It’s stylish to say the Dolphins want a tradition change, however nobody has been particular about what have to be finished. I’m about to get particular.
The Dolphins, who’re 28-25 (.528) in three years underneath coach Mike McDaniel and basic supervisor Chris Grier, want tradition change in 4 areas: entrance workplace, participant empowerment, locker room/dawgs and play calling.
What follows is an opinion primarily based on 30 years overlaying professional soccer, basketball and baseball (together with overlaying two Miami Warmth championship groups and the final Dolphins workforce to win a playoff sport). What I’ve been instructed about this workforce by gamers, what I’ve noticed about this workforce throughout practices and video games, and what I’ve noticed from being within the locker room.
The Dolphins are already making a main philosophical change, which McDaniel first talked about on the homeowners conferences in March and reiterated final week throughout organized workforce actions. Realizing their earlier technique of counting on veterans has failed, they’ve modified to a youth motion constructed on counting on younger draftees.
They could as effectively end the modifications with a tradition change.
Listed below are the tradition modifications that have to be made…
Entrance workplace
The Dolphins’ entrance workplace values stats and hype over playoff development. That lays the groundwork for dangerous tradition, and it should change.
When the Florida Panthers and Miami Warmth, who’ve every performed for the championship lately, made early-round playoff exits (Panthers in 2022, Warmth in 2025) they had been annoyed and and offended.
When the Dolphins made back-to-back early-round playoff exits they handed out contract extensions.
The contract extensions awarded by Grier and McDaniel in 2024 proved the Dolphins worth statistical achievements akin to having the league’s No. 1 offense or quarterback Tua Tagovailoa main the league in passer score over big-picture achievements akin to profitable a playoff sport.
The entrance workplace was fooled by good numbers in opposition to dangerous groups.
Now they’re in wage cap hell, and farther from a Tremendous Bowl than they’ve been within the Grier-McDaniel period.
The Dolphins’ entrance workplace should ship a message that playoff development is extra necessary than numbers.
This tradition change should begin on the high.
Participant empowerment
The Nice Experiment has failed and should finish.
The Nice Experiment is what I name McDaniel counting on participant empowerment, a system that options gamers saying this workforce isn’t run by the coaches, slightly it’s run as a co-op between coaches and gamers.
That’s not a profitable tradition.
The perfect groups are led by the coaches.
You take heed to gamers.
You respect gamers.
However coaches run the present.
That is one purpose ex-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was a nasty match with the Dolphins. He didn’t need to share management with the defensive backs.
I favor Fangio’s manner over McDaniel’s manner, simply as I favored ex-coach Brian Flores’ robust love manner over McDaniel’s participation trophy manner.
Fangio and Flores foster a profitable tradition.
Dolphins coaches have to take management of the workforce and run the present the best way the most effective groups within the league are run.
Locker room is devoid of dawgs
Grier and McDaniel are the nicest GM/coach mixture I’ve ever lined. Each are actually good guys. The issue is that they completely purchase good guys.
That’s not essentially a nasty tradition, but it surely definitely hasn’t been a profitable tradition. It should change.
The Dolphins, due to Grier and McDaniel, have only a few dawgs. They’ve nobody that may get offended and rip your head off, so to talk.
This workforce wants extra aggression, extra of an edge.
McDaniel, to his credit score, makes use of an “up with individuals” perspective in an try to construct higher males, not simply higher soccer gamers.
Consequently, that is essentially the most stress-free, chill, laidback locker room I’ve ever encountered.
It’s not the NFL-like, or like all professional sport.
Granted, this is likely one of the finest locker rooms I’ve ever lined.
Nevertheless it has no edge. Nobody on this workforce scares you for any purpose. And I’m sure they don’t scare opponents.
Each Dolphins workforce I lined previous to the McDaniel period had one or two high-quality gamers, particularly on the offensive and defensive strains, that made you a bit hesitant to method them with a troublesome query, particularly after a loss, as a result of he would possibly snap. Tim Bowens. Daryl Gardner. Randy Starks. Paul Soliai. Mike Pouncey. Richie Incognito. Reshad Jones. Jarvis Landry.
A lot of the dawgs of the McDaniel period — linebackers Elandon Roberts and David Lengthy Jr., security DeShon Elliott, cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard, guard Robert Hunt, defensive sort out Christian Wilkins, to call a couple of — are gone for one purpose or one other.
Few of them have been changed by dawgs.
This workforce wants a brand new mentality. This workforce wants extra dawgs.
Playcalling and physicality
McDaniel, because the offensive playcaller, will get the blame right here. McDaniel emphasizes velocity and agility, not muscle and physicality.
That’s not essentially dangerous tradition, but it surely’s a tradition that should change.
The Dolphins’ offense is constructed for 7-on-7 soccer or flag soccer. Sort out soccer requires aggression and toughness.
The Dolphins’ complete tradition — play-calling, locker room mentality, on-field perspective, personnel acquisition — should lean extra towards being more durable.
Probably the greatest methods for an offense to ascertain physicality is by working the ball over and thru the protection and crushing their spirit.
The Dolphins have by no means finished that underneath McDaniel.
The Dolphins have by no means been geared up to do this underneath McDaniel.
This workforce should undertake an aggressive mentality on offense by means of each personnel and play-calling.
If the Dolphins make these tradition modifications, they’re on their solution to a greater future.
If not, they is perhaps on their solution to a seek for new management.