The Team's Central Problem

[Dolfanalyst]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/dave-hyde-in-biggest-games-dolphins-keep-lacking-dna-to-handle-adversity/ar-AA1v2umf?ocid=BingNewsSerp

If it's true that a team takes on the personality of its coach, and it's coach's personality is only slightly different from Pee Wee Herman's, how can the team possibly be tough?

The team will be the opposite of tough, and again I sounded that alarm about McDaniel way back when he was hired.  The lack of toughness has permeated his tenure with the team, and that isn't consistent with winning in the game of professional football.

Hyde's article (linked above) highlights that, and the evidence regarding the issue has mounted from various sources.

[Dave Gray]

Hard disagree.

McDaniel is the best thing about the team.

[Downunder Dolphan]

I was shocked at this grab in the Hyde article:

“McDaniel is 1-14 against teams with a winning record in his 3 seasons,” former Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “This tells me they have a bit of a front runner mentality and when things get tough they don’t have it in their DNA to handle adversity as well as some of the top tier teams."

I don't think this is entirely accurate - we've beaten Baltimore, Buffalo and Dallas who all had winning records at the time, so that's at least 3 wins in that period. That said, we haven't done it yet this season (and Houston is likely to be the last chance). It does go to show that we had extremely soft fixtures the last three seasons.

[Denver2]

You’re a fascist dude and if being a fascist is what it takes to win at football then I am out

[Downunder Dolphan]

You’re a fascist dude and if being a fascist is what it takes to win at football then I am out

After 42 years of supporting the Dolphins, I think I'm more of a masochist.

[Spider-Dan]

There are a certain group of fans that just love tough head coaches like Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, or even Brian Flores.  These soft players need a Strong Head Coach to install some discipline!  This is why Belichick's assistants keep getting hired over and over: this fetish about a professional football team somehow being soft.

There are three active coaches in the league who have won a title in the last decade: Andy Reid, Sean McVay, and Doug Pederson.  Ask yourself if the primary trait you associate with these coaches is "toughness."

If tough coaches like Brian Flores or Nick Saban can't even make the playoffs but a "Pee Wee Herman" coach like McDaniel can make it in his first two years, what does that say about your notion of toughness?

[Downunder Dolphan]

There are a certain group of fans that just love tough head coaches like Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, or even Brian Flores.  These soft players need a Strong Head Coach to install some discipline!  This is why Belichick's assistants keep getting hired over and over: this fetish about a professional football team somehow being soft.

There are three active coaches in the league who have won a title in the last decade: Andy Reid, Sean McVay, and Doug Pederson.  Ask yourself if the primary trait you associate with these coaches is "toughness."

If tough coaches like Brian Flores or Nick Saban can't even make the playoffs but a "Pee Wee Herman" coach like McDaniel can make it in his first two years, what does that say about your notion of toughness?

The big thing about these three SB winning coaches are that they are creative and adaptive - they work around the personnel they have, and address problems (I also think Reid in particular is a lot tougher than you admit to). John Harbaugh is another one just outside that timeframe who I think is of a similar nature.

McDaniel was rightly seen as a breath of fresh air early on, but what we are seeing now is the same stubborness to adapt that Flores had. The NFL has adjusted, and he hasn't. All of his plans are dependent on a few select players, and everything fails when they fail or are not there. He needs to change this for us to move forward.

The other thing may well be true is that Miami is a special case compared to a lot of other NFL teams. It's a warm weather destination, it has a lot of off-field distractions, we have a clueless owner. McDaniel may not need the macho toughness of Mike Ditka, but it's looking like he needs to find a harder edge.

Players are talking big, talking tough and not backing it up. It's looking more like a group of mercenaries than a team as time goes on, and that's not a good thing. A coach can either address it or ignore it - we saw how that turned out when Philbin chose the latter path.

[Denver2]

The big thing about these three SB winning coaches are that they are creative and adaptive - they work around the personnel they have, and address problems (I also think Reid in particular is a lot tougher than you admit to). John Harbaugh is another one just outside that timeframe who I think is of a similar nature.

McDaniel was rightly seen as a breath of fresh air early on, but what we are seeing now is the same stubborness to adapt that Flores had. The NFL has adjusted, and he hasn't. All of his plans are dependent on a few select players, and everything fails when they fail or are not there. He needs to change this for us to move forward.

The other thing may well be true is that Miami is a special case compared to a lot of other NFL teams. It's a warm weather destination, it has a lot of off-field distractions, we have a clueless owner. McDaniel may not need the macho toughness of Mike Ditka, but it's looking like he needs to find a harder edge.

Players are talking big, talking tough and not backing it up. It's looking more like a group of mercenaries than a team as time goes on, and that's not a good thing. A coach can either address it or ignore it - we saw how that turned out when Philbin chose the latter path.

Reid would be Dan Reeves if Mahomes didn’t fall in his lap

[Denver2]

After 42 years of supporting the Dolphins, I think I'm more of a masochist.

lol same but not you mate you’re cool

[CF DolFan]

Lot's of people have been saying it for years but this team just isn't built to beat good physical teams. They work great against weaker teams but the biggest problem on this team has always been running when the other team knows we are running.

Our Center is giving up almost 50 lbs to nose-guards and gets blown backwards just like our guards. They work great in space as they are quick but when it gets physical they get clobbered.

We also need to shore up the DTs, LBs and safety position. Might not hurt to pick up one big physical back for short yardage.

My first move would be to fire Chris "you guys are more worried about it (offensive line) than we are" Grier. I would keep Mike as he keeps getting better IMO.

[CF DolFan]

I know many people do not like Omar but he makes a really good point IMO.

"The bottom line is Miami's entire line of scrimmage needs to be rebuilt.

Despite the NFL's growing obsession with fantasy football, and gambling on prop bets, football games are won and lost in the trenches, especially in December games and the postseason. That happens to be the time when the Dolphins flop around like a porpoise out of water. "

[Dolfanalyst]

There are a certain group of fans that just love tough head coaches like Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, or even Brian Flores.  These soft players need a Strong Head Coach to install some discipline!  This is why Belichick's assistants keep getting hired over and over: this fetish about a professional football team somehow being soft.

There are three active coaches in the league who have won a title in the last decade: Andy Reid, Sean McVay, and Doug Pederson.  Ask yourself if the primary trait you associate with these coaches is "toughness."

If tough coaches like Brian Flores or Nick Saban can't even make the playoffs but a "Pee Wee Herman" coach like McDaniel can make it in his first two years, what does that say about your notion of toughness?

Two issues with the above:

1) If toughness as a team is necessary but not sufficient to win, then there will be lots of head coaches whose personalities inspire toughness who don't win.  By the same token there will be zero head coaches whose personalities don't inspire toughness who win.  Toughness as a team is necessary but not sufficient for winning.  If you have it, it doesn't guarantee winning in itself, but if you don't have it, you're guaranteed not to win.

2) Toughness exists on a continuum.  If you quantified toughness on a 0 to 100 scale and (hypothetically) winning in the NFL required that a head coach's toughness rate at 70 or higher on that scale, then Brian Flores's score of let's say 95 might be too high and therefore counterproductive, whereas Mike McDaniel's score of 5 would be far too low to win.

In the end you'd have a condition necessary (but not sufficient) for winning in the NFL that just isn't present with McDaniel.

[Dolfanalyst]

The big thing about these three SB winning coaches are that they are creative and adaptive - they work around the personnel they have, and address problems (I also think Reid in particular is a lot tougher than you admit to). John Harbaugh is another one just outside that timeframe who I think is of a similar nature.

McDaniel was rightly seen as a breath of fresh air early on, but what we are seeing now is the same stubborness to adapt that Flores had. The NFL has adjusted, and he hasn't. All of his plans are dependent on a few select players, and everything fails when they fail or are not there. He needs to change this for us to move forward.

The other thing may well be true is that Miami is a special case compared to a lot of other NFL teams. It's a warm weather destination, it has a lot of off-field distractions, we have a clueless owner. McDaniel may not need the macho toughness of Mike Ditka, but it's looking like he needs to find a harder edge.

Players are talking big, talking tough and not backing it up. It's looking more like a group of mercenaries than a team as time goes on, and that's not a good thing. A coach can either address it or ignore it - we saw how that turned out when Philbin chose the latter path.

The big thing about those coaches is that there is a lot about winning in the NFL that has nothing to do with scheming and creativity -- it has everything to do with your team culture and whether it consists of the grit and mettle necessary to overcome adversity.  And those coaches' personalities inspire that in their players and thereby create an effective team culture in that area.  McDaniel's does not.

So while McDaniel may be a brilliant technician, that would equal success only if the technical aspects of the game are what wins.  But they aren't the only thing that wins -- there are other aspects of the game necessary for winning, and McDaniel comes up woefully short on those.

In the end he would make a great offensive coordinator, but a central leader of men on an NFL football team -- a head coach -- he is not.

[Spider-Dan]

The big thing about those coaches is that there is a lot about winning in the NFL that has nothing to do with scheming and creativity -- it has everything to do with your team culture and whether it consists of the grit and mettle necessary to overcome adversity.

Pretty strange how the "culture" under Andy Reid in KC suddenly got a lot better when Mahomes arrived, and at almost the same time, the "culture" under Belichick in NE suddenly got a lot worse when Brady left.

[Dolfanalyst]

Pretty strange how the "culture" under Andy Reid in KC suddenly got a lot better when Mahomes arrived, and at almost the same time, the "culture" under Belichick in NE suddenly got a lot worse when Brady left.

Once again, understand the concept of "necessary but not sufficient."  The culture is necessary but not sufficient for winning.  If you have it, it doesn't guarantee winning, but if you don't have it, it guarantees not winning.