McDaniel on Open Mike: "We're sitting on a gold mine." | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

McDaniel on Open Mike: "We're sitting on a gold mine."

Hoot

Hoot

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On his interview with the Fins:
"This is everything I ever wanted. I've been in 6 different organizations. This place has all the utilities, and just needs the right Head Coach."

How did you evaluate Tua?
"There was a specific moment....when I first started assessing the situation, you have the 5th pick in the draft, all his experiences thus far in the NFL, it was hard to look at him and not think of my own experience.....I knew I would have had no chance had I not been built up by my mom, that I can do anything. You are the smartest, etc. I knew at a young age that I gravitated to that. It gave me the confidence. We all have those moments of uncertainty, I don't know what is going to happen, and so do you go into those moments with faith you are going to get it done or apprehension you are going to fail? And I had gone through all those moments with vigor and fearlessness because of how I was built up. And so I saw Tua like that. How can we approach the idea of we know what this player is, when I don't know, from my vantage point, who does this guy have that believes in him? So we have to start with, he has to know, someone is 100% in his corner. Which is what a coach is. And no dude, you can do it. I had to convince him that I believed in him so that he in turn could.

There was a particular moment that set everything off. Early March. Going through free agency. We are meeting with all the scouts and coaches in a room. We need to do this that etc. All the directions we could go as a team. I knew in my mind, Tua needed skill positions players that were dynamic with the ball in their hands. Because I knew this dude was a Point Guard. He is gifted that way. And then some of the people in personnel said we need to spend money on Offensive Linemen. I knew that I disagreed with it. But I hate going "NO, because I said so!" So I took the information and went back to the office. I put on the tape and began cutting tape to show the staff what I'm talking about from my lens. As I progress through the tape, I start to notice this trend, wow this is like the 7th different outbreak that I have seen Tua throw to the field....I see this once or twice from a QB in an entire season normally. The WR is running away from you, the ball is in the air longer, high risk throw. He would make pin point throws doing this.

What started as a explanation of how guys needed to be more open for Tua, turned into a marvel session that started at 630pm and went until midnight on a random week day in the offseason. I ended compiling this thing...I thought I knew, but I didn't know...what we were actually sitting on. I'm freaking out. I know for a fact from this night of study that this is the best QB for our offense that I have ever had the chance to coach. And I'm freaking out. So then I call Anne Nolan. Head of PR. Write this date down. I call Chris Grier at midnight. I just got to tell you, I've gone through 700 different passes, and I cannot believe what I am seeing. This guy is doing stuff that I have not focused all my attention on quite yet. We are sitting on a gold mine. We need to do EVERYTHING moving forward to acquire skill position players that have the ability to do stuff with the ball in their hands, because this guy, if they are open, he will get it to them.

In SF I saw the vision, the YAC. But it's 2am. I can't sleep. I need to show the whole organization the tape TODAY. We need a staff meeting at 8am. Get all the scouts in. I need to show this tape. I have to get this off my chest. We get the whole staff together and I run through 150 clips in a row to explain. This is the offense he played within. These are some of the things he is capable of. This is what our offense is able to do with this type of player. And from that meeting on....the meeting ends...everyone discusses. We have these analytic charts that show people in free agency who have the best ability to separate, YAC stuff, and the whole organization saw it and moved forward to empower Tua.

I called Tua in. Showed him the same tape. Anyone that was willing to listen, I wanted to make sure they knew.

When Tua saw it, what did he say?
It was the most extreme case of a person not knowing how to take a compliment. You could tell he was not used to anything but overly constructive negativity. It was a slow momentum building meeting. Probably at clip 75, he was reading the room and realizing this was not a setup. He starts to sit up in his chair and starts participating. I tell him you are doing all this incredible stuff, and in my estimation people are not open enough. I show him what it should look like. I cut in some 49er clips. And by the end he is like, we need playmakers!"
 
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"Gruden taught this to Kyle Shannahan. With tape, you tell a story. And through video you tell a story so you have more backbone to your argument. That whole process helped Tua see what this means. Why he can trust me, and what we are focusing on moving forward. It was the first building block. And once we hit the field, you could see this guy viscerally realizing, wow maybe I am good."

"I showed Tyreek the same tape. Immediately, Tyreek was like oh yeah totally. And Tyreek started telling the world. You have this 1 of 1 guy come out and be like no, this dude is the DEAL."
 
"We are in the business of maximizing talent. So why are we talking about what a player can't do. Let's talk about what they can do and raise people's ceilings and expectations for themselves."

"I felt like I was sitting on a secret forever. The relief part was probably right around inter squad scrimmaging. Tua was able to execute some of the things he had been doing against out defense against another opponent. Week 2, we were down several TDs, the 21 point comeback, that is when people stopped the Mike McDaniel is crazy...they started to listen. Which was really cool to be a part of for Tua. Dude, people will see eventually...and when they do, he can feel that. It was amazing how much growth that human being had in a calendar year. More so than anything I have seen in my life."
 
Jssanto said:
60 minutes long.
Sum up?
Click to expand...

I haven't watch the entire thing, but the video contains bookmarks.

I've watched the portion where MM discusses his eval of Tua (begins "around" the 25 min mark).

To sum up that section:
  • MM went into the first team meetings with scouts and personnel department firmly believing Tua was a "point guard" and most needed skill players with YAC abilities
  • Personnel department believed $$$ should be spent on the o-line, but MM knew he disagreed
  • MM hates the "no, cause I said so" tactic, so he decided to cut film to create a package that showed why he believed what he believed
  • MM dissected 700 plays. Not far into it, he noticed a trend of Tua throwing "out patterns" to the field side
  • MM says many QB's might only throw the risky field side "out pattern" a couple times per season, whereas he'd seen Tua already do it 7x not far into his breakdown
  • MM believed with the confidence to make that throw (10 yards downfield, but more like a 30-40 yard throw) and the accuracy behind it -- YAC play makers were paramount
  • MM also realized he was sitting on a "pot of gold" and possibly the best Qb he's had the opportunity to work with so far
  • MM called Grier in the middle of the night to share his thoughts and to setup an 8am meeting with all coaches and staff
  • When they left the meeting after going over the entire cut MM put together, everyone seemed to be on the same page
  • MM also shared the film cut with Tua and about half way through his body language suggested he wasn't used to the positive assessment
  • At the end of the 700 plays, Tua was fired up to get YAC play makers
 
Hoot said:


On his interview with the Fins:
"This is everything I ever wanted. I've been in 6 different organizations. This place has all the utilities, and just needs the right Head Coach."

How did you evaluate Tua?
"There was a specific moment....when I first started assessing the situation, you have the 5th pick in the draft, all his experiences thus far in the NFL, it was hard to look at him and not think of my own experience.....I knew I would have had no chance had I not been built up by my mom, that I can do anything. You are the smartest, etc. I knew at a young age that I gravitated to that. It gave me the confidence. We all have those moments of uncertainty, I don't know what is going to happen, and so do you go into those moments with faith you are going to get it done or apprehension you are going to fail? And I had gone through all those moments with vigor and fearlessness because of how I was built up. And so I saw Tua like that. How can we approach the idea of we know what this player is, when I don't know, from my vantage point, who does this guy have that believes in him? So we have to start with, he has to know, someone is 100% in his corner. Which is what a coach is. And no dude, you can do it. I had to convince him that I believed in him so that he in turn could.

There was a particular moment that set everything off. Early March. Going through free agency. We are meeting with all the scouts and coaches in a room. We need to do this that etc. All the directions we could go as a team. I knew in my mind, Tua needed skill positions players that were dynamic with the ball in their hands. Because I knew this dude was a Point Guard. He is gifted that way. And then some of the people in personnel said we need to spend money on Offensive Linemen. I knew that I disagreed with it. But I hate going "NO, because I said so!" So I took the information and went back to the office. I put on the tape and began cutting tape to show the staff what I'm talking about from my lens. As I progress through the tape, I start to notice this trend, wow this is like the 7th different outbreak that I have seen Tua throw to the field....I see this once or twice from a QB in an entire season normally. The WR is running away from you, the ball is in the air longer, high risk throw. He would make pin point throws doing this.

What started as a explanation of how guys needed to be more open for Tua, turned into a marvel session that started at 630pm and went until midnight on a random week day in the offseason. I ended compiling this thing...I thought I knew, but I didn't know...what we were actually sitting on. I'm freaking out. I know for a fact from this night of study that this is the best QB for our offense that I have ever had the chance to coach. And I'm freaking out. So then I call Anne Nolan. Head of PR. Write this date down. I call Chris Grier at midnight. I just got to tell you, I've gone through 700 different passes, and I cannot believe what I am seeing. This guy is doing stuff that I have not focused all my attention on quite yet. We are sitting on a gold mine. We need to do EVERYTHING moving forward to acquire skill position players that have the ability to do stuff with the ball in their hands, because this guy, if they are open, he will get it to them.

In SF I saw the vision, the YAC. But it's 2am. I can't sleep. I need to show the whole organization the tape TODAY. We need a staff meeting at 8am. Get all the scouts in. I need to show this tape. I have to get this off my chest. We get the whole staff together and I run through 150 clips in a row to explain. This is the offense he played within. These are some of the things he is capable of. This is what our offense is able to do with this type of player. And from that meeting on....the meeting ends...everyone discusses. We have these analytic charts that show people in free agency who have the best ability to separate, YAC stuff, and the whole organization saw it and moved forward to empower Tua.

I called Tua in. Showed him the same tape. Anyone that was willing to listen, I wanted to make sure they knew.

When Tua saw it, what did he say?
It was the most extreme case of a person not knowing how to take a compliment. You could tell he was not used to anything but overly constructive negativity. It was a slow momentum building meeting. Probably at clip 75, he was reading the room and realizing this was not a setup. He starts to sit up in his chair and starts participating. I tell him you are doing all this incredible stuff, and in my estimation people are not open enough. I show him what it should look like. I cut in some 49er clips. And by the end he is like, we need playmakers!"
Click to expand...

Phenomenal sum up @Hoot. You made it rain on that one brother.
 
Hoot said:


On his interview with the Fins:
"This is everything I ever wanted. I've been in 6 different organizations. This place has all the utilities, and just needs the right Head Coach."

How did you evaluate Tua?
"There was a specific moment....when I first started assessing the situation, you have the 5th pick in the draft, all his experiences thus far in the NFL, it was hard to look at him and not think of my own experience.....I knew I would have had no chance had I not been built up by my mom, that I can do anything. You are the smartest, etc. I knew at a young age that I gravitated to that. It gave me the confidence. We all have those moments of uncertainty, I don't know what is going to happen, and so do you go into those moments with faith you are going to get it done or apprehension you are going to fail? And I had gone through all those moments with vigor and fearlessness because of how I was built up. And so I saw Tua like that. How can we approach the idea of we know what this player is, when I don't know, from my vantage point, who does this guy have that believes in him? So we have to start with, he has to know, someone is 100% in his corner. Which is what a coach is. And no dude, you can do it. I had to convince him that I believed in him so that he in turn could.

There was a particular moment that set everything off. Early March. Going through free agency. We are meeting with all the scouts and coaches in a room. We need to do this that etc. All the directions we could go as a team. I knew in my mind, Tua needed skill positions players that were dynamic with the ball in their hands. Because I knew this dude was a Point Guard. He is gifted that way. And then some of the people in personnel said we need to spend money on Offensive Linemen. I knew that I disagreed with it. But I hate going "NO, because I said so!" So I took the information and went back to the office. I put on the tape and began cutting tape to show the staff what I'm talking about from my lens. As I progress through the tape, I start to notice this trend, wow this is like the 7th different outbreak that I have seen Tua throw to the field....I see this once or twice from a QB in an entire season normally. The WR is running away from you, the ball is in the air longer, high risk throw. He would make pin point throws doing this.

What started as a explanation of how guys needed to be more open for Tua, turned into a marvel session that started at 630pm and went until midnight on a random week day in the offseason. I ended compiling this thing...I thought I knew, but I didn't know...what we were actually sitting on. I'm freaking out. I know for a fact from this night of study that this is the best QB for our offense that I have ever had the chance to coach. And I'm freaking out. So then I call Anne Nolan. Head of PR. Write this date down. I call Chris Grier at midnight. I just got to tell you, I've gone through 700 different passes, and I cannot believe what I am seeing. This guy is doing stuff that I have not focused all my attention on quite yet. We are sitting on a gold mine. We need to do EVERYTHING moving forward to acquire skill position players that have the ability to do stuff with the ball in their hands, because this guy, if they are open, he will get it to them.

In SF I saw the vision, the YAC. But it's 2am. I can't sleep. I need to show the whole organization the tape TODAY. We need a staff meeting at 8am. Get all the scouts in. I need to show this tape. I have to get this off my chest. We get the whole staff together and I run through 150 clips in a row to explain. This is the offense he played within. These are some of the things he is capable of. This is what our offense is able to do with this type of player. And from that meeting on....the meeting ends...everyone discusses. We have these analytic charts that show people in free agency who have the best ability to separate, YAC stuff, and the whole organization saw it and moved forward to empower Tua.

I called Tua in. Showed him the same tape. Anyone that was willing to listen, I wanted to make sure they knew.

When Tua saw it, what did he say?
It was the most extreme case of a person not knowing how to take a compliment. You could tell he was not used to anything but overly constructive negativity. It was a slow momentum building meeting. Probably at clip 75, he was reading the room and realizing this was not a setup. He starts to sit up in his chair and starts participating. I tell him you are doing all this incredible stuff, and in my estimation people are not open enough. I show him what it should look like. I cut in some 49er clips. And by the end he is like, we need playmakers!"
Click to expand...

Fantastic @Hoot . Thank you.
 
Vic Fangio, what excites you about him? Second, there was a report he was going to Miami, then maybe not, did that cause stress?

"Yes and no. I was chasing a scenario, I thought the best thing I could possibly do for the football team was have a scenario where we could get the foremost expert in a defensive scheme in house, and he would want to be here. It was under the guise he wants to be here. I was confident in the roster that Chris Grier had worked for years to build. And from all testaments from my understanding of who Fangio was, it seemed like a perfect fit between him and I and what the team needed. Once that started as a thought, and I met with him, I knew without a doubt this was the right thing. And I was pretty confident it would work out. Vic has been in the league for a long time, there are certain things he has the utmost liberty in terms of contracts, in terms of semantics, I could tell, he could tell, it was perfect for all parties involved. So I was pretty confident. And wholly cow since he has been here....I was right! He is awesome."
 
Haha! McD with a direct reference to the "Coventry Direct" commercial - "We're sittin on a gold mine and we don't even know it!!!!" Hahahah I profess my enduring love for Mike McDaniel. I wanna have his baby!!! hahaha
 
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