Dave Hyde: Will Dolphins' big changes lead to results in regime's fourth year?
So, they made some change in their fourth season that you typically see in an early-stage rebuild. That's the way to view this offseason's work that ends when training camp starts on Tuesday.
You can praise them for making necessary change and hope they got it right this time.
You can doubt them after three years of getting too much wrong.
Hope and doubt are as inseparable as Grier and McDaniel at this point. They said good-bye to players who didn't buy into the collective culture like Jalen Ramsey, Jevon Holland and (gasp) Raheem Mostert. They quit writing unnecessary contracts for players just to be nice (though defensive tackle Zach Sieler needs paying). They turned the oldest roster in the league into something younger.
All this offseason, Grier and McDaniel followed the first rule when you've dug yourself a hole: They stopped digging. That was important. But now comes the harder part of trying to lead everyone out of that hole.
Can they? Will they? And, yes, lead is the operative verb for them here. Everyone around the Dolphins is hung up on which players are leaders, of how they lead, of their lost leaders like Terron Armstead and Calais Campbell.
But if there's one thing this organization has lacked since Steve Ross took over it's leadership in the prime leadership positions. Ross wants to win and has spent a lot of money trying. But does he even recognize what leadership looks like inside an NFL team?
His hires make you wonder. Joe Philbin was hired, Ross said, because he was organized as a power-point lecture showed in the interview. Mike Tannenbaum was hired, Ross said, because he ran the team's sports science wing so well. Adam Gase was hired due to his creative offensive thinking.
Brian Flores was a gifted coach, but had people-management issues. Grier? He's followed whatever coach is in the building. Year 10, and does anyone know what he thinks winning football looks like?
McDaniel is back to Ross's idea of a creative thinker and positive influence. Those are good qualities. But McDaniel's idea of a culture the first three years was of a football commune with his players, a kumbaya partnership with players who had done nothing to earn that relationship.
Maybe McDaniel changes some in Year 4 after some of the players the organization trusted most like Ramsey and Tyreek Hill turned on the coach last season. The curiosity beginning Tuesday will be in seeing any such change.
McDaniel's camp reflected his culture of comfort the past few years. Rotating days off for everyone. Few exhausting workouts. Players warming up without certain pads or helmets. No sprints after practice.
One way to see it was progressive thinking in a league trying to reinvent training camp. Another way was the whispered word Armstead heard from players back when he signed with the team: 'Easy,' he said last year.
McDaniel can't suddenly become Andy Reid, who takes his Kansas City Chiefs team away for training camp and has purposely tough practices. He can't be Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who begins each training camp with the toughest five practices of the season to set a tone.
Something more like what Washington coach Dan Quinn did in his first season last year would fit McDaniel's way. Quinn gave players a blank sheet of paper at the start of training camp and had them write their standards for their team's culture. He posted the results and held players to them.
Maybe that helped explain how Washington had a fun playoff run last season. Maybe it was more rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, too.
The Dolphins have roster questions at cornerback and the offensive line. Most teams have some issue right now. But if Grier and McDaniel get the culture right this time that goes a long way toward solving problems of the past few years.
That's the hope anyway.
The intertwined doubt that's part of this training camp says if they can't solve it in three years they won't in the fourth year. That's the tension of this season. Hope and doubt. Now it's time to show how all these decisions work out.
____

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NFLPA interim executive director decision reportedly expected by Tuesday with J.C. Tretter, Don Davis in ‘2-man race'
The race to be the next executive director of the NFL Players Association is down to two men, according to The Athletic. Either NFLPA chief strategy officer J.C. Tretter or chief player officer Don Davis are expected to lead the union following a tumultuous week that saw Lloyd Howell abruptly resign. A decision is expected by Tuesday, when 26 of the league's 32 teams are scheduled to report to training camp, per ESPN. Representatives from all 32 NFL teams were on a call Friday night to discuss the union's leadership future. Tretter is reportedly seen as the leader ahead of Davis in terms of support from the players. Whoever gets the job is not expected to end up in the role full time. While Tretter seemingly has the support, Russini also reported on Saturday that a group of players are discussing potential legal action against the NFLPA and Tretter, "citing potential violations around inclusion, labor rights, and misuse of union dues." Howell, who led the NFLPA since 2023, resigned Thursday night after an outside investigator reportedly discovered Howell charged the union for multiple strip club visits, according to ESPN. Howell allegedly charged the union $738.82 on one receipt and another $2,426 during a separate strip club visit. ESPN's report marked the fourth time this offseason Howell's actions as NFLPA executive director came under scrutiny. Journalists Mike Florio and Pablo Torre previously unearthed two grievance rulings the NFL and NFLPA worked to keep secret. One of those rulings found evidence of collusion among teams, a potentially explosive revelation that Howell allegedly not only worked to keep out of the public, but also may have tried to keep from players.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2025 Anaheim Ducks Prospect Rankings: 10. Nathan Gaucher
The Anaheim Ducks have missed the playoffs every year since 2017-18 and in doing so, have drafted in the top ten for seven consecutive seasons and procured one of the NHL's deepest and most potent prospect pools. Despite several young players having graduated and become full-time NHLers, such as Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Mason McTavish, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger, the Ducks still have an impressive pipeline of potential impact and depth prospects yet to make the jump. Lukas Dostal: Increased Pressure, Journey from 'No-Name Goalie' to Paid Among NHL Elite Ducks Sign Drew Helleson to Two-Year Extension Ducks Sign Lukas Dostal to Five-Year Extension For this exercise, only players who haven't lost rookie status are eligible for a ranking, and to be clear, these are my (Patrick Present) subjective rankings. Honorable Mentions: Yegor Sidorov, Herman Traff, Tarin Smith, Lasse Boelius, Calle Clang It was a difficult decision to cut Sidorov from the list and rank Gaucher in the tenth spot. Ultimately, it came down to path and projectability. Based on his position demand, brand of hockey, and draft pedigree. It's a near-certainty that Gaucher will play NHL games, likely well over 100, in his career, beginning within the next couple of seasons. Though having shown more electricity and offensive upside to this point in their careers, the same cannot be said for Sidorov. Gaucher is a straight-line, tenacious, and defensively detailed right-shot center who plays a heavy brand and is difficult to play against on a shift-by-shift basis. He's an explosive skater, which he uses to cover a great amount of ice to eliminate time and space, whether that's in defensive zone coverage, on the backcheck in the neutral zone, or on the forecheck in the offensive zone. He utilizes his 6-foot-3, 207-pound frame to establish body position, protect pucks, and bully his way to the front of the opposing crease. The Ducks selected Gaucher (22nd overall in 2022) in the first round of the 2022 draft, Pat Verbeek's first draft as GM of the franchise, with a pick acquired in the trade of Hampus Lindholm to the Boston Bruins at the 2022 trade deadline. Before his pro career, and in his four seasons playing in the CHL for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, he scored 158 points (80-78=158) in 199 regular season games and added 29 (11-18=29) in 36 playoff games, en route to QMJHL and Memorial Cup championships in 2023. He won two World Junior Championship gold medals with Canada in 2022 and 2023, playing a shutdown, checking role and totaling six points (2-4=6) in 14 games between the two tournaments. Offense has not been easy to come by since beginning his professional career in 2023-24 as a member of the San Diego Gulls, as he's only produced 44 points (18-26=44) in 128 AHL games over the last two seasons. He is, however, making his trademark 200-foot impact on every game, and he quickly found his 'B-game' when failing to find scoresheets. 'Nathan has had to deal with a couple of really important injuries that have set him back a little bit since we drafted him. And unfortunately, he hurt himself right before camp, so it took him a while to get going this year because of that,' Ducks assistant general manager and director of amateur scouting Martin Madden told The Hockey News: Anaheim Ducks, when asked about Gaucher's progression. 'And then, unfortunately, ended the season with injury as well. 'But he grew a lot in terms of his confidence with the puck, offensively. Overall, his offensive play grew as he gained confidence, establishing himself as a hard player to play against on the defensive side. They were using him in a checking role, PK. But as the season went on, his skating got better and better, and I think that helped with time and space, so he had more confidence in his hands. He had more confidence to look around and make plays.' The offense was coming around for Gaucher toward the final stretch of the 2024-25 season, as he scored 11 points (5-6=11) in his final 12 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Unfortunately, Gaucher bookended his 2024-25 campaign with injuries: first, he missed a significant percentage of rookie and training camps with a lower body injury, and then sustained the aforementioned shoulder injury to end his season, requiring surgery. He was given an estimated recovery time of 4-6 months after sustaining the injury in March and is expected to be fully healthy by rookie and training camps in September. It's plausible to believe Gaucher will rediscover what made him offensively successful at the end of last season, compound it with his defensive prowess, and hit the ground running in 2025-26, which will be his third season in the AHL. If he can continue to polish his two-way game and explore the reaches of his offensive capabilities, he will likely be playing NHL games within the next two seasons. Projecting Future Extensions for Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier Ducks Sign Clang, Myšák to One-Year Deals Ducks Prospect Uljanskis Chooses CHL for 2025-26 Season Photo Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kevin Stefanski deliberately protecting Colorado Buffaloes football's Shedeur Sanders during Browns training camp
Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns coaching staff are slow-rolling Colorado Buffaloes football's Shedeur Sanders' development this offseason for a deliberate reason: They don't want the 'Grown QB' to be exposed during the difficult early portion of the team's schedule. 'The excitement surrounding Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is palpable, but there's a major reason the organization appears in no rush to throw him into the starting lineup – a murderous early-season schedule that would challenge even the most seasoned NFL veterans,' the Orange and Brown Talk Podcast crew, comprised of Mary Kay Cabot, Dan Labbe, Scott Patsko, and Ashley Bastock, wrote. Many are aware of Cleveland's deliberate slow-roll. ESPN's Harry Douglas tabs the Browns' seventh game of the season against the Miami Dolphins at home as the likeliest NFL debut of the 'Grown QB.' 'Game 7, that's when the Cleveland Browns play the Miami Dolphins. And if Shedeur Sanders goes into training camp and he's lights out, and he's playing very well in preseason, there's gonna have to be conversations that it might be earlier than that. Because what you don't want to do, if you're Kevin Stefanski, is have a guy show that he is the guy, but you not play him. Then you're gonna have some controversy when it comes to your roster and older players who are trying to win right now,' Douglas said on ESPN's 'Get Up.' Stefanski has been giving Sanders fewer plays to run than Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, and Joe Flacco, and has not deployed Shedeur against first-team defenders. Many a quarterback has sputtered under a fraction of the spotlight in their first NFL homes. With the revenue and interest he generates, Sanders needs to be protected as an asset until it's clear he is ready to either sink or swim in this league. Stefanski is way ahead of the curve on that.