Will change my tune on McDaniel

It was sunny and 58 degrees on that day in Pittsburgh in 1972, though.

 

I was negative five, lol. I've just spent a lot of time looking over the game logs.

 

I was an enthusiastic 7 year old boy watching my first year of football.

 

I was 7 for the Super Bowl after the 1984 season. That's the exact moment I became a football and Dolphins fan.

 

My fandom started off as a result of the most nonsensical thing that could come from a 7 year old boy.

Sitting with my grandfather when the game was coming on…”grandpa look, dolphins, they’re pretty”. My grandfather’s loving caring reply to such an innocent boy’s statement?” In his older very raspy somewhat Alabama southern drawl, “that’s a bunch of buuuuuullsh1t”. He tended to draw that word out often.

But this sweet innocent boy had the last laugh! Every Sunday the Dolphins played and every Sunday they won!

 

I understand some of the sentiments here, but at this point, I still think Mcdaniel has to go. At best, it's going to be yet another mediocre season. As I wrote in a thread from a long time ago, all three of them need to go, Grier, Mcdaniel and Tua. We need that trifecta. We got one down. It's the only way to finally try to build it the right way. Now, there is absolutely no guarantee that will happen and there's not many, if any good coaching candidates out there, but I think you have to try.

I don't hate Mcdaniel. I think he could make a good OC, but not a HC. There has been so much evidence he is just not head coaching material. Yes, this little stretch has been nice, but it's all really been the Achane show. Aside from Achane, the last two seasons have been brutal to watch. The best thing about Mcdaniel this season is him finally acknowledging the fact that he can't win with this QB by taking so much out of his hands. It's just taken 6 mediocre years to do so.

Look at all the press conferences with Mcdaniel. Someone should make a montage of all the hilarious press conference clips. How many umms and uhhs while constantly looking at the floor. That's not the kind of guy you want as a leader.

With that said, out of the three, Mcdaniel is the one I'm least adamant about wanting to go. I guess with the right QB and running game, there could be some hope for him. We just don't know because he's been saddled with this Qb from the beginning.

Qb, coach. and GM are. the key components in having a successful team. There' s also the fact I previously mentioned, that there aren't many great options available and I'm sure there aren't many good coaching candidates out there who will want to possibly be saddled with Tua for another year and take over a team in such a mess with the asinine contracts Grier gave out, especially to the QB.

They have been blessed with an easy schedule. If the team does well, the rest of the way, maybe that will help his case, but it could also fool us a bit. The Devil is in the details. We'll see.

 

I was actually similar. My family went to my grandparents house for the game, and my pap asked if I was rooting for the Dolphins or the 49ers. Well, I had no idea what a 49er was, but Dolphins were my favorite animal, aqua was my favorite color, and the logo just spoke to me and drew me in. Like this was the club I belonged in. Fan ever since.

 

I understand your frustration....BUT...these kinds of statements dive me crazy!

Ross hired McDaniel, and Flores, and Gase, and a few coaches before that. He also hired Grier on this promise of a perennial playoff contender by building through the draft (but somehow not keeping anyone you drafted). The key to the master plan? Tua.

Grier hit on several picks, missed on several others, and turned out to be an average GM. But he missed on Tua, or at least didn't predict the injury history and regression after so many concussions, so he had to go. I'm with you there. And Tua is in the worst slump of his career, making him expendable as well.

The good thing about our current offense is that it's not QB dependent, almost anyone can be under center and throw occasional slant passes to wide open receivers and TEs. And that's 100% on McDaniel, after he built a completely different offense around Tua's strengths in passing....TWICE.

My argument is not to keep McDaniel though, or even necessarily to trade Tua. It's about Steven Ross and his ability to judge talent.

Grier straight up hustled him into the GM position, and he sold Tua as the golden child. What are the odds that Ross makes the correct decision the next time around in a draft that's weak on QB's? How will he produce a different result at GM and most importantly, who's he going to get at HC that can make two completely different dominant offenses based on a failing QB?!?

In my book, McDaniel has to stay...someone competent that knows the team has to be in the building to help Ross moving forward. Tua can stay or go (he's staying another year with his contract) and who knows, maybe the kid finds his confidence again and has a decent season next year. I hope he does, I like him as a person, and I'd love to see him succeed. But I'm just not tied to him anymore and that experiment can end.

Saying, "blow it all up" sounds great on paper, but the problem is that you have the same guy doing the blowing that's already failed spectacularly three times in a row. I don't trust Ross in blow-up #4 to find anyone better than McDaniel (or Grier, for that matter). We can do better than today's version of Tua and possibly the Salty Tua of the past few seasons. But again, I don't trust Ross or the heir-apparent to find the right QB. Of everyone involved, I trust McDaniel the most and I think the players do as well.

 

McDaniel has been poor in two areas of note. Clock management and continually running plays that put the offense behind the chains. I don't know if he's gotten better in these areas because I don't watch enough.

In his defense, he has had to fight Grier's incompetence in putting a complete roster together and injuries. And the team has still been effective in scoring points. Difficult to be competitive against good teams when your core, OL and DL line are inferior. The offensive concept needs tweaking. Maybe now that the OL appears to be settling down that time has finally arrived.

I'll keep saying it, Tua needs to go. You don't say you're more concerned about going home than with winning games and get to stay a starting QB when on a weekly basis you put up clunkers. He cannot be the starting QB in 2026 for the Dolphins. 2026 should be a building block, not a, let's waste another year because we're more concerned about cap penalties by cutting him.

 

Yes, Ross is the big problem. I've mentioned that many times in the past, but I don't even mention him anymore because trying to hope for an old billionaire to change his ways is a complete waste of time and we only have his daughters to look forward to. The question at hand was about Mcdaniel.

That is not sustainable. You can't win consistently in the NFL with " just anyone under center". That's not going to happen. Teams will start to focus more on Achane and there will be times when the QB is going to have to put the team on his back.

Ok, so we agree and again it comes down to Ross and I have made my views on Ross many times in the past.

Ok, but again this comes down to Ross and for many years, I have made my views clear about Ross. That doesn't mean we should be ok with just keeping the status quo because Ross isn't going anywhere. That wasn't the question at hand.

You think Mcdaniels is that competent person to help Ross? Really? You think that's how it works? Fanciful. Maybe Tua has a decent season season next year? ...uhh boy. Psyched.

It's also the same guy who hired Mcdaniel and you want Mcdaniel to stay. Again this all comes down to Ross for you and I have addressed that point. So, ok, lets just forget every single thing until Ross and his daughters are gone. Let’s not discuss anything and just cheer and accept that we will all most likely be fertilizing flowers by the time our team has a chance of being successful. Cool. That's the most likely scenario. I agree. Peace bro.

 

Who else in the building can give Ross any clue as to what he's looking for, what he has, and what direction the franchise should head towards in the future? If you don't believe Ross is capable of bringing in the right talent, then how does anything change with the next GM, the next head coach, the next quarterback?

Doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting a different result s the definition of insanity.

 

I mean, isn't expecting Ross to get it right at this point, the definition of insanity? Lol

 

LOL, that's exactly why I don't want to blow everything up just to blow everything up. After the boom and the brief fireworks show, we still have the same crap...except it exploded.

 

There's always also the chance, given Ross' age, that if we wait another year to make big changes, he won't be the one in charge any longer.

 

People that demand he goes are also just saying that because it will make them feel better. If the next franchise QB isn't going to be in the building then what is the point?

I am down with drafting someone if there someone worth it but otherwise there isn't much reason to pick Kyler Murray or whoever you would be forced to get.

 

If it were just Ross but we started failing before he got here.

 

I have not and will not change my mind on McDaniel, he needs to be fired. Accountability starts day one, from the disastrous ending of season last year to the disastrous beginning of this season showed this team had bad leadership. Nothing has changed, it's the same old McDaniel who has no clue how to make game adjustments. Sure the fins are on a four game winning streak, but it's a dollar too short and a day too late, my open door on McDonald is shut permanently.

 

Over the last 25 years, the Dolphins are 10-24 on the road in Prime Time games, over the tenures of eight full time head coaches and two interim replacements. McDaniel has been about average in that respect, with a 2-6 record so far. Though he is the only one to win on the road against a team that later went on to make the playoffs (the Rams, last season)

 

That's a fair point and it can't be argued that he doesn't care...he certainly does and wants what is best for the franchise. He HAS TO hit on the next GM though (and coach/QB if that's the route we take). Like Unlucky said, this may be his last major hire(s).

 

Unsure why you guys get hyper fixated on forcing a QB to be drafted. If this team is stuck with Ewers in 2026 so be it. Tua to me is a cancer that should be removed. NFL as far as I know doesn't have any hard rules about being over the cap. Pay the fine, you're an 8 billion dollar franchise. It'll cost a pick, probably a second. Worth it to move on.

 

You cannot be over the cap. There is no fine. Its a hard rule. You have to be under every day from early March through the end of the season. No exceptions. So if you cut Tua and take the dead money, that's cap space you cant spend on other players to fill the team. This isn't MLB.

 

Not a lawyer. Little I read doesn't indicate anything about cutting a player just signing a player. But I will look at it a little more. Not that I expect to find much without looking at the contract.

 

I don't want to come off the wrong way here, but are you familiar with the NFL's salary cap and how it works?

For 2026, Tua has a guaranteed salary of 54m, and a cap number of 56m. Because of other bonuses, if the team were to cut him early in the offseason, he would then carry a dead money cap number of 99m (instead of the 54m if he's on the team). If they wait until after June 1 to release him, he would then carry a dead money number of 67m (instead of 54m), and would also cost the team dead money in 2027 as well.

Each team has an estimated cap number of 295m for 2026, so cutting Tua could end up having him alone amount to about a third of that, even though he's not even playing, leaving them the remaining money to sign and pay the guys who are on the team. Every dollar you account to one player is money you then cannot account towards someone else.

 

Unsure what this has to do with the other thing but okay. So a June 1 cut would add 12 million to Tua's number. Great! Cut! Some carry over to 2027? Stinks. But cap goes up over 300 million? Great! Cut in June 1 of 2026.

I've addressed this before. The cap hit the Broncos took for cutting Wilson I believe would be have been more than what we would take for cutting Tua. Which I actually need to look over again to verify impact. If they did it, especially with a regime change, we should too.

 

I get it. You want him gone. Who are you signing to replace him next season that you think will be better immediately?

 

Tua opened the door for his way out himself, with his words and play. I'm just saying, okay, bye.

Whether it's Ewers or someone else to manage 2026 I don't know. This is a McDaniel thread so I'm going to let this go for now.

I will say I'm glad it's not us taking Mendoza because I was left with doubts after the Ohio State game that he can handle NFL pressure.

 

Yeah, McDaniel is great. Bring him back. Like his QB, he too has now regressed.
You see the urgency in the fourth? Just taking their time in the huddle with no sense of urgency. Such a joke. That was pathetic. Yes, let him advise Ross going forward. Wasn’t he the guy who pushed for Tua to get that extension? lol!