I found this interview to be interesting, as Xavien Howard gave his views on new coach Mike McDaniel. (link below)
I’ve actually been waiting for this. I’m waiting for some Dolphin players–particularly on defense–to buy into McDaniel. I think it’s looking good so far. It’s all well and good to hear from new Dolphins who know McDaniel already (like Raheem Mostert, for example). But when your defensive superstar comes out and praises the coach’s energy, that’s a good thing.
I’m sure the Dolphin players were told to issue “no comment” about the firing of Brian Flores, but still, it was overly quiet. Some players expressed some initial shock, but no one came out and said, “Oh, no! Coach Flo was outstanding. This was a mistake to fire him.” Rather, it seems from the outside, that perhaps Flores’s demeanor really did bring that team down. Someone should have defended him by now. But no. Maybe he was a negative influence on everyone after all.
And out of all the Dolphins who I thought MIGHT be a bit negative toward McDaniel, I was guessing it would be X Howard. Obviously I was wrong, but I suspected a comment from Howard about how much he liked Flores. Instead, he said how excited he was to work with McDaniel. And that is a great first step.
As long as it translates to W’s on the field, all will be fine.