Mike McDaniel is the coach Miami Dolphins fans love but shouldn’t, yet

The Miami Dolphins have their head coach and the coaching staff is rounded out but while fans are in love with Mike McDaniel, they should be cautious.

This is the time of year where nothing goes wrong. The Dolphins can’t lose a game and every addition they make is pure genius gold. Then, inevitably, the regular season rolls around. Training camp arrives and the offense can’t play well against the defense. The excuses begin to follow.

Mike McDaniel has never coached a single game as a head coach. He hasn’t called plays. Those are not meant to be negatives, they are 100% fact and that is fine. Every coach has never been a head coach until they are for the first time.

This is a merry-go-round we have been on before. Around and around we go. Social media views every coaching hire as a magnificent decision. A college offensive line coach with some NFL experience. A former interim head coach at two previous stops. A returning Miami Dolphins legend.

There are still questions. Josh Boyer reportedly didn’t call the defense during the 7 game winning streak but did call it during the losing streak. Much of his staff is being retained for continuity. If the defense turns out to be the 7 game losing streak defense, McDaniel will be replacing them in 2023.

I love the idea of Mike McDaniel. A guy with nothing to lose. A guy with an offensive mind who wants to score points and then score some more. A guy that wants to rebuild the running game in the hopes of becoming elite. But I can’t help be reminded that McDaniels follows Tony Sparano, Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, and Brian Flores. Four of them hired directly by Stephen Ross and his staff. I can’t help but think of the fact that Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins apparent top choice for the job was not interviews by a single team that was looking for a head coach.

That is troubling to me. Eight other teams passed on McDaniel and it wasn’t because they assumed he was going to Miami. They didn’t even request to interview him. That is something that shouldn’t simply be summarily waved off.

Like all Dolphins fans, I pray to the football gods that McDaniel turns out to be the next great coach in Dolphins history. I pray that he shows up and the players immediately buy into everything he is laying out in front of them. But I also like history and our history is bad.

For 15 years I have covered this team and for 15 years I have celebrated two playoff games. I’m not jumping up and down about Mike McDaniel. I’m not ordering my playoff tickets and I’m not about to anoint him the next coming. I am hopefully optimistic. And it ends there and it should be for you as well.

Jump on board the wagon train now? Not yet. I want to see what he can actually bring to the table. I will wait patiently with that optimism that this might go the next step. I would be more confident if I knew that the defense will still carry games while the offense grows. I’m not sold on that any more than anyone else.

Time will tell where McDaniel falls in line with previous coaches. One thing is for sure, the bar isn’t set very high when you look at the last 20 years. So I guess there is that!