Mike McDaniel playfully poked Bill Belichick while commending the league’s longest-tenured head coach.
Ahead of their Week 2 showdown with the New England Patriots, the Miami Dolphins head coach was asked about the opposition’s defense. McDaniel commended his rival’s sustained success under Belichick since taking the job in 2000.
“It is amazing to me, and I hope one day I can even sniff this, it’s amazing that the orchestration of the defense is so consistent, so fundamentally consistent and sound,” McDaniel said at Wednesday’s press conference, via NESN. “The strain very, very detailed. And the leader of the ship was at the same job when we were all like, ‘What’s an iPod?'”
Mike McDaniel called Patriots HC Bill Belichick one of the founding fathers of this generation of football.
“It’s amazing that the orchestration of the defense is so fundamentally consistent… And the leader of the ship was at the same job when we’re all like ‘what’s an iPod?'”
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) September 13, 2023
McDaniel complimented New England’s “strong and consistent technique and fundamentals” with Belichick instilling an unrelenting work ethic and attention to detail.
“You can tell that from the top down, and all the coaches on the defensive side, that it’s non-negotiable and then they work together,” he continued. “I think they are unique in what they do, and that’s a testament, from an X’s and O’s standpoint to one of the founding fathers of this generation of football.”
McDaniel was still in high school when Belichick joined the Patriots. Although no longer a perennial title contender without Tom Brady, they’ve finished four of the last five seasons with a top-10 defense.
Miami’s head coach has been with his AFC East team 23 fewer years than Belichick, but the 40-year-old will look to follow his peer’s lead by steering his team to a Super Bowl in his second season.
After winning a Week 1 shootout over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Dolphins go into Gillette Stadium to face the Patriots on Sunday Night Football.