HBO’s Hard Knocks: In Season with the Miami Dolphins debuted on Tuesday. This season, it’ll follow coach Mike McDaniel, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the rest of the Miami Dolphins franchise for the remainder of the season.
Miami Dolphins’ HC: “I’m fired up about it.”
It’s a little uncomfortable after a while with cameras in nearly every corner of the room, capturing every moment that you say, but Mike McDaniel says in a clip posted by the NFL, that he was fired up about the show, and was going to show his authentic self.
“Hard Knock starts today, and I’m actually convinced I’m fired up about it,” McDaniel said. “But I refuse to do this job and not give you guys my authentic self. I’m not going to change, I will not. We work too hard, and this is part of our journey. We’re going to have people document this whole season. Awesome. I’m not f—- changing. OK, nor do you guys have to…I’m excited for what needs to be told about this team. The journey we’ve taken together since the first day, April 17th, of this season. I’m excited the world is gonna find out what we’ve built together each and every day.
“I f——- love where our team is at. I love how we got there. We’ve been together for 127 days. 78 practices, OK, that you’ve been eye-blacked up for. 12 games. This team only has 47 days, 24 practices and eight games guaranteed to us. Shame on you if you don’t bring it every time we are out there…We haven’t even got to the best part yet.”
Get ready to see Mike McDaniel and the @MiamiDolphins as their fully authentic selves.#HardKnocks with the @MiamiDolphins premieres tonight at 9pm ET on @StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/lwfBmtmLHx
— NFL (@NFL) November 21, 2023
The second-year coach talks about the culture of the team that they’ve been working to build since April, and takes the team through what they’ve been through so far this season. While there’s only eight games guaranteed to them, McDaniel has his sights on more than that.
In his first year, McDaniel led the Dolphins to a 9-8 season and a postseason appearance. As of right now, Miami leads the AFC East with a 7-3 record with an electric quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa and a power WR in Tyreek Hill, who’s on pace to become the league’s first 2,000-yard receiver.
The Dolphins have had a pretty successful season, including a historic Week 3 matchup against the Denver Broncos where Miami put up 70 points, just two points shy of the 1966 Washington squad’s record in a single-game. McDaniel’s team leads the NFL in points per game, total yards per game, and passing yards per game.
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