Mike McDaniel is in his first season as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and he’s already caused a stir with his impressive offense. One of his former players, former NFL wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, isn’t surprised by McDaniel’s early success.
Hawkins joined ‘The Rich Eisen Show’ and was asked about his experience under McDaniel with the Cleveland Browns in 2014. At the time, McDaniel was the team’s receivers coach and he made a big impression on Hawkins.
“Mike McDaniel, he has a very quirky personality,” Hawkins said. “I don’t know if you know that about him. He’s a football scholar. There are people who are mad scientists. There are offensive gurus. He’s a Yale graduate. He’s the kind person who should probably be a scientist, but he loves football.”
Pressed for an example, Hawkins said McDaniel taught receivers to only use three different builds at the line of scrimmage. Hawkins said McDaniel understood that defensive backs would only really press in two different ways, so receivers could just focus on a few different types of outings to counter that.
Hawkins also said McDaniel had a unique way of teaching these versions. While with the Browns, McDaniel showed footage of Allen Iverson running through defenders to get his point across.
“How he broke it down, he wouldn’t show us a movie about football outings,” Hawkins said. “He was showing us the Allen Iverson movie. The reason a basketball crossover is so effective is because they have to show you every part of their body moving in one direction before they cross over. There’s no No rush. We’ll be at practice, and we’ll be doing crossovers. If you’ve ever seen the clip of Stefon Diggs making his releases, and he’s pretending to have a basketball in a football game, that’s is where it comes from.
During that season with McDaniel as position coach, Hawkins posted career highs in receptions (63) and yards (824).
In his first two games in Miami, McDaniel is 2-0 and the Dolphins are second in the NFL in yards per game (427.0). Their most recent win was a thrilling 21-point comeback over the Baltimore Ravens in which receivers Tyreek Hill (11 catches, 190 yards, two TDs) and Jaylen Waddle (11 catches, 171 yards, two TDs) both posted monster numbers.
The Dolphins’ next game will be a big test for McDaniel’s offense as he faces an elite Buffalo Bills defense on Sunday, September 25.