McDaniel-Donald Meeting Tells a Bigger Story

Mike McDaniel has a lot of things going for him as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and maybe that starts with his well-publicized intelligence (did you know he went to Yale)?

But don't overlook his ability to connect with players, which has been clear and obvious from the time he was hired in February 2023.

There are examples all over the place of this, the latest the quick shot we got of McDaniel running into Aaron Donald at UFC 287 at the newly named Kaseya Center in Miami on Saturday night.

Aaron Donald and Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel at #UFC287 🤝 pic.twitter.com/cGbJ153aki
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 9, 2023

The 16-second clip begins with a quick hug, which isn't necessarily that unusual between two men in their situation, but it's the way McDaniel leaves Donald laughing as they part that stands out.

It looked like another example of McDaniel's personality at play.

McDANIEL WELL SUITED TO COACH SUPERSTARS

McDaniel's personality, often described as quirky, seemingly always comes up as a question whenever the Dolphins sign a new player and he's introduced to the media.

That was the case after cornerback Jalen Ramsey was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams.

“He’s cool," Ramsey said. "Coach is cool. Coach is different. He’s cool. He be chilling. He’s young. Got some energy about him. Says what’s on his mind when he wants to. We can have just real conversations. It doesn’t feel like a player talking to my coach. It kind of feels like this is my homie a little bit, which is dope. You know he’s the authority, but that’s a dope dynamic to have with your coach.

"He keeps telling me that he’s going to be the best head coach I’ve ever had. He’s nudging Sean (McVay) on that a little bit. (laughter) Sean was great in L.A. It’s going to be tough because Sean is the man. But I believe him, though, and I’m going to hold him to that. But it’s been cool, man. He’s real chill, real fun, real cool. I’m excited and I know a lot of guys speak very highly of him too.”

That ability to interact with his players won't necessarily win games for the Dolphins per se, but it helps in terms of being able to bring in high-profile players with big personalities like Ramsey or Tyreek Hill, to use two examples.

Whereas McDaniel's predecessor wasn't thrilled with the idea of even the term "star" being used to described any of his player, he has no issue with it.

On the contrary, he almost embraces having those type of players on whom the spotlight will shine.

McDaniel addressed the issue of dealing with "superstar" players at the owners meetings, using his trademark quick one-liner to start things off.

“My plan is I obviously have to be a bigger star than them," McDaniel joked. "No, to me, I don’t see that. I see all players as people that you as a coach need to invest in. Guys that have a star ability that have been All-Pros, they have big personalities; you can shy away from it, which I think a lot of people run into problems, or you can really lean into it. I think it’s something that can make your team better. Anybody that has a star persona also carries a tremendous burden of expectations of performance.

"Those players generally — the ones that have been around — know that they have to pay the piper on Sundays, so they put in and go to work in the offseason and during the week in practice. That residual effect is instrumental to the performance of the whole team, so if you have a big personality with that, as long as you’re a good teammate — which all testaments, we did a deep dive on that (regarding to Ramsey) — if you’re a good teammate that can only benefit."

And McDaniel's personality can only benefit when it comes to coaching superstars with big personalities.