00:00Cuno, I'll ask you, I've asked everybody, essentially, have you seen enough from Mike
00:07McDaniel to say, yes, I would be thrilled for him to continue on, or no, I don't ever
00:15want to see him prowling the sidelines again for the Miami Dolphins, or are you in this
00:19camp that's like, hey, the quarterback underperformed, and his best wide receiver was gone for most
00:28of the season, and you can't make any kind of rash decision on Mike McDaniel after that
00:35season, he kind of kept it together.
00:37Yeah, I'm kind of in the camp that because he kept it together down the stretch and made
00:45the tough decision of benching Tua, which kind of maybe turns the page on that chapter in
00:50Dolphins history, I'm in the camp of giving him another year and seeing what the next GM
00:56wants to do.
00:57So whoever the next GM comes in, give him a year with Mike McDaniel, and then let him
01:03make that decision and see if that's the kind of football, the kind of style they want to
01:09play.
01:10I'm just, I'm really interested to see what Mike McDaniel's offense could look like with
01:17a different quarterback, because at times, Quinn Ewers and that offense looks good, and
01:23a lot of that has to do with Quinn's mobility.
01:25They can roll him out.
01:26It gives them options.
01:28You know, when, unfortunately, because of, you know, Tua's lack of mobility, I feel like
01:33when he rolls out, it's like everyone on defense, okay, just go guard a man because there was
01:37no threat to really run.
01:39And I think with Quinn, you do have that little extra added element.
01:43And that's why I would like to see the offense with another year and with Quinn or someone
01:50else in their center.
01:51It can't be Quinn.
01:52It wasn't even my question.
01:53There's no chance they bring Quinn back as the number one, Mike.
01:57Is that even possible?
01:59Are you in a bathroom?
02:00What are you doing?
02:01I said he's got a terrible microphone, but he's also in an Airbnb that's way too echoey.
02:06It can't, well, why not?
02:10What I'm looking for is just opening it up, opening up the competition.
02:14Wait a second, wait a second, Cuno, because I'm watching him on video.
02:17So you made fun of the sound and then Crowder started looking at the microphone as if he was
02:22going to fix something.
02:24I want to know what you were doing there, Crowder.
02:26It's a button on the back that says pattern.
02:28That sounds a thousand times better.
02:31Yeah.
02:31It sounded like you were yelling into the microphone jack.
02:34I told you it was the setting.
02:36I told you it was the setting.
02:38But no, the difference there was that he's actually talking into the microphone.
02:42No, it's a hundred percent the setting.
02:44He had the setting wrong.
02:45Pattern.
02:46Yeah.
02:46You sound a thousand times better.
02:50Solana.
02:51You'll see.
02:52All right.
02:53Go ahead.
02:54Re-ask your question, Crowder.
02:55I want Cuno to hear you in the delightful dulcet tones of Channing Crowder.
03:00There's no way, Mike, that they come back with Quinn.
03:04Just tell me that's not true.
03:05They have to do something.
03:06If it's a stopgap, if it's something.
03:08But you don't go into 2026 NFL season and say Quinn Ewers is our leader.
03:14No, but I think you can say Quinn's done enough and shown you enough that he can play in the
03:20NFL to where at least he's a backup.
03:21I like the idea of them opening up the quarterback position to competition.
03:25And just in general and having someone go in and fight for the job.
03:30I mean, look, look what happened in San Francisco.
03:32They draft Trey Lance and they draft Brock Purdy.
03:35And all like it's kind of, you know, talk there was Brock looked great in camp and then
03:41eventually ended up beating Trey Lance to the job.
03:44Right.
03:45So that, uh, or was it Jimmy Garoppolo?
03:47I can't remember at this point.
03:48I think it was Trey Lance.
03:49Um, but you know, that's what I would like to see.
03:51We haven't seen competition opened up, um, at that position for the dolphins in a long time.
03:57We sort of went from Tannehill to the stopgap of Ryan Fitzpatrick to Tua.
04:01I would say to all you guys though, there might be a financial reality that you have to come
04:08back with Quinn Ewers, because if you really are done with Tua and you've got to eat all
04:12that cap and then you can't make any kind of maneuver to get someone worthwhile, just
04:19financially.
04:19I mean, Quinn Ewers is as cheap as they come.
04:21He's on a rookie deal.
04:22So just financially, you might be stuck with Quinn Ewers and say, Hey, you know what?
04:27We'll give it a shot this season.
04:29He gives us like Cuno said, more mobility than Tua did.
04:32It couldn't be much worse.
04:34And we'll at least have that year to get rid of the cap problem.
04:38And then we'll be able to make a determination about Quinn Ewers.
04:42I mean, ideally, I think you'd love to have as a backup, but there might be a financial
04:48reality that he's your starter.
04:50Yeah.
04:52And look, yesterday, yesterday's outcome is a little weird too with the Patriots.
04:56So it could kind of skew the way you look at Quinn, because he didn't have a full complement
04:59of weapons offensively, right?
05:02So that, you know, do they end up scoring on a couple of those drives, especially the
05:07first one?
05:09And maybe that first one coming out of the half, that game flips there because they end
05:14up having to chase after the turnover in the end zone and turnover on down.
05:20So they're chasing that whole game.
05:21With A-Chan and Waddled and whatever other complement of weapons you want, does that game
05:27flow change?
05:29So it's kind of hard to, I don't know, judge Quinn on yesterday alone.
05:35But I've definitely seen enough to where you at least feel good about QB2 going into next
05:41year.
05:41And Mike, this is my original question was about McDaniel.
05:46Just all we've heard, even like you're saying, we had the 2023 season and, you know, open
05:50it up, Denver 70-point game.
05:52We talk about it like it was yesterday.
05:54But also like the team discipline, the team identity, the stuff about their take, you know,
05:59we're taking ping pong tables out of this and guys aren't showing up.
06:03And then Tua's throwing his teammates under the bus.
06:05And, you know, guys, he even said it at what, before last season, during the offseason, after
06:092024, he was like, well, guys don't care when I find them.
06:13That aspect of him being the head coach, minus the plate calling, minus the on the field stuff,
06:18the identity of the team and also the respect he has from inside the locker room.
06:24Yeah.
06:24But can't you say the same thing about going from one and six to making a run at the end?
06:29Like, doesn't that also show something that he was able to keep it together despite the
06:35slow start?
06:36Now, the slow start, if you want to, if you want to criticize that, that's fair.
06:40They have to figure that out because it's a couple of years now we've seen these slow
06:43starts happen.
06:44But he does deserve some credit there for not letting the season completely get away from
06:49them.
06:50The final four weeks of the year or really, you know, the fourth of last week, the last
06:54month, there was a chance to keep them alive.
06:56It was an outside chance, but he kept it together after a two and six start.
07:01If he's back next year and it's looking like he's going to be Mike, should he have a say
07:06in player personnel moving forward, roster acquisitions moving forward?
07:11And I take it a step further, just based on the reports of who the general manager candidates
07:16are, one could assume that, you know, his relationship with some of these guys or the
07:22fact that he he's worked with them or crossed paths with them in the past is influencing
07:26who the Dolphins are going to end up hiring.
07:29Should that be the case?
07:30Should he have influence in other parts of the organization other than just head coaching
07:36moving forward?
07:37Well, at a certain point, the chef has to have a say in the ingredients that he wants
07:42to work with.
07:42Right.
07:43So I think there is on any on some level, no matter who the GM is going to be, that
07:47there will be some collaborative effort on unless you get a guy in here who says, you
07:53know, I'm moving on from McDaniel right away.
07:56And this isn't the vision I have for a team.
07:57Then that would be that would be the whole bait, essentially a sweeping change here for
08:01the Dolphins.
08:02I just don't see that.
08:03I don't see that happening.
08:04So so, yeah, I mean, he's the one who runs this offense and you hire an offensive coach
08:10so you don't have to keep hiring offensive coordinators every year because they get plucked
08:15by another team.
08:15So, yeah, I think he does have to have some sort of say in in what personnel fits this
08:22offense.
08:23And look, I mean, they've done a good job so far in terms of the run game.
08:26They've they've figured things out.
08:28They've made creative decisions with, you know, the Daniel Brunskills of the world moving
08:32him to that sort of tight end six offensive lineman blocker.
08:36And that turned the season around.
08:38So there is some some proof of life there in that offense that when he's, you know, picking
08:46some personnel, they're having success.
08:49And Mike, when's the last time like a big decision who, you know, your pediatrician, CPA,
08:55financial advisor, just a decision you're going to make that in middle of the night, you
08:58said, you know what?
08:59I need Troy Aikman on my side.
09:00I need to make sure Troy Aikman is behind me.
09:04What's your like?
09:05It blew my mind.
09:06I thought it was I thought I got catfished or something online.
09:10Troy Aikman is coming to help us find a GM.
09:12What do you understand about that?
09:15Yeah, that one's a weird one to me.
09:17I start to ask myself, does Troy Aikman want to get in the front office business?
09:21And this is maybe first step in and, you know, dipping his toe in that.
09:27I don't know.
09:28I mean, he's been around the league a long time.
09:30Obviously, he knows a lot of people.
09:32He meets with with all these teams, all these coaches each and every week as he travels around
09:37and does Monday night football.
09:39So he does have, I guess, relationships with some of these front office people and guys
09:44he gets to see on a weekly basis.
09:46That would be maybe my only thing.
09:50Unless they're hiring a search firm.
09:53I know sometimes you see that teams will hire search firms for coaches and stuff.
09:57So maybe this is this is that attempt instead of going through search from you just kind of use the expertise in the building with guys like Dan Marino as well.
10:05And then an outside voice, which honestly, you know, it's it sounds odd at first because you're like, well, he's calling football games, but he's also a Hall of Fame quarterback.
10:15He's seen what winning looks like up close.
10:17He's won Super Bowl.
10:18So, I mean, more information is good, I guess.
10:22I also think there's a new thing developing, which is double dipping from broadcasters and football players.
10:30Tom Brady does both.
10:31He has an ownership stake and a management stake with the Raiders.
10:35And he's a broadcaster.
10:37Troy Aikman very well because he's not giving up a TV job, which I think pays him 10 to 20 million dollars a season.
10:43And he's not giving that up unless he can do both.
10:47And I just saw on Twitter that Matt Ryan is up for the job with the Falcons, kind of president of football operations for Atlanta.
10:55But he wants to retain his role with CBS the way that Tom Brady is allowed to retain his role with Fox.
11:01So this may be a new thing moving forward where broadcasters get to double dip as advisors or front office people with NFL teams.
11:10Well, then my opportunity just opened way up.
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