Breaking News: Mike McDaniel is the coach for the Miami Dolphins

After all the posturing, following flight paths, first and second interviews, letting a candidate get swooped by another team, and attempts to lure Stephen Ross’s white whale from college, the Miami Dolphins have finally hired a head coach and that man is Mike McDaniel.

The last few days have been a Captain Falcon-style gut punch to all of us folks who drew the short straw and became fans of the Miami Dolphins. No matter what happens during these dark times, the team, in some form, will move forward. The Dolphins needed a head coach and with everything that happened on Tuesday, there were thoughts of who would want this job? Turns out Mike McDaniel wanted the job.

This came after the incorrect report by Jordan Schultz stating that he already did complete the second interview only for the team to announce that they had Mike McDaniel interview for the second time on Thursday. After learning this, all we wanted to do was snap. Then, like clockwork, the bigger news of Brian Flores’ class action lawsuit came out. Ultimately, Mike McDaniel impressed the Dolphins and actually wanted to come here so sign me up. He interviewed for, what seems to me like a wild amount of time with Stephen Ross and company.

Evidently, Kellen Moore’s pitch to get the most out of Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t as good as Mike McDaniel’s plan.

Mike McDaniel became relevant about a month ago, right after the Dolphins fired Brian Flores. He wasn’t on anybody else’s radar, pretty sure Miami was the only team that interviewed him, and nobody knew anything about him before this hiring process. Anybody telling you otherwise is lying and trying to flex their football brain or has an interest in the San Franciso 49ers.

I like many wanted Jim Harbaugh to be the coach Miami went with. When the week started, it seemed like Harbaugh to Miami was starting to become a thing. I had visions of Harbaugh in his patented khakis on the sideline getting the most out of this offense. I even was going to purchase him a pair of Calico Cut pants so that he can be comfortable and safe on the sidelines. But Harbaugh never, officially, had an interview, and Mike McDaniel blew the Dolphins away, from what reports are saying.

Not surprising, but one of the selling points Mike McDaniel, reportedly, spoke about in his interviews was how he was going to mold Tua Tagovailoa into the fastest throwing quarterback on the planet.

This is like when any of us have a job interview and we do that standard 5 minutes of research on the company we’re interviewing with just so that we can show that we do our homework and sound smart. McDaniel knows the fastest way to Ross and Grier’s heart is through Tua’s arm so good on him for saying that he’ll make Tua into a force. I like to think that McDaniel told them that if Tua doesn’t work out next year that he can bring in his own quarterback to run his run-first system. But, I can also see McDaniel just going with the flow with whatever Ross and Grier want. I haven’t read anything that tells me that McDaniel would ever make any demands to management but who knows?

That’s another thing about Mike McDaniel; we can’t judge a book by its cover with him. He looks like a guy who will be skateboarding to Hard Rock Stadium on Sundays. He also sounds like a guy who is relaxed and measured. I’m sure by now we’ve all seen in other articles written on this website by myself and Klump or other websites in general how Mike McDaniel carries himself when he speaks. He sounds like a guy with a lot of self-awareness who is also articulate in what he is talking about.

One of the knocks on him is how with his demeanor and style will he be able to be a leader of men when things aren’t going so well? Folks, let’s not act like to be a head coach in the NFL you have to be a general in the army leading a group of soldiers to secure a hill. This is football, not combat no matter how much some of you will try and equate the sport to war on a battlefield. If McDaniel lets the players know, early on, that he has their backs and will do everything he can to put them in the best position to succeed as often as possible, relating to the players won’t be an issue. Look at the guys coaching the Super Bowl if you have an issue with how Mike McDaniel presents himself. Here’s what Pierre Garcon had to say about him.

Andrew Hawkins who played for the Browns and Mike McDaniel back in 2015 had this to say about the Dolphin’s new coach.

"“He’s truly a football savant,” said Andrew Hawkins. “And I know there are a lot of brilliant minds in football. His approach is very, very unique and it’s why he’s able to exploit the norms. A lot of players swear by him. He has a very unique ability of identifying talent. And also knowing exactly how to get the most of out of a certain skill set. Players swear by him because players have had career years with him.”"

If you want to knock McDaniel for not calling his own plays, I suppose you can. I don’t think he’ll be an Adam Gase or a Joe Philbin. To me, those guys were very rigid in their approach and didn’t let new information into any of their equations. Also, if you think that McDaniel will be run by analytics then I think that’s the wrong way to view him. The guy loves running the ball in a passing league. How anti-analytics does a guy have to get?

Ultimately, I’m pleased that Mike McD, the nickname I’m hoping we all go with not Bong Shula which is so lazy it hurts, is the coach of the Dolphins. I have no idea who will be on his staff but the guy has been coaching in the NFL since 2006. He’s worked with plenty of talented coaches that he can potentially bring in. So, I’m not too worried about that aspect of this process.

It’s a new day for the Miami Dolphins and I’m beyond excited to see the direction of this team now under Mike McDaniel. Press conferences will be a bit funnier but they won’t be if the team is losing. Mike McD is going to have to be able to handle that. But like I said, he seems like he has a ton of self-awareness so I think he’ll know how to navigate that.

I’m most excited to see how he uses the Dolphin’s personal on offense. We know Tua will have to be better and I think McDaniel will use a play-action style of offense that relies on the running game to open up easy throws for Tua. That means if you can believe it, real offensive linemen being brought in and developed will be happening. What a novel idea. Then you have Jaylen Waddle. No, he isn’t going to be taking inside handoffs like Deebo Samuel but his lightning speed and ability to separate will be highlighted and not wasted. Even a guy like Lynn Bowden Jr. has a chance to be very special in this offense. Versatility will be a hallmark for this offense. Getting guys that can run, catch and block will be paramount.

Man alive, we’re living in strange but not unfamiliar times as Miami Dolphin fans. The roller coaster that is following the Dolphins extracts every emotion we have. We have a head coach who seems like a smart guy so we should be in good hands. I realize we said this three years ago and it blew up in our faces. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen this time around. You gotta believe in something. We’re on to free agency.