With the Dolphins hiring ESPN’s Troy Aikman to serve as a consultant for the coming G.M. hire, coach Mike McDaniel’s status naturally falls even further into question, given Aikman’s strong criticism of McDaniel’s handling of the fourth quarter of a Week 15 loss to the Steelers.
On Friday, McDaniel was asked by reporters whether he and Aikman have cleared the air.
“No, that stuff doesn’t hit me,” McDaniel said, via a transcript distributed by the team. “When I signed up for this job, this just in and when things work, people will applaud. When they don’t work, they’ll have critiques. And if I expect anything else, that’s a level of entitlement that doesn’t really hit me correctly. It’s kind of the nature of the biz. So you’re telling me he didn’t like us not scoring points and taking up too much time? Neither did I, that was not the intent. He’s doing his job, and when I signed up for this job it was inherent that results will dictate all narratives regardless of if things were good, bad or whatever. It doesn’t bother me in the least. As a matter of fact, I think it would be funny if it did.”
McDaniel also expressed support for the organization’s decision to rely on Aikman as a consultant.
“I think Troy Aikman speaks for himself in terms of his relationships that he’s had within the National Football League and knows a lot of things,” McDaniel said. “Information is a positive to me and being able to resource that, I think we’re fortunate. I’m excited for that. As far as everything else, again, I’m not going to spend one second of this job prioritizing what my job is under some other, ‘Does this work for me?’ My priority is I’m the head coach and I’m going to take those responsibilities as they relate to everybody involved in the organization. I’m going take to those serious and focus on that. I’m not joking, lying, misleading. I don’t think about all those questions, ever. It’s a waste of my time and I don’t try to waste my time or other people’s.”
The most immediate question is whether McDaniel will be relieved of his duties after Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Patriots. If McDaniel stays, the next question is whether the next G.M. will decide to make a coaching change.
