The Miami Dolphins are very lucky that they have legendary players that will come spend the day at practice or hang out in team meetings, and they do so pretty frequently.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and head coach Mike McDaniel have both mentioned how cool it is that Dan Marino is around the building and is always willing to share his input.
This offseason, Hall of Famer Larry Csonka had the opportunity to attend a practice and meet Miami’s new head coach, who has received a lot of praise from his players for his demeanor and football intelligence. Csonka shared his reaction to meeting McDaniel in a recent interview on “Tobin and Leroy” on 790 the Ticket.
“I didn’t get to spend that much time with him, but he is impressive, and he’s a man of detail,” Csonka said. “How much the players listen to him – the proof will be in the pudding. There have been some real changes with personnel. It appears that they’re pointed toward a very positive result.
“It reminded me a lot of when [Don] Shula came in in 1970, and everything just turned around. That’s kind of the way coach McDaniel attacked. He’s turning everything around, and he’s making use of all those facilities, and I think he’s not as loud and [he’s not going to] holler as much as Shula did on the field, but in his own way, I think he makes his point. I just watched one practice, which is nothing. That’s just the little time I had there, but he impressed me as a guy that’s detail-orientated, and he’s got winning on his mind.”
Comparing McDaniel to Shula is high praise from a legend like Csonka, who lived and played through the legendary coach’s tenure. However, McDaniel has done a lot of what Csonka said. He’s brought in a new system and helped in the decision-making process to bring in new talent to the roster.
Now, if he can have the results that Shula did, Dolphins fans would probably be pretty happy.
