In this pass-happy era of football, where most NFL general managers are feverishly searching for linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks who can cover the weapons used to get downfield in spread offenses, there’s a select group of teams going against the grain.
Teams like the San Francisco 49ers want to push around this generation’s linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks, thumping them into submission. Teams like the 49ers, Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens, who thrive on the marriage between the run and pass, lean on an approach that tests the opposition’s toughness with a physical style of play fueled by the run game.
Every NFL team Mike McDaniel has worked for has featured an offense that has been fueled by the running game, an offensive line scheme that uses outside zone concepts and piggybacks that with a play-action passing attack.
Even though McDaniel, the Dolphins’ newly hired head coach, comes to Miami after spending the past four years as the run-game architect in San Francisco, he was non-committal on what kind of offense he would install in Miami.
But it certainly seems like his goal is to build the style of team he grew up on.
“I started with Mike Shahanan and immediate went to Gary Kubiak,” McDaniel said, referring he first two coaches, the mentors who hired him in Denver and Houston. “It’s rare to work 15 years in the NFL, across six teams, and have the same system.”
Rare, but potentially beneficial, especially if you’re a believer in the West Coast offense and running schemes that feature zone blocking.
“What you end up doing in the same system is you’re not constantly trying to learn how to redo things,” McDaniel continued. “You are constantly evolving to the point where you’re at your fourth or fifth year in the same offense, and you’re on your third team, you are reinstalling.”
Not re-inventing, and that’s what McDaniel hopes to avoid with the 10-6 Dolphins team he inherited, which featured a dismal offense that ranked 25th in yards per game (307.0) and 22nd in points scored (20.1).
McDaniel, who acknowledged that he plans to call the plays on offense, must find a way to incorporate the run-pass-option style of offense quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is familiar with and thrived in during his collegiate career at Alabama.
But the RPO’s rookies are in the West Coast offense, which is the system McDaniel grew up in.
“Within your scheme, you’re tailoring it to whoever they are,” McDaniel said, referring to the team’s talent base.
He used his experience on Shanahan’s Washington coaching staff in 2012 as an example of how coaches evolve, pointing out that nobody on that staff was familiar with zone read offense until Washington drafted quarterback Robert Griffin III, and then they utilized it successfully to help Griffin turn into the 2012 NFL Rookie of the Year.
“In our formative years, our minds are open to adapt to whatever means necessary,” McDaniel said, referring to Rams coach Sean McVay, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LeFleur and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who were all on Mike Shanahan’s staff in Washington. “People call our schemes so creative, but really we’re just adapting. That’s important. That’s a winning formula, and it puts players in position to succeed.”
But teams don’t just take on a physical identity like that overnight.
Playing that requires a commitment.
At its core, outside zone is a scheme that requires an instinctive, but disciplined runner, and it asks a tailback to make a single cut. The runner has a predetermined point where he is sprinting to laterally and, at that point, plants his foot and accelerates up-field.
These blocking schemes require specific personnel that excludes a lot of standard, lumbering type offensive linemen. That means the 330-pounders like Solomon Kindley will either need to trim down or they’ll be shown the door.
Having a forceful run game opens up the play-action passing attack.
That’s been a staple of most of the teams he’s coached on, one that keeps teams honest with the threat of the run.
While McDaniel says he can adapt his scheme to his talent, the thought of a blocking-deficient tight end like Mike Gesicki thriving in the 49ers’ offense, which happens to be one of the few teams that utilizes a fullback for significant snaps, is laughable.
Therefore, the Dolphins clearly need a traditional tight end who excels as a blocker. That might mean Gesicki leaving the nest as a unrestricted free agent in March, and Miami moving on to Adam Shaheen, Hunter Long or adding another this offseason.
That’s just a sampling of some of the tough personnel decisions McDaniel and General Manager Chris Grier have to make when they build this franchise’s blueprint.
As for the defense, the approach Miami takes will likely depend on the coach McDaniel hires to run that unit.
The Dolphins have a run multiple defense for the past three years, shifting seamlessly from a 4-3, to a 4-3 based on the game and opponent, so the roster can go in any direction defensively if defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah gets re-signed. However, the team will likely need a linebacker if that side of the ball intends to improve.
Overall, new coaches often usher in a new identity for a team. And those changes often result in a significant amount of collateral loss.
