McDaniel Discusses Coaching Staff Moves

Mike McDaniel explained the decision to make a change with his offensive line coach but retain special teams coordinator Danny Crossman after a tough year in the kicking game

INDIANAPOLIS — The hiring of Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator has been the big move of the offseason so far for the Miami Dolphins, but it's been far from the only news involving the coaching staff.

One item involved the switching of offensive line coaches (from Matt Applebaum to Butch Barry) and another involved the escision to retain Danny Crossman as special teams coordinator after a difficult 2022 season in the kicking game — with the idea element that Crossman is a coach who was retained from Brian Flores' staff.

McDANIEL ALWAYS IN CROSSMAN'S CORNER

The decision to retain Crossman raised eyebrows in part because McDaniel made the move to replace Josh Boyer as defensive coordinator and Boyer also was a holdover from Flores' staff.

But McDaniel said Wednesday the idea of removing Crossman never really crossed his mind.

"That just comes as a result of daily evaluations of all coaching involved in the building," McDaniel said. "I think that the Miami Dolphins fan base, the players and Danny and myself would all agree that the desired results, we have more to achieve, but if I would have determined that that was solely his ... if I thought that we couldn't get to where we need to get to go with Danny Crossman, I would have made a move. I definitely didn't feel that way. And that just comes as a result of daily investment into the coaching staff and what he brings to the table."

The Dolphins finished 27th in 2022 in the famous Rick Gosselin special teams rankings that take into account 22 kicking-game categories.

WHY McDANIEL SWITCHED OFFENSIVE LINE COACHES AND FRANK SMITH'S DIFFERENT ROLE

When it comes to the offensive line coach move, which saw Applebaum replaced after only one year on the job, McDaniel said it had more to do with Frank Smith.

As we have suggested before, Smith was heavily involved with coaching the offensive line last season after Applebaum was hired out of Boston College. McDaniel said that needed to change and the implication clearly was that Applebaum was ready to be a full-time NFL offensive line coach.

"Realistically, from the way the staff was orchestrated the previous year, I really needed to get more offensive coordinator work out of Frank Smith and he was devoted a little too much to the offensive line," McDaniel said. "And I needed more selfishly to alleviate some stuff off my plate. And so that was the motivating factor to make that move was to facilitate Frank Smith being able to appropriate his time more as a coordinator and less in the offensive line room."

Barry joins the Dolphins after working with McDaniel in San Francisco in 2021 and then working as O-line coach for the Denver Broncos last season before he was fired in Denver along with first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett.

Applebaum, meanwhile, has returned to his role as offensive line coach at BC.

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