When Mike McDaniel was requested Monday what his greatest classes discovered have been after finishing his rookie head teaching season main the Miami Dolphins, the very first thing he did was have a look at his watch.
It was meant to indicate how he may go a very long time with a prolonged reply.
And it most likely wasn’t intentional — however possibly unconscious — a part of his reply could have been proper there on his wrist: Clock administration.
It bit the Dolphins on the worst attainable time. They have been within the playoffs and, regardless of all odds, had an opportunity to upset the closely favored Buffalo Bills on the highway. But there have been too many situations down the stretch of a 34-31 wild-card spherical loss the place failure to get the play-call communicated in a well timed method both put the offense at an obstacle in a rushed scenario, price the group a second-half timeout or — within the last, most-pivotal second — pushed Miami again 5 yards on a fourth down with the season on the road.
“There’s a lot to learn each and every game, just each and every experience,” McDaniel began after the gesture to have a look at his watch.
So, let’s begin with that clock administration.
“There’s a lot of constructive criticism that I put on myself, first and foremost,” McDaniel mentioned. “The backside line is, within the greatest second, we weren’t capable of execute. There was compounding variables to that, issues that you would be able to’t actually change in hindsight.
“I need to work it out with the staff. So, if it became a problem in crunch time, that’s ultimately my responsibility. It wasn’t necessarily for a lack of direction. It was more just really working on the nuances of communication, which starts with me.”
He did have his share of excuses for it. It was rookie third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson main the offense in his third NFL begin, on the highway in opposition to a prime protection in a tricky setting. He had his beginning working again out, and plenty of motion alongside the offensive line with a distinct beginning left guard, proper guard and proper deal with.
McDaniel’s offense is complicated, with numerous alignments and substantial pre-snap movement. But ought to he have simplified issues in key moments?
“The way I look at things is, in hindsight, you learn that [with] that many new players in one game, you have to be mindful of that when you’re building a plan with a lot of communication,” he mentioned.
“You learn from it. I was proud of the guys, really proud of the entire team, for allowing us to be in that situation. And because of that, there’s a lot of young players that really can understand the gravity of how you operate in the spring, how you operate in training camp. All of it matters because you’re building for those moments where you don’t want a time issue to be the reason why you’re having to watch the rest of the postseason from your home.”
McDaniel additionally could have to reassess the system he has in place for figuring out whether or not to problem calls on the sector. He began 0 for five earlier than his first profitable problem late within the regular-season finale in opposition to the Jets that obtained the Dolphins into the postseason.
The coach had some fourth-down choices that may very well be questioned, but it surely’s additionally a part of his philosophy to be aggressive in sure elements of the sector and on fourth-and-shorts, even when in his group’s personal territory.
McDaniel entered the 2022 season assured he was prepared for the second as a result of he has mentally positioned himself in numerous situations in his years as an assistant coach. He discovered that really being immersed in these conditions in his new seat as a head coach generally is a completely different animal.
“There’s new things that happen every day. I’m excited to have a little experience with handling each and every one of them,” he mentioned. “Although I’ve thought of it, it’s a distinct factor to actually assault it. You be taught that you’re solely pretty much as good as everybody you’re employed with.
“That was a principle philosophy of mine, but truly living it, you just rely on a lot of people deciding to go in one direction. It’s a humbling experience, but it’s also very validating and reinforces what the position truly is — that you are a service to a lot of people that are trying all to do the same thing. Trying to orchestrate that is not easy, but it sure is worth it.”
Given that, McDaniel will now have a key offseason of deciding what adjustments to make on his teaching workers. He constructed a workers for the primary time final offseason. It was a mix of coaches he has labored with, some holdovers from former coach Brian Flores’ tenure and others he felt would match the instructing mandatory for the group’s offensive and defensive schemes.
Now with expertise working with them and getting a first-hand view of their teaching kinds, he’ll have to find out who’s staying and going or, if some take jobs elsewhere, discover replacements.
Prime amongst these choices shall be whether or not to retain defensive coordinator Josh Boyer and particular groups coordinator Danny Crossman. Quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell is reportedly chatting with the New York Jets about their offensive coordinator opening, in accordance with NFL Network and New York-based reviews.
One factor’s for positive: McDaniel is dedicated to fixing any shortcomings.
“I feel very bound and determined to always improve,” he mentioned postgame Sunday at Highmark Stadium. “I feel there’s all the time good and there’s all the time unhealthy. I feel the second that you just begin considering that you just’re problem-less or that you just’ve figured it out is when stuff passes by.
“My primary concern is that I do everything possible to try to put people in positions for success, because that’s what this role can offer. I think I’m happy with that and not happy with [Sunday’s] result, which I don’t think I’ll ever be until it’s the final game of the season and you’re champion.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com