McDaniel offers highest praise yet for Tua, and Hill trade details, on Le Batard podcast
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel offered some unsolicited advice for Chris Grier when the Dolphins general manager told him last spring that Miami was in the mix to acquire All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill.
“Tell them they can have everything!”
McDaniel shared that light-hearted reaction and insight into the Hill trade — and effusive praise for Tua Tagovailoa — during Dan Le Batard’s podcast this week.
On Tagovailoa, McDaniel said: “The dude is right-handed and he throws lefty. When he throws the ball, every lefty I’ve been with, the ball tails. His doesn’t. It’s the most accurate, catchable ball I’ve ever seen.”
So is it McDaniel’s job to make him a star?
“My job is to make sure his best years as a football player are right in front of him right now, ever. That’s my job with everybody. You don’t always succeed at that…. How can we make that [elite accuracy] into good quarterback play? That’s his job too.”
McDaniel likes how Tagovailoa’s “personality is coming out on the field in an authentic way, not forced.”
McDaniel went into detail on the day he learned from Grier that acquiring Hill was a possibility. It was supposed to be a rare half day of work, on a Sunday, for McDaniel; he told his wife he would be home to the W Hotel — where McDaniel, his wife and young daughter were staying — by 3 p.m. Then things changed.
“Then Chris walks in and says, ‘Hey, I just got a call from the Chiefs talking about Tyreek Hill.’
I’m like ‘What? This is why I’m not a GM. Tell them they can have everything!’
“When he comes in and tells me the Chiefs had talked to him, I said, ‘Chris, that’s like one of the only non quarterbacks that you do whatever it takes.’ I thought he was untouchable.”
So instead of rushing to the W hotel, McDaniel turned on Chiefs tape.
“I started with 2021 every target [for Hill], then every pass that year, then that turns into the last three years. It’s 8 o clock, my wife is ripping me. [I said], ‘let me get home. I’ll explain.’ I couldn’t stop and then I was in too deep. We have to have him! I smoothed it over when I told her what I was doing.”
The next 48 hours were a roller coaster.
“Hey it’s not looking good, then it’s looking great,” McDaniel said. “It was a Monday or Tuesday and there was a point in the process where you might have to kind of win Tyreek over to get him to accept the trade. There are a couple teams interested. So I was getting my mind ready to recruit.
“[Dolphins executive] Brandon Shore comes in my office. Chris Grier is at a pro day at Ohio State. [Shore] shows me the phone and says, ‘Talk to [Hill].’
“I get on the phone and immediately go into recruit mode, hyperspeed [telling Hill that] ‘this is exactly your skill set we can feature. You would be paired with a guy that really [complements] your skill set. I’m shooting every shot I had. And 30 seconds into it and not giving him an iota of time for him to speak, he’s like, ‘coach, I’m coming. It’s already done.’”
Some other highlights from the podcast:
▪ On if the job is what he expected, he said: “The day-to-day job is not as hard as I thought it was going to be because of the intrinsic motivation you have with all the people depending on you.”
▪ He said: “I don’t think fear has to be strongest motivator. If you show [players] the things they need to do and yet keep them accountable, you can’t be afraid of uncomfortable conversations. I can be completely light and make things fun. But I will not hesitate to hold people accountable.
“You don’t have to do it through [cursing]. You say this is [expletiving] your teammate.. because you ran the wrong route, your quarterback’s helmet just flew off because he got hit so hard.”
▪ Asked by Le Batard if he can magically bring an effective running game to any team, he said: “No one person has the magic pixie dust.”
He mentioned he felt very comfortable with three young offensive linemen that they had studied in the previous two drafts when he worked for the 49ers. Though they weren’t named, Liam Eichenberg, Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt were those players.
▪ He said Dolphins executive Dan Marino asked McDaniel if he can sit in quarterback meetings, as he did during previous coaching regimes. The answer: Of course.
THIS AND THAT
Safety Jevon Holland, who has three interceptions this week, said Thursday that he wants opponents to fear him and he hopes to be a Pro Bowler this season.
▪ Tight end Durham Smythe said one big advantage of McDaniel’s offense, which defensive players have noted, is that “Mike does a great job of disguising things like that. Everything looks the same and from our perspective, it’s fun because it keeps everyone on the defense guessing. If you have smart guys on the edge or linebacker or any position, they read a specific formation or motion and say, ‘I’ve watched this on film and I know what’s coming.’ But [we do something different].
“If they hesitate for a second on defense, that’s when we can really take advantage of it. We’re letting it rip on offense. We’re attacking.”
Smythe said there are some presnap looks that can morph into five different play calls.
This story was originally published August 18, 2022 at 4:03 PM.
