Did McDaniel Succeed Or Underachieve In 2022?

Mike McDaniel’s first season is now in the books.

It was an offseason full of drama for McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins in 2022. There was, firstly, the Brian Flores saga.

Despite back-to-back winning seasons, Flores was fired and replaced by McDaniel. The story then came out regarding the text he received from Bill Belichick.

This then resulted in a lawsuit from Flores before the tampering allegations came out as regards to owner Stephen Ross. It was discovered that he illegally tampered in an attempt to bring in quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Sean Payton. This would result in a loss of a draft pick and Ross being suspended. Not exactly a situation McDaniel wanted to walk into.

Despite this, Miami finished the 2022 season with a 9-8 record. However, was this a success, or did McDaniel underachieve?

The Improvement Of Tua

The poor decisions from the medical staff have left a sour taste in people’s mouths after the 2020 fifth overall pick suffered three concussions in 2022.

His latest one came on Christmas Day, at home to the Green Bay Packers, a game that he was excelling in. He has not played since, and it was reported in recent days that he is still in the same concussion protocol.

Despite this, Tua still saw a massive improvement in 2022. After his concussion scare against the Bengals in Week Four, he returned in Week Seven and went 5-0. During that run, he was seen by many as an MVP candidate.

Despite those five opponents having a combined 31-53-1 record in 2022, you cannot ignore the performances he was putting out there, and this is down to McDaniel.

McDaniel came in with an offensive mind, one you would assume was to bring out the best of Tua after playing under a defensive-minded head coach in Flores.

However, with injuries and concussions plaguing Tua’s first three years in the league, you have to question his long-term future in the NFL.

Same Record As 2021 And 2020 Despite Additions

Tua saw improvement in 2022, and a large part of this was down to the addition of Tyreek Hill in the offseason.

Hill made an immediate impact and was by far Miami’s best player this season. His status as WR1 allowed fellow wideout Jaylen Waddle to excel and have another 1,000 seasons, his second in as many years. His eight touchdowns were only bettered by ten players in the entire league.

This has had people wondering what if Flores had this same luxury.

During his three years as the Dolphins’ head coach, the team was crying out for an elite wide receiver. For his first two campaigns, his number-one receiver was Davante Parker.

Flores got Waddle in his final year but did not reach the postseason, despite the same record as 2022 without him.

Miami went crazy in the offseason, getting Hill and offensive lineman Terron Armstead in the same 24 hours. The team also gave up draft capital to get pass rusher Bradley Chubb midseason. They also signed Raheem Mostert in the offseason and Jeff Wilson midseason to help improve the run game.

The front office in Miami was never this aggressive when Flores was in charge, and it does beg the question as to how Flores would have done had the same players been afforded to him.

With all the above being given to McDaniel, should there be concern over the fact that McDaniel only got an equal record?

McDaniel’s Play Calling

Flores was also never guilty of bad clock management.

Granted, McDaniel is a rookie head coach, and these kinds of mistakes can be let off in year one. However, he spent a lot of years working under Kyle Shanahan, one of the best head coaches in the league.

It is always a mystery how so many head coaches that used to be offensive coordinators can get such a basic rule of coaching wrong. McDaniel’s clock management was a problem all year long, and this came to fruition in the Wildcard Round loss to the Buffalo Bills.

We all saw how bad the Bills were both in this game and the subsequent Divisional Round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. They were there for the taking, and Miami almost beat the Bills despite a third-string QB and practice squad players in the offensive line.

Miami’s fate was ultimately sealed by a fourth down stop. However, the play went from being a 4^th and 1 to a 4^th and 6 due to a delay of game penalty. There were no timeouts due to previous issues with the clock.

McDaniel spoke of these issues post-game. He said: “It shouldn’t have to happen as much as it did on Sunday.”

Success Or Underachievement?

Overall, McDaniel can be happy with his first season as an NFL head coach. He did something only one other franchise head coach has done these past ten seasons, take the team to the postseason. However, there are plenty of areas to improve on, ones he will not be able to get away with in years two or three.