The most significant and unseen parts of the Mike McDaniel revolution in Miami have been the interpersonal moments of kindness and humility that we will probably never hear about. I will maintain—and I would assume many Dolphins players would agree—that as fun as it was to play for McDaniel at various parts of the past two seasons, especially when the Dolphins were pasting 70 points on the board, it was probably more enjoyable simply coming to work every day and associating with someone who isn’t a Machiavellian-style politician or a relentless ladder-climber concerned only with optics (in a profession filled with them).
His work with Tua Tagovailoa over the course of two seasons has altered the baseline conversation from: Is this player even capable of staying on the field, to, Is he one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the NFL? The improvement in all of his major statistical benchmarks is not just proof of someone growing with the rigors of the professional game. It was the kind of drastic growth that can only be facilitated by a human being seeing another human being for who they are.
But now, after a 26–7 shellacking in Kansas City, I wonder how that conversation will change this offseason. Tagovailoa may expect to be paid as a franchise quarterback, but, through performances like we’ve seen over the back stretch of the 2023 season, may not receive that financial luxury. McDaniel has been through attrition as the coach of the Dolphins, but his biggest challenge yet may be in coming out and saying what most of us are probably thinking.
