Can our head coach get down and dirty?

[next-year]

Well said Bob. There has been improvement YOY but he has a ways to go. I'm confident he will continue growing.

Yep it's a bit frustrating to see how reactionary people are to the coaches we hire.

Every new coach that wins a few games in a row and a large group of people put " In ______ we trust" without seeing a more complete body of work, then get upset when said coach fails miserably.

McDaniel was a strategic long-term play. He came in as a rookie and delivered 2 playoff seasons. I'd like to compare him to a rookie QB coming to the Dolphins. If we had a rookie who went to the playoffs twice in his first two seasons every fan would be ecstatic about how well he's done so early and how he still has so much room to grow.

Why is this not the case for our 2nd year head coach? Has McDaniel had his share of blunders? Sure, he's not a seasoned HC. has he improved YOY, unquestionably? looking at the progress he's making is it safe to assume we might be better next season? I think so.

People love to call out the lack of running. And subjectively, I think it's fair to want a balanced offense. But objectively, i'm not sure it actually gave us the best chance to win. Pounding it up the middle on 2nd and 1 with Liam and whoever else is lined up next to him against some of the elite interior Dlines we faced was a matchup that didn't favor us. The mentality of " let's just go get that one yard" is a bit harder to bring to life when your line consistently gets mauled.

Some of the stats that get called out provide absolutely zero context. Like "Oh we ran it 15 times in the first half for 100+ yards and only 3x in the second half WTF??" Completely ignoring the fact that in the second half, we had like 3 total possessions and got stuffed on all three runs we tried.

This was a much longer post than I anticipated writing. To sum it up, the title of this thread is strange and IMO McDaniel is too smart of a coach to plateau on the success we've seen these first two seasons.

 

[jreg1]

Yep it's a bit frustrating to see how reactionary people are to the coaches we hire.

Every new coach that wins a few games in a row and a large group of people put " In ______ we trust" without seeing a more complete body of work, then get upset when said coach fails miserably.

McDaniel was a strategic long-term play. He came in as a rookie and delivered 2 playoff seasons. I'd like to compare him to a rookie QB coming to the Dolphins. If we had a rookie who went to the playoffs twice in his first two seasons every fan would be ecstatic about how well he's done so early and how he still has so much room to grow.

Why is this not the case for our 2nd year head coach? Has McDaniel had his share of blunders? Sure, he's not a seasoned HC. has he improved YOY, unquestionably? looking at the progress he's making is it safe to assume we might be better next season? I think so.

People love to call out the lack of running. And subjectively, I think it's fair to want a balanced offense. But objectively, i'm not sure it actually gave us the best chance to win. Pounding it up the middle on 2nd and 1 with Liam and whoever else is lined up next to him against some of the elite interior Dlines we faced was a matchup that didn't favor us. The mentality of " let's just go get that one yard" is a bit harder to bring to life when your line consistently gets mauled.

Some of the stats that get called out provide absolutely zero context. Like "Oh we ran it 15 times in the first half for 100+ yards and only 3x in the second half WTF??" Completely ignoring the fact that in the second half, we had like 3 total possessions and got stuffed on all three runs we tried.

This was a much longer post than I anticipated writing. To sum it up, the title of this thread is strange and IMO McDaniel is too smart of a coach to plateau on the success we've seen these first two seasons.

I meant situational football not a philosophy change. A lot of these situations were instances where the defense had 2 high safeties and were basically giving you the first down and he still called a shot play. Thats all I am saying man drive the pickup truck in this situation the Lamborghini isn't needed.

 

[DOC ZINGO]

Very likely not, as almost no one can pull off a personality overhaul in their 20s or later.

Oh I know some women who are “Jekyll and Hyde” Ha!

 

[Bob512]

He may be smart and cerebral and able to learn from his mistakes and adjust technically speaking, but does he have the capacity to change his personality at his age. Very likely not, as almost no one can pull off a personality overhaul in their 20s or later.

I'm not sure this makes a lot of sense......

We all have taken jobs and performed differently in year 1 or year 2 than we did in year 8 or 9. You learn things as you go.

I just retired from a job of 30+ years. My personality it was it is.....but I certainly didn't do the job the same way when I retired as I did when I started. You learn, apply those lessons and hopefully perform better. You don't have to change your personality to know that a running play on 3rd and 1 is more successful over time than a 25 yard pass attempt.

 

[marino13zach54]

My boy gon giet down & derty, babay: (don't sleep on the hip pumps):

 

[marino13zach54]

I'm not sure this makes a lot of sense......

We all have taken jobs and performed differently in year 1 or year 2 than we did in year 8 or 9. You learn things as you go.

I just retired from a job of 30+ years. My personality it was it is.....but I certainly didn't do the job the same way when I retired as I did when I started. You learn, apply those lessons and hopefully perform better. You don't have to change your personality to know that a running play on 3rd and 1 is more successful over time than a 25 yard pass attempt.

Well, explained. But also a long way to let us know... you old, gramps.

 

[gofins60]

Agree with OP. Run the ball and move the chains when its 2nd and 1. Too many times we went for trick play in that situation, it back-fired and we didn't continue the drive.

The thing is after you convert the run on 2nd down the defense is in a position where they have no idea what you are running on 1st down. Thats where you fit in the trick play IMO.

Even I can feel the way the game is going and when we just need to keep possession of the ball it frustrates me that he can't just get the first down and move the chains!

IMO, McDaniel is what he is, and that's that. He's all about the exciting big play downfield, which is great as that's been missing in Miami for a long time, but he overemphasizes it. Far too often he wants to throw the ball on 3rd or 4th and short when a run is the logical choice. And when they do run and it's effective, he usually goes away from it. What really makes this odd is the fact that he was described as a run-game guru. Also, last year as a rookie HC and playcaller, he had some luck when taking a risk and going for it on 4th down. A bit of aggressiveness at times is a good thing, but this year he took it too far. Turning the ball over on downs in the Red Zone instead of taking the FG is usually the wrong choice. And, so is throwing a pass with a low probability of completion on 4th and short when you should be running it.

Basically, McDaniel is Gase 2.0, as his go-to playcall in a given situation is usually the complete opposite of what a smart OC would call. There are many people in this world who may seem like geniuses, but they lack common sense. IMO, McDaniel seems to be pretty smart when designing plays, but when it comes to knowing when and where to use those plays effectively, he has no football sense. It's possible that he may improve, but it's not fair to us fans to have to wait while McDaniel learns how to do something that every other Offensive Coordinator turned Head Coach already knows how to do!

That said, while I 100% believe that McDaniel should NOT be calling plays, it is possible that his already bad playcalling was made to look even worse by Tua, with the help of Grier. I say this because we fans don't know what was supposed to happen on any given play. For example, it's 3rd and 3, and Tua tries to force the ball 15 yards downfield to a double-covered Hill, resulting in an incompletion or an interception. But, there was a wide open TE or WR 5 yards downfield, and throwing to them would have been an easy 1st down. So, who is to blame for the wrong throw which killed the drive? Did McDaniel say to target Hill, did Tua decide to go to Hill and ignore the open receiver, did Tua not even see the open receiver because he admittedly can't see over the line sometimes, or did Tua feel under immediate pressure due to poor blocking (thanks Grier!) and just went to his first read because he's not the type of QB to move around and buy time trying to find a better throwing lane or target? And, with this fancy RPO stuff, could it be that Tua kept throwing the ball on 3rd or 4th and short instead of handing it off to a RB? We don't know!

TLDR: McDaniel sucks at playcalling and should give it up. However, maybe he might look better if Grier would build a big, strong, physical o-line that can give the QB a decent pocket, and open nice holes for the RBs. Also, a dominant o-line would probably allow us to have a better idea of who to blame when the offense struggles; is it the playcalling, or is it the QB? They did have some success early, especially against inferior teams, but good defenses and o-line injuries neutered that explosive offense, and it would be nice to know EXACTLY what needs to be changed to fix that. We already know that they need a better o-line, but it's possible that they may also need a new playcaller and/or QB.

 

[gofins60]

I don't think this matters as much with regard to play-calling as it does with regard to personality. You don't need a yeller and screamer or a harsh disciplinarian overall at head coach, but you need one who can become angry and communicate that in a palpable and visceral manner, as opposed to being unable to do so or believing it shouldn't be done for some reason. If "a team takes on the personality of its coach" as they say, and the coach's personality is absent the ability or willingness to become angry and communicate that in a palpable and visceral manner, the team will likely be devoid of the toughness necessary to win at a high level in the NFL.

There is nothing wrong with McDaniel's "fun and games" approach overall, as long as it can shift gears to serious and determined when necessary. And in the NFL that'll be necessary quite often. If that shifting of gears can't happen, the team will be devoid of the "personality" necessary to overcome adversity and win at a high level. You don't overcome adversity with a "fun and games" approach -- you overcome it with seriousness and determination, and often times that is rooted in frustration and anger and the unbridled expression of that among the coaches and players.

Take a look at how Ray Lewis often expressed himself to his teammates when the chips were down. If a team is devoid of that kind of spirit and communication with each other, it'll be inherently weak and overcome by other teams that are able to function in that manner. And most teams are. Right now the Dolphins are an outlier in the other direction. They're far too silly and goofy -- i.e., "fun and games" -- to rise to the occasion in the face of adversity, and they can't sufficiently shift gears from that mode.

If we were coaching a golf team, none of this would matter. But this is the rough and tumble world of the NFL here. Seriousness and aggression is inherently necessary to overcome opponents who will very likely be playing with plenty of that themselves.

McDaniel's "fun and games" approach has resulted in a highly undisciplined team that committed far too many mistakes. It's a tough, physical game, and so you need a tough, physical team. Apparently, choreographing TD celebrations is more important to the players than actually doing the job they're being paid to do, as evidenced by the fact that there's no toughness, intensity, and will to win on this team.

 

[jreg1]

McDaniel's "fun and games" approach has resulted in a highly undisciplined team that committed far too many mistakes. It's a tough, physical game, and so you need a tough, physical team. Apparently, choreographing TD celebrations is more important to the players than actually doing the job they're being paid to do, as evidenced by the fact that there's no toughness, intensity, and will to win on this team.

Agreed!

 

[Birdmond]

Miami hired a HC with no play calling experience and wasn’t even an OC. It’s an enormous learning curve. I strongly believe the growing pains will be well worth it. Kyle Shanahan was an OC for 9 years and took over in a similar situation. Even he was shaky the first year.

I also believe McDaniel is a lot like Tua in that he has trust issues with certain players and of course he sees the results of short yardage plays in practice and like any coach in any sport, calls what works and avoids what doesn’t.

 

[Rick Cartman]

A tendency that confounds me with McDaniel is he treats 2nd and short, and even 3rd and short, like house money because he thinks he has a first down in his back pocket.
He then proceeds to call a big and/or luxury play, followed by another big and/or luxury play, and somehow we're scratching our heads as to why we're punting or the other team has the ball when it was 2nd and 1 or 2 a minute ago.
It's also ok to kick field goals in the first 3 quarters of games, especially when it will keep you up multiple scores or bring you within one score. Take the money.
I thought the Dallas game was going to be a turning point for us because it seemed like he situationally did so many things correct to win a close game.
I think he's still developing as a coach and play caller and i have confidence he will figure out the gray areas soon.

 

[Ryan1973]

McDaniel's "fun and games" approach has resulted in a highly undisciplined team that committed far too many mistakes. It's a tough, physical game, and so you need a tough, physical team. Apparently, choreographing TD celebrations is more important to the players than actually doing the job they're being paid to do, as evidenced by the fact that there's no toughness, intensity, and will to win on this team.

A team is usually a reflection of their head coach. McDaniel is a major reason why this team is soft and undisciplined.

 

[Trade Viper]

He may be smart and cerebral and able to learn from his mistakes and adjust technically speaking, but does he have the capacity to change his personality at his age. Very likely not, as almost no one can pull off a personality overhaul in their 20s or later.

Hey F, you are correct, Mikey was able to adjust as far as the alcohol abuse was concerned, which should be applauded by everyone. However sometimes the fine adjustments are the most difficult. It is obvious that Mikey can get overly focused on one "solution", this is why we look at the team ripping 10-15 yard runs, and suddenly he is screen passing again, took me years to let the winners run till they reversed, I think he can't believe that the same running play will work 10 times in a row, in reality if the little ball keeps coming up black, you stay with black. Also at times he looks mentally fogged or confused, I think his internal voice is what causes the late plays etc. We all hope he does better including the lemmings

The Ever Focused On The Trade VIPER

 

[Fan Since the 70s]

I'm not sure this makes a lot of sense......

We all have taken jobs and performed differently in year 1 or year 2 than we did in year 8 or 9. You learn things as you go.

I just retired from a job of 30+ years. My personality it was it is.....but I certainly didn't do the job the same way when I retired as I did when I started. You learn, apply those lessons and hopefully perform better. You don't have to change your personality to know that a running play on 3rd and 1 is more successful over time than a 25 yard pass attempt.

Like I said, I don't question whether he can adjust technically, which requires no personality change. What requires a personality change is changing the culture of the team.

 

[JamesWsenior]

Like I said, I don't question whether he can adjust technically, which requires no personality change. What requires a personality change is changing the culture of the team.

Like as in an Incognito way? Subliminally abusive?