Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said on Sunday that he surprised quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with a hug after Tagovailoa agreed to his long-awaited contract extension with the team on Friday, but that he wasn’t surprised that the deal finally came together.
McDaniel said at a press conference that he “expected it to get done” because of what Tagovailoa has meant to the team over the last few years. McDaniel called it a “cool validation” of Tagovailoa’s efforts in Miami and then moved on to what kind of expectations it sets for Tagovailoa’s future.
“I think that’s one of the cool things about sports is Tua can know that, his teammates know that, and they already have pressure and expectations for themselves,” McDaniel said. “Just as long as you acknowledge that, which quite frankly Tua’s shown me that throughout the entire offseason that he knows what time it is. Fortunately, him and all his teammates can go out and determine whatever the narrative is built upon by the way they play. We focus on the way we play, understanding that we will always hear about the results regardless of what they are. So why don’t we try to move the needle on what those results are and focus on that and nothing else.”
The Dolphins have gone to the playoffs the last two seasons, but they haven’t made it out of the Wild Card round. That will need to change in order for Tagovailoa and McDaniel’s run in Miami to go down as a successful one.