MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The news conference room at the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid is bigger than the makeshift room at Hard Rock Stadium where Miami Dolphins players and coaches typically speak after a game. This one is more of an auditorium, complete with a stage and about 100 ivory white chairs with Real Madrid's crest stitched into each seat.
It's where Miami Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II spoke following his team's overtime win over the Washington Commanders in November. While Gordon spoke, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel snuck off the side of the stage and sat in a chair in the second row.
When a member of the team's communications staff called for the last question, McDaniel spoke up.
"Talk about how well you're coached," he said with a deadpan expression.
The reporters in the room laughed, enjoying a trademark McDaniel moment.
McDaniel has grown famous for his viral moments, dry sense of humor and dense sarcasm. But the people who have played for him, past and present, say McDaniel is so much more -- a genuine, brilliant and thoughtful coach who also happens to be one of the NFL's most influential minds.
"Mike is creating new ways to do the actual plays. People are going to steal from him because he's actually creating new things that have never been done before," Dolphins offensive lineman Dan Brunskill said. "There's a lot of coaches that do come up with something new every once in a while. But Mike is probably one of the most innovative coaches where it's not just like, 'Oh hey, we're pulling this old clip.' It's like, 'Hey, we're splicing together a bunch of different clips to make something that nobody's ever done before.'"
Nine games into the 2025 season, following a 2-7 start, the Dolphins fired general manager Chris Grier, and McDaniel was the betting favorite to be the next coach fired. Football pundits speculated about whether those in the team's locker room took him seriously, or if he'd lost them. He hadn't -- not just because of his football acumen, according to multiple sources within the team, but because of how well he's connected with the people with whom he works. His bond with his players has grown through a range of interactions. Some were as grandiose as a 700-play highlight tape to rebuild a player's confidence, while others were as innocuous as a brief chat in the back of the team's chartered plane after a big win.
Since that rocky beginning, the Dolphins have won four straight, including a blowout of the Buffalo Bills in Week 10, and have a chance Monday to improbably even their record with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN). McDaniel has said players can always see through the facade if a coach is not genuine. So far, he hasn't had that issue.
McDaniel's authenticity was forged during his struggle to become a head coach. He has been fired, told he drank too much and needed to get his life together. He has been through worse than a 2-7 start.
"Mike gets it. The s--- that Mike went through made him to where he understands people," Dolphins offensive lineman Kendall Lamm said. "A lot of times you don't get that unless you've really been through some s---, unless people really kicked you when you were down. He understands.
"Some people can't do that and whether you think he's a good coach or not, it is remarkable that he can feel -- because a lot of people in this league don't know how to feel."
Here are some stories that explain the coach -- and the man -- who has helped turn around the Dolphins' fortunes this season.
'When you cut it to the core, Mike's a great man'
In their 2023 regular-season opener, the Dolphins traveled to face a Los Angeles Chargers team that had thoroughly beaten them the year before, limiting Miami to only 219 yards of offense and sacking quarterback Tua Tagovailoa twice in a 23-17 loss.
One conversation point in the days leading up to the game centered on whether the Dolphins could hold off pass rushers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa -- especially considering Lamm, the team's backup tackle, would be playing in place of usual starting left tackle and five-time Pro Bowl pick Terron Armstead.
In the rematch, Miami racked up 536 yards of offense, including 466 yards passing, without giving up a sack in a 36-34 win. Lamm, for his part, was the best lineman on the field -- registering the NFL's 12th-highest pass block win rate in Week 1.
On the team's flight back to South Florida, McDaniel made it a point to check in with the then nine-year veteran.
"He said, 'If you didn't think that I had trust in you, then you're crazy,'" Lamm said. "And I mean, I'd always had trust in myself ... But I just remember him walking to the back of the plane when everybody was asleep. And of course I was still awake, I'm watching everything. And I could see the pure, genuine happiness [in McDaniel].
"He was like, 'But it's not because you showed everybody, but because you did what you knew you were going to do ... and I knew you were going to do it, because of how you approached everything [leading up to the game].'
"See, there are things that [the media] gets caught up in and all the hype and the hoopla, 'Oh my God, he's the Miami Dolphins coach.' But when you cut it to the core, Mike's a great man. He just is in a position where you guys critique it all. But if I was to meet Mike on a day to day out in the open, I'd sit and kick the s--- with Mike. I would love to pick his brain. You can feel when it's a real, true, genuine person. And in this day and age, especially in our league, you don't see that as much. But Mike has it."
'Feels cool that I don't need to act a certain way'
Tagovailoa's confidence was wavering after his first two seasons in the NFL, which were highlighted by a harsh relationship with then-coach Brian Flores and trade rumors that lasted into his first offseason with McDaniel.
When McDaniel was hired in February 2022, he quickly began the process of rebuilding his quarterback's confidence -- starting with a phone call at what turned out to be an inopportune time for the former Alabama star.
When McDaniel's call came through, Tagovailoa was on a golf course. The Dolphins' QB took the call and offered to leave his game to talk to his new coach.
McDaniel, though, told him not to worry about it.
"He's like, 'Nah, dude, go enjoy. Don't think about anything else. Go golf,'" Tagovailoa said. "And it was kind of cool because in that sense it's like, man, it kind of feels cool that I don't need to act a certain way with a head coach."
Once the two were finally able to get together in the same building later that offseason, Tagovailoa was shocked to find McDaniel had put together a 700-play highlight tape that showcased his best traits as a passer -- namely his ability to throw with accuracy and anticipation.
Tagovailoa said that was a foundational moment in their relationship.
Tagovailoa went on to lead the NFL in passing in 2023, their second season together, and was named a Pro Bowl starter. The following offseason, Tagovailoa signed a 4-year, $212.1 million contract extension, the richest in franchise history.
After signing, Tagovailoa told reporters he'd heard McDaniel had been a loud advocate for him behind the scenes.
"I was like, 'This dude is different. That is different,'" he said of that phone call on the golf course. "I've never experienced that with anyone else; I only had one head coach prior, but that was different for me. I thought that was a cool opportunity for him to have taken that, to build me up and get me going in a way, and see the potential that he'd seen and kind of gain that confidence back that I had in college."
'He's always a positive spirit'
The Dolphins spent this past offseason focused on changing the culture within the building. The team reemphasized accountability, letting go of a number of players it felt weren't contributing to success, and brought in others it felt would put the team first, among other measures.
So an ugly 33-8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts to begin the 2025 season was something Dolphins players didn't see coming.
After the game, linebacker Jordyn Brooks said he expected McDaniel to rip into the team; instead, McDaniel did the opposite.
"After that first game -- the way we lost that first game, I'm thinking, [here we go]," Brooks said. "But he honestly kind of pulled me to the side and just reassured me that we've got a long season, got to keep believing, got to keep going. Basically, shrug that one off and keep moving."
That's not to say McDaniel is incapable of criticizing players when he needs to, but the coach's positive attitude resonated with Brooks -- a Miami captain who entered Week 15 leading the NFL in tackles -- then and now.
"He's always a positive spirit in that no matter what's going on and what's being said about the team or him personally -- he's always the same guy," Brooks said. "I think his positive attitude is something that I always notice for myself. And when he goes about his business, he's not like a normal head coach. You know what I mean? He's very much with the times.
"He's got a new pair of shoes every day. You can always tell how he's feeling by what type of shoes he's wearing and whatever outfit he's got on."
'From that moment on, I'm like, "He'll be good in my book forever"'
After three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins signed an offer sheet with the Cleveland Browns in 2014; the Bengals failed to match the offer and Hawkins left one AFC North team for another.
It wasn't the cleanest breakup, he said. Hawkins was excited to play his former team in Week 10, a prime-time game on "Thursday Night Football," but he was considered a game-time decision because of a knee injury he'd suffered the previous week.
Hawkins tried to play but never got past his pregame warmup -- by order of his then-position coach McDaniel.
"He just kind of stops me and was like, 'Look, man, I know you want to play in this. I understand, but I got to do what's best for you, man. You cannot do this,'" Hawkins said. "'You're going to put yourself at risk.'
"He just sits there and starts crying, tears in his eyes like, 'Look, man, it sucks, but I've got to be honest with you.' I felt it, I knew I couldn't play, but he knew I wanted to ... from that moment on, I'm like, 'He'll be good in my book forever.'"
Hawkins set a career high with a team-leading 824 receiving yards in his lone season with McDaniel -- which he said still resonates with him because of how detailed of a coach McDaniel was.
He even likened McDaniel to a doctor, because of how customized his coaching points were.
"It's easy to play hard for him because playing hard for him is like playing hard for yourself in the sense that he truly designs his strategy around everybody else being their best," Hawkins said. "Mike specifically would change things for me as a player because he would watch, he would pay attention and he would say, 'Hey, you'll do better doing it this way' ... it was almost like this very customized prescription for my game that helped me be the best that I could be. And I had never really had a coach do that.
"For me, it was always the opposite. I'm spending nights trying to do what this guy wants or what this coordinator wants to try to get a look, to be on his good side, to get some targets. And it was the first time in my career I had someone say, 'Oh, here's what you do, here's what's best for you.'"
Banging on the table for Kittle
San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle is a six-time Pro Bowl tight end and so fond of McDaniel that he once jokingly asked for a clause in his contract that kept teams from poaching his then-offensive coordinator.
But the former fifth-round pick wouldn't have even made it to the fifth round if McDaniel had his way.
"I may not be here if not for Mike. He told me he stood on the table and pushed to pick me," Kittle said. "He said, 'I was making a fool of myself demanding that they draft you in the fifth round.' He wanted me in the fourth and they were like, 'Oh, he'll be there later.' And then he was right, because Seattle called me and they were going to draft me with the next pick.
"[Seattle] called my agent and were like, 'Hey, we're going to draft George' and then I got drafted by the Niners."
Entering Week 15, Kittle had 7,776 receiving yards since his rookie season in 2017 -- second only to Travis Kelce among NFL tight ends.
A Dolphins team source said McDaniel was heavily involved in the scouting process; based on his evaluation of Kittle, he didn't just pick up that habit in Miami.
"Smart guy," Kittle said. "I think I was like their third or fourth tight end on the board and so when the other three guys were gone, he was like, 'I'm making a fool of myself just screaming at everybody.' I was like, 'Thank you, Mike.' Seemed like a smart idea."
Close connections
Speaking at his locker inside the Dolphins' facility in early December, Alec Ingold plucked a brown index card from his shelf.
Printed on the card, in a small typewriter front, was a quote from motivational speaker Tony Robbins:
"If we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently."
Ingold said McDaniel hands out similar cards routinely and it helps remind players that there's more to their profession than the wins and losses.
"He's a big stoic dude ... the stoic philosophy -- he lives that s---," Ingold said. "Those are the types of things and reminders that we're always getting hit with. He'll show those in team meeting rooms, he'll hit guys with it, sign them, give 'em out. But I think those are reminders when you're in the deep end of a tough season or pulling yourself out of stuff to say, 'Oh, this is life too.'"
Ingold said he and McDaniel have bonded on a personal level during their four seasons together in Miami, stemming from their similar childhood. Both Ingold and McDaniel are biracial. Ingold grew up with his adoptive white family in Wisconsin, and McDaniel grew up with his white mother in Colorado.
Ingold, who is one of the Dolphins' captains, said McDaniel has found ways to relate their experiences during what he called their "annual phone call," in which McDaniel often discusses potential offensive changes.
"When we're on the phone and he can relate it to our story growing up and being extremely vulnerable, I think he attaches a lot of personality and his own shared trauma," Ingold said. "What he's been through, and he can really relate and storytell to me. So it might be a five-minute phone call turns into 35 minutes, but I think the way that he's a human being and very vulnerable allows for guys to connect.
"And when you can connect at the human level, I think that's when over time you see the run game and the X's and O's come to life, because he's truly creative that way."
'He lives and breathes football'
Arguably the biggest change to the Dolphins' season following their 1-6 start was the implementation of offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill as an eligible receiver on certain plays.
Doing so gave Miami a sixth offensive lineman on the field, which creates advantageous matchups in the run game. The team has won five of its past six games; in that span, it ranks second in the NFL in rushing with 166.2 yards per game.
Brunskill complimented McDaniel's work ethic as part of the driving force behind the Dolphins' four-game win streak -- but even during the team's sputtering start to the season, he could tell McDaniel was working tirelessly to right the ship.
"You guys don't see on some of the days where he came in, especially early in the season -- I mean you could tell the dude has not slept," he said. "He's one of those hardworking guys. ... I mean he spends every second about the game of football. He came back from bye week, he's like, 'Yeah, I did the dad stuff. I took my daughter to school,' and then he's like, 'All right, now we're back to football.'
"He lives and breathes football and I think that emulates him the most."