Miami Dolphins extend coach Mike McDaniel through 2028 season, AP source says

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Miami Dolphins extend coach Mike McDaniel through 2028 season, AP source says

2024-08-31 00:16 Last Updated At：00:20

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins want Mike McDaniel to be around for a while.

The head coach who was just the third Dolphins coach to make the playoffs in each of his first two seasons at the helm signed a contract Friday that extends him through the 2028 season. His initial contract was going to expire in 2025.

A person familiar with the deal confirmed the news first reported by ESPN, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been announced.

The Dolphins have gone 20-14 in two seasons under McDaniel, who was hired in 2022 to replace Brian Flores. In the first head coaching job of his nearly two-decades long career, McDaniel led the Dolphins to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 2000-01.

McDaniel made a name for himself rather quickly in Miami, whether for his tendency to go viral for his quick wit and quirky idiosyncrasies, or for the rapid offensive success that he’s ushered in on a Dolphins team that had long struggled on that side of the ball.

Creative play calling and an elaborate rushing attack have been McDaniel’s calling cards as he has tweaked and enhanced parts of revered offensive mind Mike Shanahan’s scheme that he learned working with the former coach in Washington.

Under McDaniel, Miami led the league in total offense, passing offense, yards per rush and explosive plays of more than 10 yards in 2023.

He's also had a knack for getting the most out of his players. The biggest success story of his tenure is the turnaround of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The fourth-year pro has repeatedly praised McDaniel for building up the confidence he said he lost playing for Flores.

Tagovailoa's future in Miami was very much in doubt after a tumultous start to his career. But he has had the two best statistical seasons of his career under McDaniel, leading the league in passing yards in 2023 and setting career highs in completion rate and touchdown passes.

After signing a four-year contract extension last month, Tagovailoa said he appreciates McDaniel’s positive coaching style compared to the negativity he endured under Flores.

“To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you you suck at what you did, that you don’t belong doing what you do, that you shouldn’t be here, that this guy should be here, that you haven’t earned this right. ... And then you have somebody else come in and tell you, ‘Dude, you are the best fit for us, you are accurate, you are the best.’ How would it make you feel listening to one or the other?” Tagovailoa said in an interview that aired this month on “The Dan LeBatard Show”.

Tagovailoa said the criticism beat him down to the point that he began to believe it. He was the No. 5 overall draft pick in 2020 and won the starting job but was pulled twice in the fourth quarter of games for Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The Yale-educated McDaniel got his coaching start on Shanahan’s staff in Denver in 2005. With his new extension signed, the next big goal for McDaniel is winning a playoff game. Miami has gone 24 years since its last postseason win, which is the longest drought in the NFL.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

LPGA commissioner takes the blame for Solheim Cup transportation issues

2024-09-14 22:55 Last Updated At：23:00

GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) — LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan took responsibility Saturday for the tour's failure to get fans to the Solheim Cup in time to see the opening tee shots a day earlier but did not offer a full explanation of the debacle that has led to speculation about her future.

Players teed off Friday morning in front of half-empty grandstands at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, muting what could have been a raucous first-tee atmosphere in the team competition between the United States against Europe. The stands were full on Saturday, but the damage had been done, with media coverage more focused on the logistical problems than the dominant first day of golf by Nelly Korda and the U.S.

“At the end of the day, I’m the leader of the organization and I have to own it,” Marcoux Samaan said.

RTJ is tucked into a private residential community serviced by a single road off U.S. Route 29 in this exurb about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. The venue hosted four Presidents Cups in the 1990s and 2000s and a PGA Tour event in 2017 without any significant transportation problems.

Marcoux Samaan said there simply weren't enough buses at Jiffy Lube Live, the concert venue where fans paid $30 for parking, without explaining why the LPGA didn't have a fleet of vehicles ready to shuttle spectators who were motivated to get to the golf course before dawn but instead spent hours standing in lines with little or no access to restrooms.

Asked how many buses were available, Marcoux Samaan declined to answer directly.

“It’s a complicated question, and again, we were writing spreadsheets and trying to figure it all out,” she said. “We didn’t have enough buses in the morning, clearly.”

The LPGA Tour is responsible for on-site operations at the Solheim Cup when it is played in the United States. The last U.S. event was in 2021 in Ohio, with the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the number of international fans.

“This was an LPGA issue,” Marcoux Samaan said.

The commissioner said the tour staff spent much of Friday in “triage mode” trying to diagnose the problem and ensure departing fans would be shuttled off the golf course efficiently. More than 12 hours passed before the LPGA posted a statement on social media promising improvements for Saturday and emailed a letter to fans that included an offer of free tickets for use this weekend.

“We had some staff out there and we were trying to communicate to the people that were there,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I think we thought that was more important than getting something out more broadly on social.”

Marcoux Samaan, who has been the LPGA commissioner for three years, also faced questions earlier this year about the tour's marketing of top-ranked Korda, whose historic run of six wins in seven starts, including a major championship, attracted modest television audiences.

The commissioner pointed to increased participation in the sport as a sign of her tour's growing popularity.

“The percentage of women playing has escalated over the last several years. Young girls playing golf has continued to grow,” she said. “I think our team is working really hard to grow the game.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf