there. And the reason I like this next one, and we'll talk about some offensive principles of philosophies here on the third segment of this edition of the Drivetime podcast Travis Wingfield Miami Dolphins podcast Network, is that it's not just about

the system you've ran in the past. It's about always evolving and adding to your plate. Here's Mike McDaniel on the offensive system he grew up in and what he hopes to bring to Miami. Uh, I understand what you're getting at with the question. I really like the but

connecting it to winning, that's that's a team deal. But for offensive offensively with regard to scheme I have, I have an interesting story because you know, I started with Mike Shanahan, immediately went to Gary Kubiak, and it's rare to work, um fifteen years in the NFL across six teams and have the same system. So in that what what you end up doing in the same system. You're

not constantly trying to relearn how to do things. You're constantly evolving to the point, you know, when you're at your fourth or fifth year within the offense and then you go to your third team, now you're you're reinstalling. So you found your it's your third rep of first introducing the same scheme. While also it's your there's a completely different set of players, so within your scheme you are tailoring it to whoever they are. You you go,

I mean what was it my second year in in Washington. Collectively, we we drafted uh um Robert Griffin third and ran a bunch of zone read. You know how much zone read experience our staff had zero And we didn't get any go to any clinics. We didn't. UM. We we really did it with the old, old fashioned hard way grind.

And what that afforded all of us when you're talking about all the guys that were there in Washington, is in our formative years, our our minds are open to adapting to whatever means necessary to whatever player skill sets, all the way to the quarterback. So because of that, every single year, you know, people call our our schemes so creative. Really we're just adapting. We're adapting to defenses

were deaf into. Our players were constantly evolving, and I think that's important, UM, and that's uh a winning formula. I think I think it it puts players in position to succeed. And that's the key drive for the scheme. That's why you know, it's it's less trying to be creative for creative sake, it's more UM solving problems UH in different ways and having different tools to inabilities to

do so. I have nothing to add to that. It was brilliant and I've had the previous two of my favorite I think this might be my favorite of all. What's your process or how do you teach players? Just listen to this UM that it's an evolving process. That that you know, I got into the NFL and two thousand five, UM, Twitter, Instagram and a d D addictions weren't really prevalent or existed UM, and that's just an example of how things change over time. I think, UM.

The one thing in terms of studying the learning process in general is that people can attach to ideas when they're when they're in a linear story or if you can tell a story and they can you can go from point A to point B, two point c. And I've been fortunate within this scheme to coach every single

position UM in this offense. And whether you're whether you're dealing with different players or different personalities, that is one true common denominator is that you have to you have to have a starting point of understanding that you can bridge to the next point UM beyond that tape video, edited cut ups and organizing them so that you can

battle that a d D issue that we that was aforementioned. Um, those things are powerful things that will be prominent within UM with our coaches that we that we really invest our time. But understand UM that how valuable the player's time is, how short term attention spans are. You better bring um some energy better, you better entertain them while uh getting them to learn whatever it is. But you always have to listen, ask questions, see if they get it,

and adjust. My wife has been a teacher for twelve years in elementary school and she always tells me about how you can't just master the curriculum. You have to master the students in terms of knowing how to how to teach those particular students. I thought this was so profound by coach because understanding attention spans ino is I mean, they're short, right. That's the reason why like vine was so popular, or TikTok right now is so popular, all

these short clips that people want to see. That's how people's minds work in two and to not just sit there and cram the curriculum down someone's throat and say you're gonna get this until you You're gonna work on this until you get it. But if you're not gonna get it, I'll adjust my approach and my style. I think that's a great sign for coach. They're heading forward with how he wants to attack things. A few more

highlights here. I want to just touch on real quick before you take our last break and then get to our final segment. Here, coach was asked about the twenty year playoff victory drought and asked why are you the person that you'll be able to end that? And he said why not? And he said, it's not about me. It's about relationships and players. It's not an individual ordeal. I just like the way he talked about how the last twenty years has no relevance on this next season.

That's actually a point. I'm in the postgame show with Sethan o j so many times and I love the fact that McDaniel agrees in that front. He also was asked about how much Dolphins tape he's watched since getting this job or since preparing for this job, and he said a lot, and you kind of laughed about it.

Obviously that's what he does. And talking about the game tape and what he saw that he loved on defense and defense that he doesn't want to have to go against He loved see what he saw on that side of the football and an offense having some tools to work with there as well. But he also talked about how players play hard and you can see that on tape. We agree, coach. We we saw that all year long on the Tuesday All twenty two review episodes here of

Drive Time. That much was clear, and so coach rapped at the press conference there with a couple more questions. You can find this thing and it's entirety up on our YouTube channel, the Miami Dolphins YouTube channelhere. You can also find Dolphins Today as well as my sit down and join on Torres interview with Coach McDaniel. We'll go ahead and finish up this podcast on the other side, taking a look at some of the basic one on

ones of wide zone and running the football. We'll also talk about some of the comments from writers and national pundits around the landscape. That's next here on the Drivetime Podcast with Travis Wingfield. All right, the Friday show rolls on here. We have a couple more things to talk

about here on this edition of the Drivetime podcast. So just a really great press conference there from Coach McDaniel, giving us a good glimpse of what he hopes to bring here to the Miami Dolphins and the confidence with which he's spoke about those things he aims to bring to the Miami Dolphins. And I want to go ahead and go to the national media reaction over the hiring of Mike McDaniel and kick it off from Good Morning Football on Tuesday morning, Peter Schreeger talking about the hiring

of Mike McDaniel. Here's Peter Schrader. Afternoon. Mike McDaniel got to the facility in David, Florida, and they met for ten hours with owner Stephen Ross and general manager Chris Greer, and he laid it out and one of the big things that he told them was, I'm going to maximize what Toa can do best. I'm not going to think that Toa is going to hold us back. And he made the case for why Tua can be the quarterback there. Um,

Mike McDaniel's story is interesting. Well, everyone was fawning and praising Laflora and McVeigh and Kyle Shanahan from that Washington staff. You actually were on that team. Mike McDaniel was a coach on that team too. He's always gotten the best out of his quarterbacks, and as much as he's given the credit for the run game and where they do a debot, I think the quarterback question was such a big one in Miami, and he had answers for what he wants to do with to a very high on too.

I got to speak to him this weekend and he's very high one. I think Peter would go back and amend the Davy comment Miami Gardens. But that's okay, Peter, friend of the podcast, and I'll never forget. You know, this reminds me of of this game that I always referenced back to when I first really kind of fell in love with the Shanahan scheme. And call me late

on that. That's okay, But I'll never forget watching the twenty nineteen Divisional round game between Minnesota and San Francisco the Niners Super Bowl year, and they dominated that game from start to finish. They just had their way in the short intermediate passing game because of the success of the running game and the lanes it created with false steps and quick, decisive lightning fast release in the passing

game sound familiar. I would highly recommend going back and watching that game to get an ideal look at what the system can do at its best in terms of efficiency running the football and a defense having no answers for sixty minutes. Another piece of content here from The Athletic, Ted Win, a great writer who covers the Las Vegas Raiders.

He might have gone on national at this point now, but he's a phenomenal writer for the Athletic, and he wrote the monster piece back in the summer of nineteen about the running game and how analytics having a negative view on the running game and how some of those numbers in the running game analytically can be misleading. When wrote about a conversation he had with a coach of

an analytics driven team. Didn't specify who, but that coach said that some of the stats to prove the passing game superiority over the run game could be flawed or maybe don't tell the whole story because they rely on averages that could be swayed by big plays. Now, this point doesn't need my input, but it's my podcast, so I'm gonna give it. Anyways, Remember all season how I would talk about run down wins versus losses and looking at those in lieu of just straight up rushes and yards.

Because if you run the ball twenty two times and on twenty of those I hold you to three or fewer yards, I feel really good about that. I feel like I won twenty of twenty two plays. Even if you hit let's say a forty yarder and a twenty yarder that winds up giving you twenty two rushes for approximately a hundred yards. That's a win for the offense. Right, I would strongly disagree because I want twenty of the twenty two plays even though you averaged almost five yards

per carry. That's the variance versus averages argument. Here's what Mike McDaniel said in that same story quote A lot of stats are not quantifiable in terms of pass game. In regards to the run end quote here and win rights. McDaniel and several other coaches explained that a strong run game affects the type of personnel on the field and

the structure of the defense. For example, to stop the run, defenses have to keep run stuffing defensive lineman in the game who aren't as skilled as Russia at Russian the passer, or they have to keep bigger linebackers in the game who aren't as skilled in coverage. Back to the McDaniel quote, a lot of defenses could take away explosive pass games if they were able to play too high, two man all day. The reason they can't you have run fits that are a hat short in the running game. You

have to earn single safety. In this league, single safety opens up some passing holes with five eligibles and three deep. You have to earn that. And to earn that, you have to draw another guy into the box because they're

afraid you're gonna run it. End quote ted Ted then goes on to detail how the Falcons were able to gash one of the league's best defense is led by Luke Keikley and Thomas Davis in that season with the Carolina Panthers because of the previous weeks two d and seventeen yards on the ground the Falcons had against the Saints and the very first play of the game and he clips this off in the piece go check it out on the athletic you can see the influence of

linebackers taking steps forward with a safety rotating from a two high look pre snap down into the box, creating one on one opportunities on the outside for Julio Jones and a chunk game to start the game through the air, Ted writes. McDaniel also said that in that game they knew they were overmatched up front and called runs just to keep the defense honest. Though they were an outside zone team. They called quote unquote safer runs inside run or inside zone in a duo that are quicker hitting

and carry less risk of losing yardage. The objective of rushing in this game wasn't to necessarily gained yards, but to maintain the defense's respect of the run game and to aid the offensive line. Very fascinating stuff there. Albert Breer on his Monday Morning quarterback piece on Sports Illustrated, he had some good detail on McDaniel in the hiring. Here's his blurb, As is the fact that Mike McDaniel is widely seen among those in the Shanahan coaching tree

as the other side of Kyle's brain. In fact, the thirty eight year old Yell graduate maybe the smartest branch off of that tree. And it's reflected and how close Shanahan kept McDaniel over the years. Shanahan always surrounded himself with smart young coaches, but McDaniel was the only one.

He took to work with him at all five of his NFL stops as a coordinator or head coach Texas, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, and San Francisco, and in each of those places, shanahan had no issue delegating to McDaniel, which is a good sign of his trust and a guy he first got to know as a ball boy for his dad's Broncos

teams in San Francisco. Over the last few years, Shanahan would spend Mondays and Tuesdays almost exclusively on the passing game, going to work with top lieutenants like former pass game coordinator Michael Fleur, while McDaniel was left to drop the team's run game for the whole week. By the time Wednesday rolled around, what McDaniel would drop up could be so inventive that it could take a couple of days for the other guys on the staff to wrap their

heads around what he was thinking. But Shanahan had so much trust to McDaniel that he gave him great loud tude to roll with these sorts of ideas, and they paid off with one of the NFL's best running games. The question now with McDaniel will be how he'll be in front of the room when things go wrong, And it's a fair question to ask, But based on what I know about how McDaniel's grown in that regard and how comfortable he is in his own skin, I think

he'll be all right. And I will say that I'm pretty certain that going forward his Dolphins are going to be a difficult team to coach against. Very nice stuff there from Albert Brier. Let's go ahead and finish up with one more blurb here from Peter King on his Football Morning in America piece. He writes, the McDaniel path started when he was a five ninety six pound receiver

at Yale two decades ago. In the span of a few months, he went from the Yale campus to an intern under the gruff and demanding offensive line coach of Alex Gibbs in Denver. Six years later, Kyle Shanahan promoted him to offensive coordinator with the Niners. McDaniel prides himself on communication, and I hear one positive point from mc daniel was Miami learning Deebo Samuel spent a half hour in his offensive Cordiners office every Tuesday as that week's

game plan was being finalized. Samuel in a recommendation to Miami, also credited McDaniel with teaching him how to be a better pro. Really good stuff from around the web there, Ted Wynn, Albert Brier, and Peter King. A big thanks to those guys for writing those great stories and giving us content here on the Drivetime podcast. And add one last piece of content here written by Adam Beasley. You all know him, formerly of the Miami Herald, now with

Pro Football Network. He had a great SoundBite or an interview rather with former Brown's receiver Andrew Hawkins, who played in the receiver's room with Cleveland under Mike McDaniel, and he said this quote, of all the coaches I've been around, I'm not just saying this from an XS and OS perspective. I would put Mike up against any of them, and the reason being he's an innovator. Not that other guys aren't incredible coaches and aren't with XS and os because

they are. But the way he approached the game was new for me because he was completely unconventional and flipped the rules on his head. End quote. He also then talked about how they made it a point to not get pressed at the line of scrimmage and that receiver's room, and he said, we're going to automate this process. Coach McDaniel did to Hawkins to where you're going to take all the thinking out of getting off the line of scrimmage.

You're gonna stick to these three principles on it. You're gonna stick to these two releases, and you're never gonna get jammed. You're never gonna get jammed at the line of scrimmage if you do these two things, and you would bend this philosophy that I am showing you. And Andrew Hawkins also said that inteen I don't think there was a single sever if you go back and watch that film, I don't think there was a single receiver for us that got jammed at the line of scrimmage.

It was the wildest thing. It got to the point that teams stop trying to even press us. So teaching a big part of that press conference opening statement and here proof in the Pudding with Andrew Hawkins. So what a fun week that was. Press conference, in the books, interview with Mike McDaniel. In the meantime, that is gonna be my time you all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating, Leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter

at Wingfield NFL. You can follow the team at Miami Dolphins across all social accounts. Get to those accounts following. We have plenty of content coming your way over the course of this week. Also, don't forget the fish Tank podcast with Seth and o J. And of course our YouTube channel where you can find the introduction press conference from Mike McDaniel. We have that available up on YouTube as well as Dolphins Today and last but not least,

Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, Caroline, Daddy is coming home.