Chris Perkins: Mike McDaniel, ‘the coolest man on the planet,’ helps recruit Dolphins free agents with his personality
Safety Jordan Poyer was in Costa Rica when he found out he was signing with the Dolphins. It was around 4:30 a.m. in Costa Rica, 6:30 a.m. in South Florida.
He sent a long text to Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel. Seconds later, possibly before McDaniel even had time to read the entire text, Poyer’s phone started buzzing.
It was McDaniel.
They talked for about 30 minutes.
“His energy is unmatched,” Poyer said.
We know players love playing for McDaniel once they join the Dolphins.
But I’ve often wondered whether McDaniel’s magnetic personality is a factor in recruiting players to the Dolphins during free agency.
Money and opportunity are usually the driving factors in a free agent selecting a NFL team. That’s still true.
And the Dolphins, of course, have the built-in South Florida recruiting advantages of no state income tax, plenty of sunshine and warm weather, and such a vibrant, swaggy, multi-cultural mixture that you could never get bored here.
But go a step further.
The Dolphins also have McDaniel, a vibrant, swaggy, multi-cultural mixture in his own right.
As it turns out, McDaniel is a recruiting tool.
McDaniel, a bona fide sneakerhead with an affinity for hip-hop and a knack for flashing high-class wristwatches, backpacks and eyeglasses, goes beyond being a player’s coach.
“The coolest man on the planet,” said Siran Neal, the Dolphins’ newly signed special teams ace/cornerback. “One of the coolest.
“Man, he’s so funny. He’s a great dude, and to have a great dude in the head office can go a long way.”
Let’s not overstate this.
McDaniel’s personality isn’t enough to get, say, running back Derrick Henry to take $4 million a year instead of $8 million a year.
But players say McDaniel’s personality is a plus.
McDaniel isn’t exactly a player’s friend.
He’s still their boss.
Somehow, however, he manages to straddle an imaginary line of taking NFL things seriously but not taking NFL things too seriously.
That’s not lost upon players seeking a new home.
It’s a bonus for the Dolphins in free agency.
It makes the Dolphins unique.
Hey, every little bit helps in free agent recruiting, even TV shows.
Tight end Jonnu Smith, for example, said the TV show “Hard Knocks,” which chronicled the second half of the Dolphins’ season, helped convince him he wanted to play for Miami.
He mentioned McDaniel.
“I was late watching it,” Smith said of the HBO show. “But it was the offseason, so I was like, you know what, I’m going to kick back and see what these guys are about. So I cut it on and kind of just caught myself binge-watching. I’m like, ‘Man, that would be a special group to be a part of.’
“All of these guys from Mike McDaniel, Chris Grier, everybody in this building and the front office collectively made it happen.”
McDaniel, with his ability to relate to all players — Black, white, offense, defense, special teams, star, reserve, etc…— has been a recruiting tool unlike any other recent Dolphins coach, better than Brian Flores, Adam Gase or Joe Philbin.
Newly signed defensive tackle Benito Jones just came from Detroit, where he played for coach Dan Campbell, another of the NFL’s most personable coaches.
“They’re some good guys that you’ll want to run through a wall for,” Jones said.
Part of the reason for that with McDaniel is he allows players to be themselves.
Tight end Jody Fortson, who came from Kansas City, said everybody wants to play for a coach they can relate to, somewhere that you can laugh, but still take things seriously, but not too seriously, meaning to the point where everyone is tensed up all the time.
“Everybody wants to be in a comfortable environment where not only you can learn, but you can excel,” Fortson said, “and I feel like this does just that.”
Comfortable environment, you say?
Listen to what cornerback Kendall Fuller said when asked about his meeting with McDaniel.
“I had a brief interaction with him just walking over here,” Fuller said. “I just dapped him up. I haven’t talked to him too much.”
I love that.
He “dapped him up.”
You think any player has ever said that about how they greeted Bill Belichick, the GOAT?
In just two-plus seasons, McDaniel is already at the level where players don’t even have to meet him for his recruiting ability to work.
Sometimes McDaniel’s reputation does the recruiting.
Consider these words from center Aaron Brewer.
“I haven’t had much of a personal conversation with him yet — but personally, from what I’ve seen and heard and just read about the dude, he’s got that juice about him,” Brewer said.
“He’s just very knowledgeable. He’s passionate about what he’s doing. I just love that you can feel it without even knowing him. You feel that passion about him, so I like that, and that definitely played a role in me coming here.”