Ever since he took the job as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Mike McDaniel has been downright impressive. The team has made the postseason in back-to-back years and the early part of the schedule is looking pretty darn favorable for 2024.
Could Miami go on to win the AFC East and then push for a Super Bowl? Hey, never say never. Should that happen, McDaniel will get a lot of people off his back. The list includes Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Straight up, Perkins hasn’t been overly impressed with McDaniel in two years and he wants to see improvement. He made that much clear in his latest column, which requires a subscription.
Will the Miami Dolphins end their long postseason wins drought this campaign?
“He’s got to win. That’s the bottom line. I’m talking about Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, of course. The Dolphins have had too much talent to not have a playoff victory the past two seasons. McDaniel must lead the Dolphins to a playoff win this season. At this point, there’s no dramatic “or else” that follows that statement. But here’s a fact: no Dolphins coach has done less with more in the past 20 years. Here’s another fact: the Dolphins have been disappointing for the past two seasons. “
Does Perkins have a point here? McDaniel has turned the offense into one of the most electric ones in the league, but no postseason success has been shown for it. Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards last season, but he looked rough against the Chiefs in the Wild Card Round.
Now, there’s drama on whether or not general manager Chris Grier will give him a monster extension or not. It’s up in the air if that will happen, while the door is open for Tua to be a camp holdout, which is not what anyone wants to see.
Should everything go to plan with his contract, though, then this team will be looking quite exciting for ’24. McDaniel is going to have his guys ready to rock and the wheels are in motion to make some noise in the playoffs. McDaniel isn’t too worried about jumping things to January just yet, but Perkins is surely going to be ready to go after McDaniel again if his team doesn’t deliver.
