The Miami Dolphins' team cutlure was a big question mark at the end of 2024, and this year head coach Mike McDaniel is giving his leaders more responsibility in shifting that culture.
Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel Reveals More Player Accountability Is Shifting Culture originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Miami Dolphins' entire offseason was clouded by the rough ending to the 2024 season and the questions around the team's culture and toughness. Throughout spring practice and now training camp, the Dolphins have worked to fix those issues and shift the culture in 2025.
The Dolphins began training camp this week, and the team ran post-practice sprints every day. Although that may not seem unusual, at this point in training camp, teams aren't usually ramping up that quickly. In fact, the sprints weren't even ordered by head coach Mike McDaniel.
“It’s something we as the players decided," Dolphins' offensive tackle Austin Jackson said (h/t The Palm Beach Post). "If we have pre-snap penalties, we’re going to punish ourselves for that. Things that are in our controllables – that’s what we call that. Pre-snap penalties, we can control that, so if you make the mistake in practice, we’re going to self-correct ourselves with a little disciplinary action.”
Throughout the Dolphins' first few practices, an issue that arose was the pre-snap penalties. Multiple reporters who were at practice noted the frequency with which the Dolphins' offense was moving backward due to unforced errors.
We’re on day 3 of training camp and still no touchdowns or interceptions. Defensive line still the most dominant unit. Tyreek Hill move involved but not as impactful as in past years. Quinn Ewers finished the day solid with good first down receptions to Dee Eskridge & Tanner…
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) July 25, 2025
One key aspect of McDaniel's shift in strategy in 2025 to improve the team's culture and accountability was giving the leaders of the team the responsibility of enforcing more discipline.
"That's a way to for players to reemphasize the importance of doing the little things the right way," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said before the third practice (h/t The Palm Beach Post). "And it's something that, you know, when you're looking at ways to improve your team, like right at the beginning of the controllables are the yards lost and you didn't do a play. Pre-snap penalties, those type of things.
"The leaders of the locker room, they were put in charge of being the police after practice for all the things that the officials noted that were illegal."
There seems to be a shift in Miami, at least through the first few days of training camp after a successful spring. There are positive vibes around receiver Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins' front four seems back healthy and ready to roll in 2025, and the Dolphins' young additions in the offseason seem to be bought into the team.
Last year was a rough year in Miami, but McDaniel is focused on turning that around in 2025. He explained he is looking in the mirror and learning more about himself and his players to continuously improve.
"Each and every year you're looking yourself in the mirror. Every year that I have experience with certain guys in the locker room, in the core of our locker room, I learn them and how to best impact them. So there is a lot," McDaniel said. "I couldn't list how many things we've changed, but I think that's kind of the way I hold myself and the rest of the coaching staff and the organization responsible, is that you are not just doing something to do it, or because you did it before, ever. That's not good enough."
This season holds a lot of pressure for McDaniel and the Dolphins, as he's a coach on one of the hottest seats in the NFL. There's a lot he's changed heading into the new season, but he emphasized that all that matters is getting his players to buy in.
"We're always assessing everything," McDaniel said. "There's a good amount that has changed. There's a good amount that stayed the same. You're evolving to people, and when the people buy in, you know you're headed in the right direction."
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Football