MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel’s first coaching staff is now in place.
It includes offensive coaches that should seamlessly fit into what he wants to do schematically. It also includes some familiar faces, including two on defense, that have Dolphins fans buzzing.
Sam and Pat Return
San Madison and Pat Surtain are names synonymous with solid Dolphins defenses from a few decades ago.
The two cornerbacks were drafted by the team and played great football for many years in Miami. Both have gone on to successful coaching careers at different levels and now are reunited on the Dolphins defensive staff.
With Xavian Howard starring for the team and solid Byron Jones on the other side, the tutelage of the two greats could boost the secondary play even more. Add in Nik Needham, Jevon Holland, and Brandon Jones, all of who had solid seasons and have even more upside, and the Miami secondary can be scary for opposing offenses.
If the Dolphins are able to get one on one shut-down play on the outside, it frees up the safeties to blitz which they had success with last season. The bottom line, having Sam and Pat work with an already talented, successful group of pros can only help.
Offensive Fits
With the run scheme McDaniel will implement, he made coaching choices on offense that make sense. From the coordinator to the offensive line coach and everyone in between, all have familiarity with the zone blocking scheme McDaniel is going to employ.
Having all coaches on the same page right from the start of the off-season can only help. It will now be interesting to see how many of the current offensive linemen can execute the plan and where the team goes to get the rest of the line.
The coaches have all been around so in free agency there will be some good familiarity with players around the league and in college football. Of course, there is always the draft, where the scouts have been doing homework for the past year.
Even though the Dolphins have gone down that road before using numerous picks, including high round selections, without it translating to on field success, it doesn’t mean they won’t try again. But having a head coach and his assistants that know exactly what they need in order to run their offense and having the input to be heard, can be a major factor in finding long sought after offensive success.
McDaniel has been given a lot of praise for leading San Francisco’s potent running attack. Keep in mind, the 49’ers beat the Super Bowl champion Rams six consecutive times before this season’s NFC championship game.