McDaniel Thought About Giving up Play Calling; Doesn’t Expect a Tua Hold-Out

Mike McDaniel spoke to the Miami media Monday morning at the 2024 NFL Owners meetings. A few interesting topics shed insight into where the Dolphins are headed in 2024.

Regarding the possibility of Mike McDaniel giving up play-calling duties, McDaniel said he “thought long and hard” about it but will call plays during practices in the spring and in the fall when the regular season begins. He did say, though, that he would adjust if necessary.

While Miami’s offense ranked out very highly last season, it was the second consecutive season in which the team collapsed down the stretch in November and December and struggled to put up points in meaningful games late in the season. Also, McDaniel’s inability to stick with the running game has been questioned numerous times by the media and fans alike, especially when the running game is working and having success, which has also called into question his play-calling ability.

Another factor in play with this is Coach McDaniel’s very poor record winning challenges, and in the game vs. Baltimore last season on December 31st, his inability to get Bradley Chubb off the field and out of the game in garbage time, with McDaniel saying the change of possession happened too fast and he couldn’t get to Chubb in time to pull him. Chubb, a few plays later, tore his ACL, and it will cost him most of the 2024 season. Also, after the playoff loss to Kanas City, Tua said the plays weren’t coming in fast enough and that he was not given ample time to be audible during the games.

Many believe there is too much on the plate of Mike McDaniel, and if he gave up play-calling duties and let Miami offensive coordinator Frank Smith take over, it may be a benefit. But it appears that will not be the case.