Say what? Dolphins' Mike McDaniel to reunite with Browns: 'You knew he had those quirks'

BEREA ― If Nick Chubb runs wild against the Miami Dolphins this weekend at Hard Rock Stadium, a former Browns assistant might just ask the three-time Pro Bowl running back to knock it off.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel made headlines earlier this week when he urged Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields to “stop it” Sunday in Miami's 35-32 road victory. An Ohio State product, Fields rushed for 178 yards, an NFL regular-season record for a quarterback.

"I just wanted him to stop scrambling, and it was pretty irritating 'cause he didn't listen at all,” McDaniel told Dolphins reporters on Monday. “He didn't take the coaching.

"I think Justin is really starting to get a feel for when he can utilize his full scale of gifts, and he's making plays more and more and becoming more and more difficult to defend. So at that stage of the game, I figured no one had asked him to stop it, so I gave that a try.

"I think other coaches can learn from my experience that he does not listen, so rely on other tactics."

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All deadpan jokes aside, McDaniel has guided the Dolphins to a record of 6-3 in his first nine games as a head coach at any level.

Mike McDaniel's time coaching with the Cleveland Browns

A longtime right-hand man of San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, McDaniel ascended through the coaching ranks with his journey including one season as a member of the Browns (3-5). In 2014, McDaniel served as their wide receivers coach under then-offensive coordinator Shanahan.

“He was invaluable to Coach Shanahan,” Browns four-time Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio told the Beacon Journal on Thursday.

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Only two Browns players — Bitonio and long snapper Charley Hughlett — were on the team in 2014 with McDaniel.

“I knew [McDaniel] was a little bit of a jokester because we had moments in practice where he would mess around or do stuff like that,” Bitonio said. “I know Hawk [Andrew Hawkins] and Miles Austin, the guys that were here with him, Taylor Gabriel, really enjoyed him and said it's a great [receiver] meeting room.

“So you knew he had those quirks, but when you're the receivers coach you maybe talk to the media twice a year. You don't have that option to really talk all the time, so you don't see it in front of the group. But you knew he had those quirks about him.”

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The effect Mike McDaniel has had on the Dolphins offense

Although McDaniel is fun to watch in news conferences, his offense has been even more entertaining. The Dolphins rank fifth in the league in yards (380.4) and 10th in points (23.7) per game. Powered by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, they have the second-ranked passing attack (293.6 yards per game) and the 29th-ranked ground game (86.9).

“I've watched them a little bit on offense, mostly when I watch the live games, and it looks explosive as ever,” Bitonio said. “They obviously have great receivers that they can throw the ball to, and Tua has been playing out of his mind. But they find the openings.

“I know we had a lot of those drift routes and quick throws [in 2014], and it seems like these guys are open, and if they're not, they throw to the other guy. But they do a lot off the play action with the wide-zone concepts, so there are some similarities. At least in San Fran and when Kyle was here, they ran the ball a lot more. They're passing a little bit more, but you have those options in that scheme. When you're not playing against it, it's been really fun to watch them. They put up a lot of points.”

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McDaniel experienced a strong start to his Cleveland tenure but also classic Browns dysfunction in 2014. Then in 2015, he was involved with a particularly peculiar story.

Before they drafted Bitonio in the second round in 2014, the Browns picked two all-time busts — cornerback Justin Gilbert eighth overall and quarterback Johnny Manziel 22nd overall. A 7-4 record turned into a 7-9 finish after the franchise benched Brian Hoyer in favor of Manziel late in the season.

The circus prompted Shanahan to ask the Browns to release him from his three-year contract after just one season on the job. With Shanahan departing, McDaniel was let go.

But less than a week before the split, McDaniel was aboard a private jet to Las Vegas on Jan. 2, 2015, with Browns receivers, including oft-suspended Josh Gordon. Because Gordon had pleaded guilty to driving while impaired the previous summer and had been entrenched in the NFL's substance-abuse program, he wasn't permitted to drink alcohol.

The stipulation became relevant because the party atmosphere on the Vegas-bound plane emerged on social media. After the infamous flight had ended, Gordon received a phone call summoning him to be tested for alcohol. A failed test resulted in his third suspension from the league and wiped out his entire 2015 season.

In January 2016, Gordon detailed all of this in an open letter on Medium.com and explained he consumed “two beers and two drinks” on the plane filled with teammates and his position coach.

'Just a matter of time' before Mike McDaniel became a head coach

Meanwhile, McDaniel and Shanahan were on the verge of a Super Bowl appearance as members of the Atlanta Falcons, with McDaniel an offensive assistant and Shanahan the offensive coordinator. When Shanahan was hired as the Niners' head coach in 2017, he brought McDaniel to the Bay Area.

McDaniel became San Fran's run game specialist in 2017, then its run game coordinator in 2018 and offensive coordinator in 2021.

“You knew [he would become a head coach],” Browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods said. “Just being in that system, those guys when they perform well, they get jobs. I knew it was just a matter of time before he would get one.”

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In 2019, Woods served as the 49ers' defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator. San Fran went to the Super Bowl.

“[McDaniel] is a great guy,” Woods said. “Everybody in the building loved him. Very smart. I know Coach Shanahan put a lot of confidence in him to put together the run game, just the way that they met on offense. Now you're seeing the results of him being with Kyle.

“He was with Kyle at five different teams, so you see a lot of the influence of Kyle’s system. But Mike is taking it in his own direction in terms of what he's doing.”

McDaniel, 39, and Shanahan worked together in Houston, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta and San Francisco.

“Everything I heard from the receivers was he was a great coach,” Bitonio said. “He knew what he was doing. He was smart, and you see a lot of the coaches from that tree getting at least OC jobs. You knew he was important to Kyle Shanahan because he kept promoting him.

“But you never know with guys. You never know if they're meant to be a head coach, and he never had a chance to really talk in front of us that much. But all my interactions with him were great, so it's not a surprise.”

Now McDaniel speaks in public frequently, and it's usually memorable.

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns will have reunion with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel