WATCH: New Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel calls Tua Tagovailoa
As Mike McDaniel gets ready to take his first head coaching job, he has to build a relationship with his new quarterback. That’s why he made an important phone call on the plane to Miami.
McDaniel jumped on FaceTime with Tua Tagovailoa to introduce himself and share part of his vision for the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins captured the call on video, and McDaniel committed to making Tagovailoa the best quarterback he can be.
“I just had to get on with you real quick,” McDaniel said on the call. “We’re going to have an extensive professional relationship, my man. One thing I know about you is you have the ambition to be great. My job is to coach you, to get all that greatness out of you. And it’s going to be fun, man. It’s going to be work, but I know you’re not afraid of that.
“This is an awesome day for me, and I’m damn sure going to make sure that when you look back on this day, you’re going to be like, ‘Damn, that was one of the best days of my career, too.’ But I’ll earn that from you. You got me?”
McDaniel had headphones in, so viewers couldn’t hear Tagovailoa’s response. So, he relayed the message from the other end of the call.
“Since you can’t hear him, he’s telling me how excited he is and that there’s no other coach he’d rather play for in the entire world,” McDaniel said. “Which I thought was nice since this is the first time I’ve really talked to him.”
McDaniel makes his way to Miami after spending this year as the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator. He previously worked as the 49ers’ run game coordinator after stops with the Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons.