Mike McDaniel and the Culture Issues

At the end of the 2024 season press conference, General Manager Chris Grier and Coach Mike McDaniel openly admitted the team has a culture problem. They said that some players would show up late for meetings, with the resulting fines having no effect on their behavior.

Mike McDaniel said he needed to try something different but did not specify what that would be.

This is because he doesn’t have the answer.

The issue of being late to meetings is not the main problem.

The main problem is why the players chose to be late to begin with.

Is it that they were not motivated or cared enough about their teammates?

Were they not bought into pursuing success as a team?

Did they not understand what Mike McDaniel repeatedly says after a loss: how do you respond to adversity?

Hall of Fame Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula inherited a bunch of “no names” with the exception of just a few players, such as Larry Csonka and Bob Griese, and traded for Paul Warfield in the 1970 NFL draft. Don Shula would never tolerate being late for meetings. And those were the days of four-a-day practices, no water on the field, and the hated “12-minute runs” with a group of men who needed second and third jobs to survive.

What was the difference between those Miami Dolphins teams of the early 1970s and the 2024 team?

Don Shula demanded perfection and success, and the players had no choice but to buy into that expectation. Eventually, once they started winning, they started to believe in themselves, their teammates, and their Coaches.

Coach Mike McDaniel has the difficult task of motivating players who have a much different mindset than those who played in the early Don Shula years. Yet, Coach McDaniel needs to set a “red line” expectation and demand effort, focus, and success. And he needs to have his players believe.

The team culture must change in 2025.