Mike McDaniel: Here's how I danced into wife Katie's heart

Joe Schad, Palm Beach Post

MIAMI GARDENS - Yes, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel met his wife Katie on a dance floor.

Yes, a part of the story McDaniel told Amazon's Al Michaels, which was re-told during Friday's Dolphins-Jets game, included a bit of a joke.

From McDaniel? Go figure!

The way Michaels told the story, McDaniel told a Sacramento Mountain Lions players that he would be off the team if he wasn't allowed to cut in on the dance floor.

"So yeah, I would say the skeleton of the story is correct," McDaniel said Monday. "But there’s a couple important caveats. First of all, the perceived threat I made to a player was over the top a joke considering both he and I knew that as the running backs coach, I had no ability to say if he was there or not. It was more in gest. And then second of all, my wife was telling me people were talking about me stealing people’s girls. The dude had met her for 45 seconds."

Everyone laughed.

McDaniel's humor is sometimes misunderstood. But he is funny.

Similarly, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill also has a tendency to tell jokes that are sometimes lost on bloggers, podcasters and aggregators, and taken as deadly serious.

Mike McDaniel: Good decision to dance with wife Katie

"Very unique scenario," McDaniel said. "It was a special place in our memories, but I don’t think it was – I feel like I was painted out to kind of be a d-bag, and it wasn’t like that at all. It was all nice. We were celebrating as a team and it was something that I think, Steve Baylark, the player that was dancing with her, was well aware when I made that joke in jest that it was more important to me then it was to him. And I’m pretty sure I was right. I have a family now. Good decision."

The Tape Don't Lie, A Review: Dolphins and Jevon Holland, Tyreek Hill top | Schad

Miami Dolphins new NFL football team head coach Mike McDaniel holds his daughter Ayla June, 16-months, as he sits beside his wife Katie McDaniel at an introductory press conference, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Miami Dolphins announced on Feb. 6 that they had hired San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel as their new head coach, making him the first minority candidate to get hired so far this offseason. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Mike McDaniel of Dolphins can cut a rug?

McDaniel has a reputation as a good dancer. Was it his dance moves that won Katie over?

"Clearly," McDaniel, who often quips, quipped. "It wasn’t my physical disposition. I promise you that. It was a cool, lightheaded story that I felt like took a turn, so I appreciate you following up."

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Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and Twitter @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Mike McDaniel met his wife Katie on the dance floor. Here's more from the Dolphins coach.

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