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madrid– miami dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel said he will be “forever indebted” to Dan Quinn because Washington Commanders The coach helped steer him toward sobriety.
Sunday’s game between the Dolphins and Commanders will mark the first time McDaniels and Quinn will meet as head coaches, nearly 10 years after Quinn pulled McDaniels aside and confronted him about his drinking.
“Dan Quinn holds a special place in my heart and my career,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “I think he was at ground zero when I got sober and he supported me and gave me the opportunity to continue doing what I love to do. So for that, I’ll always be indebted to him.
“I think it speaks to what type of leader he is – I know he really impacts every player he coaches with a true, authentic approach. I think the Commanders are very fortunate to have him.”
On January 4, 2016, then-atlanta falcons Coaches Quinn, Kyle Shanahan and Raheem Morris all sat McDaniel down and told him they believed he was drinking frequently – McDaniel said he agreed.
This conversation happened after he was fired from his job as an offensive assistant houston texansPartly because of his drinking and how it was affecting his performance. He spent 865 days out of the NFL before Shanahan brought him to his offensive staff with Washington in 2011.
McDaniel said he had to convey the coach’s message to his wife, Katie, whose despair inspired him to turn his life around.
“That was the moment I said, ‘I will never drink again,'” McDaniel told HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in 2023.
McDaniel has been sober since that day, he said.
Speaking from Madrid on Wednesday, Quinn said he was proud of the work McDaniel has done on himself.
“For all of us, when there’s a problem, sometimes you don’t want to tell someone you’re with,” Quinn said. “You’re counting on them, they’re counting on you. But leaning in is the greatest force you can do. In that space, you just want to help and support, and then the real work begins for the person in that space.
“That’s what Mike did. He said I’m working on this and how I’m going to do it, and that’s when the real work begins. One of the reasons I’m so proud of him is that this is something that’s happening and this is how I’m going to deal with it, and I’m going to stick with it. … It takes a lot of courage to do this, and that’s one of the reasons I’m proud of him.”
ESPN’s John Keim contributed to this story.
