What do you appreciate now about your work that you didn’t at the start?
The simplest questions bring the best answers.
Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins coach: “I’ve talked about understanding the servitude, and I really got a sense in Year 3, you have a more supreme humility to the job, from my perspective, in terms of you get the job and everything — you’re always working around how everything’s orchestrated. You’re adjusting to the different needs of the job to the different people that you affect, but then you still have that, I don’t know, ambition or you’re a little naïve enough to think that you can do more on your own than I think you really capable of. I think I have a strong sense of truly how dependent I am on all of the people in the building for the building to move in one direction. I think the relationship aspect and how people bond I have a firmer appreciation for, and overall, it is very, very humbling just because at this point in my life, I almost can do nothing by myself. Almost nothing. I still can work a microwave, and I can fill my car tank up with gas, but outside of that, I need a lot of help for everything I do.”
Jason Taylor, Hall of Fame NFL player and University of Miami defensive coach: “Something I appreciate more about the game now — or appreciate about in a different way — is the journey, the process, and taking in the small moments of the process. I talked about this when I retired, how I was so singularly focused on something I was able to achieve when I played that I sometimes missed the positive, great moments of the journey. So, as I do this now as a coach, still taking the journey to be elite and the best I can be at this profession, it’s also going to do it with 85 players or 120 players that are on this grass as well. So, I’m enjoying their journey with them — and also my journey with them — in the moment. I have the ability now to appreciate small things, small victories, small improvements in practice. You know, praise them. We’re not going to celebrate them but we’ll praise them, we’ll appreciate them, and get ready for the next day.”
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers captain: “What it takes to win. That’s something you can appreciate when you’ve been around a while and when you’ve lost and won. You work hard when you come in, because you want to do well. Then you learn something about the game, about the player you need to be. Every year it’s something. You have to learn about playing in the playoffs. That’s different, a more intense game. And then the emotions of playing through a big series. So, really, I think just what goes into winning is something you appreciate the longer you play.”
Braxton Berrios, Dolphins receiver: “Growing as a player and really taking advantage of every day. There’s really a lot to say about picking one thing a day or two if you really feel like it to really excel at and really try to get better at that one thing a day and take each day as its own opportunity. I think if you look at it that way in the five or five-and-a-half weeks of camp, you can really build something and build momentum on into the season.”
Sam Bennett, Panthers center: “There are a couple things. I think number one is how demanding it is — how physically demanding are 10 years. It’s a lot of work to play at the level you need, and then the demands in the playoffs are at a different level. Number two is the bond you can make with your teammates after you’re going to battle, especially after a playoff run. It’s physically and emotionally draining and you really get to know each other. I mean, I spend more time with them than my family. The bond on good teams is something you appreciate.”
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat guard: “Just appreciating the highs and lows. I would never try to get too high, but I felt I would get low on myself. That was something I had to learn how to deal with. My first and second year I’d get low. I felt in my third year, as I got older, I could see the big picture more and was more at peace with the lows. I think in the NBA a lot of people react to what’s going on right now when in reality it’s a long season and it’s not always about right now. I appreciate the fans and media for being so focused on right now. Sometimes it allows me not to focus on it. I’m all about the big picture now.”
Cam Ward, University of Miami quarterback: “I appreciate studying the game now in something like learning coverages. I didn’t really know anything about coverages or start learning football until last year. A couple years ago I was just going out there, going through progressions and throwing to people. At (Washington State) last year, I got a lot better at knowing coverages, knowing the shape of the defense, rocking and rolling. So studying the game — the work that goes into studying — is something I appreciate now.”
Jazz Chisholm, New York Yankee and former Miami Marlin: “I’ve learned to appreciate and respect the guys that are really good and how they go about their business. The MVPs and guys like that, their skill level and their work level. Some of the guys that win MVP, their skill level might not be the best in the world, but they win MVP by working and learning. I just started learning baseball when I was in the big leagues. Baseball’s hard. I think of it like this, I talked to Mookie (Betts) last year and Mookie was like, ‘I don’t go 1,000 percent after ever play in the outfield. I’m not going to run into the wall and get hurt.’ I’d never thought of that. That’s smart. If you paly 162 games and just play average, you can get paid $20 million a year. Like, .280 and 25 (home runs) is $20 million a year. That’s just one thing I’ve learned.”
Lance Guidry, University of Miami defensive coordinator: “It’s the same game as when I was in high school or McNeese State or here. You’ve got to make sure you run things that fits your kids the best. I always say I don’t coach out of a playbook. I coach off experiences. It took a while to learn that, though. Last year we knew who our best players were after we started getting injured and felt we had to get the best players on the field. So, that’s what we did and it panned out. We jumped from a four-down to a three-man front, put an extra (linebacker) and that’s what we felt get us the best chance against Clemson. We rode that for a while. But as a coach, high school or college or wherever doesn’t matter. You need to make sure your thinking starts with getting your best players are out there.”
