When the Miami Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel back in February, there wasn’t a ton of information available about him.
He was Kyle Shanahan’s right-hand man, and he had some funny clips when speaking to the media. Beyond that, there wasn’t much.
Over the last few months, his personality and football acumen have been made clear from his interviews, press conferences and past players’ and coaches’ stories.
One of the first moves that the Dolphins made after McDaniel was hired was signing former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver River Cracraft. The wideout and coach obviously had the connection from their time with the 49ers, and the former was impressed by the latter.
This week Miami is holding organized team activities, giving a number of the veterans their first shot to get on the field together. Cracraft took some time to speak with the media, and he complimented his head coach.
“He’s a super genius,” Cracraft said. “That’s all you need to now. He’s smarter than everyone else. No offense to everybody out there. He’s a player’s coach… He acts like one of us in the sense that you can talk to him. He’s never going to big time you.”
Cracraft also spoke about what drew him to McDaniel and the Dolphins, and he talked about their shared experience.
“I’ve just always believed in Mike,” Cracraft said. “I was with him for the last two years. My first real experience getting to know Mike, he substituted for our receiver room back in San Francisco. It was my first time one-on-one really getting to know what he knows and I was so blown away with how comfortable and how smart he was…That was my introduction to Mike and I was just so blown away. So when he got this opportunity and he told me I had an opportunity to get over here, I jumped on it as quick as I couldn’t and I’m just glad it worked out.”
That seems to be the same sentiment that a lot of players have shared since meeting and working with McDaniel. He’s personable, but he also knows a ton about the game. That’s why he’s been getting the respect before coaching a single game.
