Miami Dolphins | Tua’s nickname for Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel — ‘Beast’ — is as unique as their relationship

MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has a nickname for coach Mike McDaniel. He calls him “Beast.” 

Last October, McDaniel recounted the tale of how he knew Tagovailoa was on the road to recovery after he sustained a concussion in the Cincinnati game.

“It’s nice when I walk down the hallway, and I hear, ‘What up, Beast?’ which is, for whatever reason, he calls me ‘Beast’ all the time,” McDaniel said.

“I don’t think I give off the ‘Beast’ vibe.”

He doesn’t. McDaniel is a 5-foot-8, thinly-built, glasses-wearing Ivy Leaguer who is about as chill as they come relative to the fraternity of NFL coaches.

But the nickname points to something important.

McDaniel and Tagovailoa might have the best coach/quarterback relationship this franchise has seen since Don Shula and Dan Marino. That’s not to suggest the relationship between, say, coach Joe Philbin and quarterback Ryan Tannehill was bad. It’s just to highlight the way McDaniel and Tagovailoa seem to relate to each other. 

They enjoy each other and appreciate each other. It’s why Tagovailoa can have such a mismatched nickname for McDaniel.

“When you say, ‘Mike,’ he’ll answer,” Tagovailoa explained. “But (Beast) just makes it fun.”

Compare and contrast that relationship with what’s been reported about Denver coach Sean Payton and quarterback Russell Wilson, who lead the winless Broncos (0-2) into Hard Rock Stadium for a 1 p.m. Sunday game against the undefeated Dolphins (2-0).

Payton, the Super Bowl champion who came out of the broadcast TV booth with FOX Sports to take over the beleaguered Broncos, reportedly told Wilson to “stop kissing babies … you’re not running for public office.”

Apparently, Payton wants Wilson to get back to playing football instead of leaning into the celebrity aspects of the game.

Granted, it’s unclear how much the quarterback/coach relationship has to do with winning.

But one thing is clear: McDaniel would never say something along the lines of “stop kissing babies” to Tagovailoa. It’s such a damaging statement.

This is perhaps where McDaniel’s unique new-school beliefs come into play. He believes in making his quarterback comfortable because of the ripple-effect.

Although McDaniel tries to have an individual relationship with each player, he acknowledges the quarterback/coach relationship is different.

“There are certain things that, as a play-caller more than anything, you’re hypersensitive to the extra things that someone has on their plate that maybe people don’t pay mind to,” McDaniel said. 

“The stability and the grounded nature that the quarterback position necessitates … listen, you have the ball in your hands and if you’re throwing a temper-tantrum, there are residual results to everyone on the field and the organization.”

As for the nickname, “Beast,” there’s no deep meaning. Tagovailoa said it was born out of respect and a desire to avoid redundancy.

“I guess in the locker room sometimes it gets mundane saying, ‘Bro,’ and it gets weird calling your coaches ‘Bro,’ so I guess you figure out other ways,” Tagovailoa began.

“Guys call each other ‘beast,” like, ‘Hey, what’s up, beast?’ Or the famous one I like to say to a lot of the coaches is, ‘What’s up, boss?’ So things like that. I wouldn’t say there’s much meaning to that. It’s like, ‘What’s up, scout?’

“But outside of that, we also say, ‘What’s up, sport?’ Like, ‘Hey, what’s up, sport’? It’s a little weird to call (coaches) ‘Bro.’ ”

Defensive lineman Christian Wilkins was surprised to hear Tagovailoa calls McDaniel “beast.”

“I didn’t know Tua really called him ‘beast’ or anything like that,” he said, “but that’s  pretty funny. That’s cool. That’s part of Tua’s humor. Throwing kind of against the grain there.”

The 40-year-old McDaniel is the type of supportive coach most players desire. As a head coach, he’s never publicly ripped a player. He seems to give participation trophies more than most other NFL coaches, and he believes in player empowerment.

He’s had players to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.

He’s a different type of coach.

Perhaps that’s why McDaniel and Tagovailoa seem to have an almost friend-like coach/quarterback relationship.

“You are judged retroactively, and no one cares how much you’ve invested and you have to be OK with that,” McDaniel said. “You have to just guiltlessly approach your job and not feel entitled to anything. You have to be hungry consistently and you have to be ready for the unforeseen. You have to continue to get better. It’s very humbling.”

The positive talk and feedback McDaniel offers has helped Tagovailoa thrive. 

Last year he led the NFL in passer rating (105.5). He had 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and had more confidence than he showed in his previous two seasons.

Let’s also give credit to quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell, who Tagovailoa spends more time with than he spends with McDaniel, and offensive coordinator Frank Smith.

But it’s the Tagovailoa-McDaniel relationship, more than any other, that really sets this team apart and makes the offense hum. McDaniel has a high appreciation for his relationship with Tagovailoa and the demands of the quarterback position.

“I wouldn’t call the relationship necessarily different,” McDaniel said. “I would say that I have as true of an appreciation as you can have for all the success and things that he earns.”