From how he dresses to being over how people rave about his personality, Mr. "Angry Runs" wants McDaniel — who led the Dolphins to the postseason in each of his first two campaigns as a head coach — to do more to prove himself worthy of the "NFL cool kids coaching club."
Bruh. What.
Is Kyle Brandt OK? The man famous for his "Angry Runs" segments is certainly mad online. Someone get this dude some Muscle Milk to calm his ass down!
On two separate occasions, Brandt has zeroed in on McDaniel's need to prove himself this season, which is fair. Still, his way of going about his critiques of McDaniel has bordered on, at best, weird and, at worst, biased from a commentator who doesn't attempt to hide his love for the Buffalo Bills, Miami's archrival.
Brandt has suggested that McDaniel's first two impressive seasons with Miami aren't enough to shield him from the pressure. He's ignored that McDaniel has twice led the Dolphins to the postseason, and both elimination games were, to put gently, odd scenarios.
In McDaniel's first season, Miami lost to the Baltimore Ravens, with Skylar Thompson filling in for an injured Tua Tagovailoa. Last season they fell to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs in what was said to be the coldest game in NFL history.
But for Brandt, the "almost" factor isn't cutting it. In a recent appearance on Bill Simmons's show, Brandt pulled no punches: "We're past how charmed we are with your personality and how eccentric you are. Your team is really cool and fast — you need to win playoff games this year."Kyle Brandt said his #1 Head Coaching storyline this year is Mike McDaniel. Says everyone is past his charming personality. Kyle said Miami’s playoff loss to KC was one of the worst “no show” playoff games in the 21st century. Kyle questions IF Tua is “really good.” Says Tyreek… pic.twitter.com/Fd6DUCNNV3
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) August 26, 2024
For Brandt, McDaniel's success is not measured by regular-season wins or flashy offensive stats. Instead, it boils down to one thing: postseason success. Brandt went as far as to label McDaniel the number one head coaching storyline of the season, emphasizing that the Dolphins' playoff loss to the Chiefs was one of the worst "no-show" postseason performances of the 21st Century.
Brandt didn't stop there. On a segment of Good Morning Football, he doubled down, claiming that McDaniel needs to secure a postseason victory to "be in the cool kids' coaching club."🎥 Kyle Brandt on Mike McDaniel: "Mike McDaniel should be a celebrated story in this league. The best coaches win playoff games, and typically they do it by their third season... this year is a no excuse year." (@gmfb) #GoFins pic.twitter.com/ZclFGzUn2x
— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) September 3, 2024
"He [McDaniel] is not part of the cool coaches club because the cool coaches club doesn't just have fantasy seasons produced, and they don't have regular season wins produced. They win in the postseason."
It's clear Brandt believes McDaniel's honeymoon is over — again, fair — but the way he goes on and on, even comparing the Dolphins to scrolling Instragram and seeing empty thirst traps, and eating empty-calorie foods, comes off as odd. Then again, that's today's media: openly rooting for their childhood team while giving barroom takes you'd expect from some yahoo three drinks in.
According to Brandt, the charm and quirkiness that endeared McDaniel to fans and media in his first two seasons now seem less of an asset and more of a distraction. The narrative has shifted from "Look at how fun and unique this guy is!" to "What have you done for me lately?"
The bottom line is what it has always been: Winning cures all, and McDaniel will only be revered by Dolphins fans if the team can continue fighting for a chance to win Super Bowl, not a high draft pick.
The Dolphins' season opener against the Jaguars on Sunday is just the beginning of what promises to be a proving ground for McDaniel.
It remains to be seen whether he does enough to make Kyle Brandt think he's cool.
