Mike McDaniel knows that if he can't change the culture of the Miami Dolphins, he won't be a head coach for the team beyond this season. It might be too late.
It would be fantastic to see a different Dolphins team in 2025. A team that is disciplined, directed, and driven. It would be amazing to see a culture that is in line with those teams in the NFL who are focused on winning football games at all costs.
A locker room full of players showing up five minutes early for meetings, staying after to get more work in on a ball machine, instead of players walking off the field and heading to their cars, or showing up late for class.
McDaniel has his work cut out for himself, and he has no one to blame but the guy looking back at him in the mirror. McDaniel may be a respected "players-coach," but he is trying to turn a wimpy locker room into a tough one. Good luck.
Kader Kohou and other veterans already say they have seen a difference. He said McDaniel is going to allow the slack this year. Okay, I've heard it before. Miami is preaching toughness, heard that too.
Miami is talking the talk, but they won't get to the playoffs without walking it. They need to be better, and McDaniel needs to be a stronger, stricter, more disciplined head coach. We will say it again while banging our fists on the table, not one player cares if you are their friend or not. They want a football coach.
Maybe that is the problem with Jalen Ramsey. The relationship between the player and the coach deteriorated. Ramsey's comments have made it seem as though he wants a tougher coach who has an idea about how to win. McDaniel isn't that type of guy. He lets the players, or at least did, police themselves.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel finds himself at a crossroads in his career that has no right path
McDaniel's approach was admirable when he began with the Dolphins. He was the exact opposite of Brian Flores' tougher-than-nails approach to coaching. McDaniel was immediately considered soft, likable, and energetic.
His offense was unique, fast, and nearly unstoppable. He went through rookie head coach slumps and made the same mistakes every other coach makes. Three years later, and he hadn't learned from them.
McDaniel has to change more than most see. He can no longer be the high-fiving, hugging head coach he has been. He can't be the quirky fashionista who calls his shots out loud on the sidelines, he can't be the coach that pats the butt of the player who fumbled the ball late in a close game.
McDaniel has to be more like Flores. That creates a problem because everything that McDaniel is as a person is what we see on the field. Changing that changes the guy, but McDaniel may need to change internally in order to see change on the field.