Omar Kelly: Is this Dolphins' culture change real, or fraudulent like last year

Omar Kelly, Miami Herald on Jun 12, 2025

Published in Football

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MIAMI — Take a stroll down memory lane to 2019 when a first-year head coach named Brian Flores introduced the “Takes No Talent” wall to a talent-starved Miami Dolphins team that was trading its best players, and started players claimed off the waiver wire that same week.

Who remembers that culture change?

Or the Bill Parcells “tough guy” era.

How about the one that came after Bullygate, when the Dolphins were supposed to be a more accountable and compassionate team?

“I’ve been here for five years going on six. Are you not tired of what we’ve done these past five years?” quarterback and team captain Tua Tagovailoa said Tuesday, likely referring to Miami’s reputation of being a soft team, one that’s plagued by late-season nose dives, a 25-year drought of not winning a playoff game and the perception that the Dolphins can’t play in the cold or beat playoff teams (4-16 record in three years).

“If you are, then why aren’t we doing anything about it?” said Tagovailoa, the only quarterback in the NFL who has produced three consecutive 100-rated passer rating seaons. “What do we have to change? What do we have to do to correct the navigation, [going] where we want to go?

“You create that standard in the locker room. The guys follow and you’ve got to uphold it.”

That has been the theme of Year 4 of the Mike McDaniel era, and the biggest question I have heading into the 2025 season is. ... Is this a real culture change or a fake storyline made up this offseason to address the players running the asylum reputation McDaniel’s team had last season.

In 2023 the Dolphins had fun with one another. They enjoyed each other’s company. That 11-5 team played for one another. They cheered each other on and celebrated successes together.

Last year the celebrations were sparse. The team was clearly divided.

The commitment at times wavered. A player [Tyreek Hill] quit on the team at the end of the season.

The bottom line is the buy-in wasn’t made, and it showed.

Put Tagovailoa’s early injuries, and the offensive line struggles to the side and that 2024 team felt like a collection of individuals.

The 2024 Dolphins were more associates than friends. Co-workers more than teammates, and players and coaches believe it showed on and off the field.

This offseason’s work has focused on being the change needed to correct the problem.

“The football program has to focus on football,” McDaniel said. “For that to happen, there’s a lot of things that can’t dominate people’s time, which is like first and foremost, being on time, being accountable to each other, and to the rules.

“Feeling very open as a team that, ‘Hey, it’s OK to call someone out when they deserve to be called out.’ And for those people to call someone out when they deserve to be called out. And for those people to [know], it’s okay to be called out as long as you change your [expletive] behavior.”

And those players who choose not to buy-in are seemingly being shown the door, one way or another.

Plenty left as free agents, and the Dolphins never even made offers.

It also means Miami’s trading a top playmaker such as cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who opted not to participate in the team’s offseason program. But the way the team sees it, a collection of individuals heading in the same direction can outperform a couple of superstars doing their own thing.

The problem I have with this supposed culture shift is I have heard this all before, maybe a dozen times since 2007.

Hell, I heard it just last season when Ramsey lectured everyone — including the team’s owner Steve Ross and coaches — about becoming bullies in the AFC, and Jordan Poyer was organizing team get-togethers to facilitate bonding.

“Last year we was lying, honestly. Point blank, period,” pass rusher Bradley Chubb said about the 2024 culture shift, which clearly fell flat. “We stuck our toe in the water, but we didn’t dive all the way in. We weren’t all the way there with each other. We weren’t making the effort to go the extra mile. This year we’re doing that.”

But will that guarantee a winning season?

“I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out for us, but we are putting forth that effort to change it,” Chubb said. “Last year we said we wanted to change, we’re doing this and that, but it’s not going exactly how we wanted it to. This year everyone has the right mindset. If it works out, it works out. If it doesn’t we’ll get back to the drawing board and make sure it works out.”