‘Makes you want to go harder.’ The significance of the Dolphins’ coveted orange practice jersey
It all started with a problem.
“I have a lot of fire songs and my music is awesome,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel quipped from the dais Thursday morning, “but I can’t keep up with just the daily grind of keeping guys involved in practice through some music and some juice.”
Then came the solution, courtesy of assistant head coach Jon Embree:
“‘Why don’t you have a player every day kind of decide the playlist?’” McDaniel recalled Embree saying three years ago. The goal was “to really highlight somebody to the team in a productive way to bring acknowledgment to the day of practice they’ve had and everything accumulated to that.”
With that, a new Dolphins tradition was born. The orange jersey has since become a coveted item under the McDaniel regime. Its perks are clear — the ability to control music for the practice — but the competitive spirit that the item has engendered has become an added bonus.
“It’s pressure,” tight end Julian Hill said after donning the jersey during Wednesday’s practice. Hill explained there’s an added element of surprise – you get a random message either the day before or the day of — that somewhat increases the pressure. “You get that orange jersey, you better come with it. Not just the playlists but even stepping up on the field. All eyes on you now.”
Hill’s mix included a little bit of everything — Bob Marley, Young Thug, 2Pac — something that earned him praise from his teammates and coaches alike. While some players undertake the playlist curation process singlehandedly, others solicit picks from people in their position group.
“It’s me,” left guard Robert Jones said with a chuckle after Thursday’s practice. He donned the orange jersey on Tuesday. “I had that in my phone. Soon as he gave it to me, I just sent it over. I’m from Chicago so I had a lot of Chicago music on there. I asked the guys in the room — you know I got to show love to everybody — but you know I got playlists on deck no matter what.”
Added cornerback Kendall Fuller: “I have some Christian rap in there, some Gospel music in there, and then besides that I let the other DBs send a song to get in there.”
From a motivational standpoint, the orange jersey was kind of genius. Coaches are judged not just off of wins or losses but from their ability to get the most out of their players. When arguably one of the league’s brightest stars has an issue with his position’s lack of practices with the orange jersey, something must be going right.
“The receivers haven’t had an orange jersey this whole camp, and I just wanted to, simply – I want to come out every day and set the standard,” Tyreek Hill said in early August. Hill later told a story about how seeing a member of the defensive back unit with the jersey made him feel like the offense had something to prove.
“Offense, we came with a different mind-set today like, ‘Hold on, bruh. Y’all must’ve forgot we’re No. 1 for a reason, dawg. We do this for a reason, you feel me?’” Hill added. “We got teams backing up for a reason, like this what we do. So we had to go ahead and show them who we was today and remind them, ‘Hey, y’all still little bro today.’”
That, more than anything, is what McDaniel wants: to foster competition. One of the core tenets of the orange jersey philosophy is that no one can complain about the music, something he believes pushes the players in practice.
“If you don’t like the music, change the music,” McDaniel said. “So if you don’t like Liam Eichenberg’s playlist, all right, put on a show against him when he’s wearing the orange jersey and you can have a playlist, and you can truly show the audience how much better your musical ear is than theirs.”
Since OTAs, the defense has the edge in number total orange jerseys, 14-8. Proven names such as Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Ramsey and Jordan Poyer stand out as do players looking to make the roster such as Quinton Bell.
“It only makes you want to go harder, so I come out here every day,” Bell said in early August after being awarded the. “That orange jersey is only the beginning. I want to continue to stack these days, continue to get better, continue to gain trust with these coaches, that’s my main goal.”
And while the jersey has usually gone to a standout player from the practice, it’s clear the tradition has begun to evolve.
“Mike [McDaniel] had said to the team yesterday that he had messed up the last joint practices by not giving it to Calais [Campbell] or Jonnu [Smith] for them being in Atlanta last year,” Fuller said after Thursday’s joint practice with the Washington Commanders. The cornerback chose to join Dolphins over resigning with the Commanders during the 2024 offseason. “He was like he couldn’t make the same mistake twice, so I definitely appreciate it.”
The result: Fuller ended Thursday’s practice in a dramatic fashion. Lined up on the outside against former teammate Terry McClaurin, Fuller took advantage of the wide receiver losing his footing to intercept the ball. It was a fitting conclusion — McClaurin had caught a touchdown over the corner earlier that day — so much so that the Dolphins sidelined erupted and swarmed Fuller after his pick.
“Just to go back and forth and compete against guys, go against a different team, it was fun man,” Fuller said. “It was just a blessing.”
