Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa: Here's how Mike McDaniel lets me be myself in huddle
MIAMI GARDENS — It might be easy to look at the results of the play — a 69-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill — and say Tagovailoa was within his rights to go off script.
To do so, though, would be to miss the larger point of what it means for the Dolphins in their bid to be a contender in 2023.
It would miss the trust that continues to grow between Tagovailoa and coach Mike McDaniel.
McDaniel admitted after the 31-16 victory over the Giants that the play almost didn't happen. When he saw players begin to line up — incorrectly for what he’d radioed into Tagovailoa’s helmet — he nearly called time to get everything corrected. Fortunately, McDaniel reconsidered when he saw players moving with conviction.
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Rookie cornerback Tre Hawkins was left on an island with Hill on the outside. It was just what Tagovailoa was looking for and it put Miami in command at 24-10.
Wednesday, Tagovailoa admitted his younger self never would have improvised.
“There’s been a lot of development,” he said. “There’s no way that I would have did that my rookie year. I would have never been able to have done that the following year. I would say just because my rookie year to the next year, I was still continuing to learn the offense. And I was still continuing to learn defenses, especially with the new coordinators that we’ve had.”
Frank Smith is Tagovailoa’s coordinator now, but McDaniel calls the plays. That’s the key.
“Mike just makes you feel very comfortable in being yourself and he’s OK with many things that I do,” Tagovailoa said.
As an example, Tagovailoa said he might go to McDaniel and say: “Hey, I think you should know, I want to do this. Are you OK?” And McDaniel might reply, “I’m OK, thanks for telling me” or “Just continue to communicate to me.”
It requires a level of selflessness on McDaniel’s part. After Sunday’s game, McDaniel feigned disappointment that Tagovailoa had spoken to reporters before him and spilled the news that Hill’s touchdown wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Stole my thunder,” McDaniel said. “I wanted to unveil he’s a play-caller as well.” Later, McDaniel joked he might be out of a job, at least as a play-caller.
“I mean, if you guys are worried about the play-caller and you guys are asking for a new one, he’s probably the best one to do it,” McDaniel said. Turning serious, he added, “I think everything is about evolution and growing. We do give him liberties within the offense from a progression standpoint.”
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Tagovailoa explained that he heard the play McDaniel had called but it “was tough for me to envision us running” it in that situation.
“So I called one that I was very much comfortable with and I thank the good Lord above that it worked,” Tagovailoa said. “And it worked the way it did because I think it would have been bad if it didn’t.”
Tagovailoa doesn’t have carte blanche, but he’s fine with that. He said there are times McDaniel might say: “I’ll let you know when I’m like, ‘Hey, just leave this because I know something. That’s why I’m calling things like that.’ ”
Bottom line, from Tagovailoa’s perspective: “It’s really a testament to Mike and the guys that he’s brought in to help me help our offense to continue to thrive and flourish.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.
Sunday's game
Panthers (0-5) at Dolphins (4-1)
1 p.m., CBS; NFL+, Paramount+ and YouTube by subscription outside of South Florida
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa details freedom Mike McDaniel allows him
