3 X-Factors for Miami Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel in 2022

Miami Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel has received a lot of praise lately, but hype always brings higher expectations. Here are 3 X-Factors for McDaniel in 2022.

So far Miami Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel has had an electric start to his Head Coaching career, with the help of GM Chris Grier coach McDaniel was able to bring his vision to life for the Dolphins offense. A vision that is ambitious, aggressive, and wants to start competing at a higher caliber expeditiously.

Mike McDaniel’s plan is unlike anything many fans have ever seen in their life, and unlike anything, the OG fans have seen since the days of Dan Marino. For 22+ years the Miami Dolphins held on to a very vague and uninspired identity of conservative offense and trying to win games on defense.

Previous HC Brian Flores probably had the most success with this formula, leading the Dolphins to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the early 2000s. But this blueprint has 1) A decently high floor but very limited ceiling, especially with how explosive today’s NFL is.

2) This blueprint doesn’t even work anymore for the team and HC that mastered it, Bill Belichick and the Patriots. In Brady’s last year there the Patriots’ offense was exposed when facing real firepower.

It was clear that this philosophy wasn’t going to do much damage in the Playoffs, it was time to go in a different direction. Enter Mike McDaniel, so far McDaniel has lived up to expectations as far as personality traits, staff building, and vision.

McDaniel is also changing the culture, the team seems to be more involved and more united now. Many Dolphins teammates showing up to Tua Tagovailoa’s Luau charity event proves that Mike McDaniel getting heavily involved in the event proves that.

On paper McDaniel has been fantastic, but now OTA’s are underway, training camp is around the corner, and before you know it this team will be in the locker room getting ready for the 1 PM kickoff on Week 1.

And these are the 3 major X-Factors that will determine McDaniel’s success in 2022.