How the Number 865 Changed Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel’s Life

ESPN Daily

ESPN

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4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2023

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

You could argue that the Miami Dolphins have the most exciting offense in the NFL right now. That can be backed up by Miami’s thrilling upset over the Los Angeles Chargers a week ago, where Tua Tagovailoa looked like he belonged in the conversation around the league’s most elite quarterbacks. Much of the credit belongs to quirky head coach Mike McDaniel, who has reinvigorated this offense over the past two seasons and brought a level of excitement not seen in decades. We’ve previously covered his meteoric rise here on the show, but what if I told you it almost never happened? Today, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington brings a chapter of McDaniel’s life that is rarely discussed but essential to understanding how he operates, and how he’s redefining the paradigm of NFL coach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Jeff Darlington, you got to spend quality time with the dolphins. Mike McDaniel, now there's
0:07.0	32 head coaches in the NFL. A lot of them do get up and ungodly hours. But there's something
0:15.0	about why he gets up, right? That drove you to interview him.
0:19.3	That's exactly right, Michelle. I think that this was obviously going to be a really cool
0:23.2	story as soon as Mike was willing to let me tag along with him given that he wakes up
0:28.6	and is heading to work at 2.45 a.m. That in itself is cool, but it's not necessarily unique
0:36.6	to the head coaching landscape. A lot of guys are maniacal about their hours. What was
0:42.0	unique with Mike McDaniel was more the reason that he does that.
0:50.9	That was sort of the story that we were chasing here, that McDaniel doesn't just go to work
0:56.9	because he wants to be there and is committed to his job. He does it for reasons that are
1:03.2	part of his past. I was this close to losing a job that I had changed my life for. It
1:11.4	made me look in the mirror. He is overcoming some adversities that he had faced in his
1:17.5	past. And ultimately by getting to work early, he feels like that he is making peace with
1:23.4	some of that past. How could it get to this point? He realized that I was using alcohol
1:29.8	to just check out, so I didn't have to deal with the problems.
1:50.5	No offensive performance, excited football fans more than the Dolphins week one. Now while
1:57.8	many fans are familiar with their dear, I say, quirky head coach Mike McDaniel and his
2:03.2	efforts to reinvigorate this franchise, they may not know about the journey that prepared
2:08.9	him for this very moment. Now McDaniel is opening up about a chapter of his life and his
2:15.5	career that he's rarely discussed. Today, Jeff Darlington takes us inside the mind of
2:22.6	Mike McDaniel and how he's redefining the paradigm of NFL coach. I'm Michelle Steele.
2:30.0	It's Friday, September 15th. This is ESPN Daily.
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