Kelly: Mike McDaniel has empowered Dolphins leaders to control his team | Opinion
It was a moment everyone hoped carved out a team identity, changing the narrative about who the Miami Dolphins are, and what they’ll be in 2024.
This moment happened at the end of the first week of training camp. The Dolphins had just concluded a physical practice, one where owner Steve Ross was on the field watching his team for the very first time, and he just so happened to witness a skirmish in practice that almost got cornerback Kader Kohou slammed on his head by rookie offensive tackle Patrick Paul.
The brouhaha concluded the practice session with an offense vs. defense beef.
At end of day All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey stepped in front of a team Mike McDaniel had assembled and pulled a Kanye West, stealing the spotlight from his head coach to provide a profanity laced, 10-minute lecture, encouraging the team to stop being soft, and stressing to every player on the field that if they wanted to be his teammate they needed to adapt a “bully mentality.”
Ramsey told his teammates that’s the approach his Super Bowl winning Los Angeles Rams team had the year they won it.
The gist of the message was that the days of the Dolphins being pushovers, or folding when adversity hit, were done.
It was a message McDaniel had encouraged all the team’s leaders to disseminate to their peers, and on their own terms, however they saw fit.
We will soon learn if that message was received because it’s time to conclude the talking on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Jacksonville Jaguars come to town for the 2024 season opener. But it’s clear that moments like the one Ramsey provided is the new norm for these Dolphins, which are officially a layer-driven team.
What does that mean?
The players — primarily the leadership counsel, which is made up of the team’s eight captains — set team agenda.
The players have a say in the majority of the significant decisions.
The players take ownership of the offense, which means Tua Tagovailoa calls the shots, and dictates what the game script will look like, and the players dictate the style of play they want to utilize on defense.
Vic Fangio would never survive in this environment.
It’s a novel approach, but one McDaniel, one of the NFL’s new-school coaches, has encouraged his team to adapt.
“When you take ownership of something it makes you more accountable to the outcome,” said Zach Sieler, who was elected a captain for the first time in his NFL career this season. “It’s not about our coaches. It’s about us.”
The players on the field, and the people in the locker room dictate the terms.
To facilitate this new approach the Dolphins have juiced up the team bonding, routinely holding teamwide events, like Tagovailoa’s opening of camp house party, and group outing like the golf escapades numerous layers participate in regularly.
“The first thing you have to do is, you’ve got to build relationships. You have to get to know people. Everyone has different leadership styles and everyone likes to be talked to and led in different ways,” said Calais Campbell, a 16-year veteran who was elected a team captain despite meeting his teammates six weeks ago.
“Hold people accountable to a standard that they set for themselves. When you talk to guys and build relationships with them, you ask them, ‘What motivates you? Why are you doing this? What are your goals?’” Campbell continued. “Then when you’re on the field with them you can ask them, ‘Are you holding yourself to that level? You told me you wanted this. Now, if you don’t want it, we’re cool.’ ”
That’s an approach Campbell, the last of the legendary Hurricanes from University of Miami’s dynasty era, learned a decade ago, and has used to mentor his peers.
One of those speeches encouraged Sieler to step up as a leader, becoming more vocal, and that change led to him being elected a captain.
“You really shouldn’t have to force a leader in the direction of leading. You want it to be an organic approach and it’s about having the right guys,” said Terron Armstead, who is beginning his third season as a Dolphins captain.
According to Armstead, the bond players have before they have even played in one game that matters together, has been the biggest difference he’s seen from this year’s team to units in 2022 and 2023.
The hope is that this newfound bond allows players to hold each other more accountable.
That’s certainly been the case with Tagovailoa, who has taken a more vocal, direct, authoritarian approach to his leadership style.
“You want guys who have done things in this league who know how to talk to people with respect and are coming from a place of love, and what’s in your best interest,” Armstead continued. “We have that for sure.”
Now all we need to know is whether or not being a player driven team will take this franchise further than they have been in recent years.
