MADRID — Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he is “forever indebted” to Dan Quinn because the Washington Commanders coach helped steer him toward sobriety.
Sunday’s game between the Dolphins and Commanders will mark the first time McDaniel and Quinn will meet as head coaches, nearly 10 years after Quinn pulled a spiraling McDaniel 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 there at ground zero when I became sober and supported me and gave me the opportunity to continue what I love to do. So for that, I’ll be forever indebted to him.
“I think it speaks to the type of leader he is — I know he really touches every player he coaches from a true, authentic standpoint. I think the Commanders are very fortunate to have him.”
On Jan. 4, 2016, then-Atlanta Falcons coaches Quinn, Kyle Shanahan and Raheem Morris all sat McDaniel down and told him they believed he was drinking too often — an assessment McDaniel said he agrees with.
The conversations came after he was fired from his job as an offensive assistant with the Houston Texans, in part because of his drinking and how it was impacting his performance. He spent 865 days out of the NFL before Shanahan brought him onto his offensive staff with Washington in 2011.
McDaniel said he had to relay the coaches’ message to his wife, Katie, whose look of disappointment drove him to change his life.
“It was that moment that 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 is proud of the work McDaniel has done on himself.
“For all of us, when there’s an issue, sometimes you don’t want to let someone you’re with know,” Quinn said. “You’re counting on them, they’re counting on you. But leaning in is the biggest strength you can do. In that space, all you want to do is help and give support and then the real work begins for the person in that spot.
“That’s exactly what Mike did. He said this is what I’m working on and how I’m going to do it, and that’s when the real work begins. Part of the reason I’m so proud of him is: this is something that’s happening and this is how I’m going to deal with it, and I’m going to stay connected to that. … It takes a lot of guts to do that, and that’s one of the reasons I’m real proud of him.”
ESPN’s John Keim contributed to this story.