Tua Tagovailoa – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Debby Wong
When the Miami Dolphins hired head coach Mike McDaniel, their social media team was on the same private plane capturing footage of his first Facetime call with Tua Tagovailoa.
“My job is to coach you to get all that greatness out of you,” McDaniel said, via MSN. “This is an awesome day for me, and I’m damn sure gonna make sure that when you look back on this day, you’re gonna be like, ‘Damn, that was one of the best days of my career, too.”
At the time, it appeared exaggerated and possibly too hopeful. After all, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross would have chosen Tom Brady or QB Watson Deshaun as his quarterback if it had been up to him. It gave the impression that McDaniel was stuck with Tua.
However, McDaniel’s words to his new quarterback as he was hired weren’t some false rah-rah speech. He got it done.
The main reason McDaniel has been a great hire is that he is getting the best performance out of Tagovailoa. In games that Tagovailoa began and finished for the Dolphins, who thrashed the Cleveland Browns 39-17 on Sunday, they are 7-0. Technically, Tagovailoa did not complete the game on Sunday, but that is only because he received a break due to the Dolphins’ large lead. He observed Skylar Thompson clean up the blowout’s final moments. Three touchdowns and 285 yards were tallied by Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins are in charge of the AFC East at 7-3. Seven of those victories came against the Buffalo Bills (6-3), who are currently losing two straight games and are the divisional favorites.
The Dolphins’ desire to give up on Tagovailoa in the earlier days is astonishing. Ross is a poor franchisee, and it’s obvious that he didn’t want Tagovailoa. Ross was so disappointed in Tagovailoa that he interfered with Brady and cost the team a first-round draft pick as a result. According to reports, Brian Flores, Tagovailoa’s first head coach, wasn’t a fan either. In that setting, success is challenging.
Tagovailoa required assistance and needed a stronger opening. He gained a lot by Tyreek Hill joining the club. Furthermore, he truly needed a coach who had faith in him.
McDaniel has activated all the team’s necessary levers. He’s a coach with vision who knows how to plan Hill and Jaylen Waddle’s excellent looks while utilizing Tagovailoa’s advantages and has thus far had great success with him. He expressed his wish that Tagovailoa’s career’s “best day” would also be the day he was employed, and up to this moment, it has proven to be true.
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Mike has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations. He once owned his own agency and has worked with some of the largest brands in the world.