Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel Learns From His ‘Trash F—ing Performs’

Enhancing the Miami Dolphins’ in-season Hard Knocks on a traditional week is a Herculean job, however doing so for a Tuesday night broadcast lower than 24 hours after an epic fourth-quarter meltdown is an unfair ask.

So NFL Movies received a mulligan for the very restricted means wherein it portrayed the Dolphins’ loss to the Tennessee Titans final week.

However make no mistake: The present didn’t keep away from the 15-point elephant within the room per week later.

A Arduous Knocks digicam crew was in Mike McDaniel’s workplace with the Dolphins coach lower than 5 hours after that nationally televised debacle ended, and it lingered on McDaniel as he broke down the ugly sport tape with Eminem turned the entire means up.

“Frankly, I’m at my greatest in instances of adversity,” McDaniel instructed Dolphins offensive line coach Butch Barry.

As we noticed over the subsequent 40 minutes, McDaniel wasn’t kidding.

Mike McDaniel Will get Actual in Arduous Knocks Episode 5

McDaniel preaches honesty and transparency, and the one means he can demand it of his crew is by demanding it from himself.

So throughout a Dolphins crew assembly sooner or later between Monday’s loss to the Titans and Sunday’s 30-0 annihilation of the New York Jets, he pointed the finger at himself.

He referred to as up a third-down Dolphins offensive play contained in the Titans’ five-yard line that was certainly one of three red-zone failures in Week 14. As an alternative of handing the ball to Raheem Mostert, the NFL’s touchdown leader, he had Tua Tagovailoa throw a low-percentage fade to Cedrick Wilson Jr.

McDaniel referred to as it a “trash plan on my half” to have his star quarterback throw a “fadeaway jumper” to “overcompensate for me.”

McDaniel then had the road of the episode — and the collection to this point:

“Yeah, I referred to as some trash f—ing performs. That’ll occur. I’m going to be taught from that s—. You don’t get mad, you don’t get unhappy. F— that s—. You be taught classes.”

McDaniel was true to his phrase.

The subsequent time the Dolphins had been goal-to-go — within the first half of their Week 15 win — he referred to as three straight Mostert runs. On the third attempt, Mostert was ultimately zone for the primary of his two touchdowns on the day.

McDaniel additionally tends towards being a bit too reliant on Tyreek Hill, the NFL’s main receiver.

However with Hill out of the Jets game with a foul ankle, McDaniel knew the offense needed to run by way of Jaylen Waddle, the dynamic third-year playmaker who had change into Robin to Hill’s Batman the final two seasons.

“I am actually visualizing the one-play drive right here.”

Mike McDaniel is out right here manifesting TDs 💫 #HardKnocks pic.twitter.com/EKDNHDesLZ

— NFL (@NFL) December 20, 2023

“I’m going to get the ball extra to Waddle,” a mic’d up McDaniel was heard saying throughout the sport.

Mission completed. Waddle had a season-high 142 yards on eight catches Sunday.

MORE: Miami Dolphins Playoff Scenarios — All the Ways the Dolphins Can Clinch in Week 16

Sixty of these yards got here on a landing move from Tagovailoa, which McDaniel was so assured would work that he instructed his bench earlier than the snap, “I’m having a troublesome time not visualizing a one-play drive right here.”

Hill must be again this week, however McDaniel can’t overlook the teachings realized on the longest quick week of the season.

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