10-09-2022, 02:16 PM
O'Connell wasn't going to hire Daniels. In fact, he wasn't even going to interview him."In the back of your mind as a first-year head coach putting a staff together, you have this voice telling you that you need 'experience, experience, experience,' " O'Connell said. "But I had a lot of people I really trust rave about what Matt could be as a first-time coordinator. Then he just blew me away in the interview. To the point where it was a no-brainer hire.
"And then I realized he also has the experience. He just never had the title or got the credit. He's a big reason we've found ways to win this year."
Daniels played in only seven games over five NFL seasons with the Rams, Jaguars and Chargers. He was becoming a useful special teamer as a rookie when he blew out his knee in a 45-7 loss to the Patriots in London. He would play only three more games the rest of his career as a broken leg cut short his second season after only two games.
"But it was after that knee injury my rookie year that I started thinking about becoming a coach," Daniels said. "I'm on IR and I entrenched myself into learning the game more. Understanding it more. That's when I attached my hips to 'Bones' [Fassel, the Rams special teams coordinator]."
When his playing career ended, Daniels reached out to then-Colorado head coach Mike McIntyre, who was Daniels' defensive coordinator at Duke. McIntyre hired him as a graduate assistant in 2017.
"When I got to Colorado, I had just gotten married [to Tiffany] and was trying to figure out what I was going to do," said Daniels, whose daughter, Yara, turned 3 last Sunday. "So I sat down and wrote handwritten letters to every coach I ever came across in my life."
One of them was Fassel. As fate again would have it, Fassel's assistant got a job with the Titans the following spring. Daniels became Fassel's assistant for two years with the Los Angeles Rams and two more in Dallas. The first season with the Rams, 2018, they coached in the Super Bowl.
Daniels said Fassel taught him the importance of "edutaining" players relegated to special teams, "turning the red-headed stepchild of special teams into an education that's also an entertaining, fun place where offensive and defensive guys are mingling, working, growing together."
Daniels plays music in his meeting room. His baseball caps with "ST" on the front are becoming a must-wear item at TCO Performance Center. He's also got 32-year-old cornerback Patrick Peterson, a potential Hall of Famer, demanding to be part of the action because, he said, "Hat's special teams are a bunch of wild dogs that can change the tempo of the game at any given moment."
Daniels also has a supportive Smith sitting in on his meetings, years after the safety last served on special teams.
"I didn't realize at first that he's younger than me," Smith said. "The presence he has as a coach is very — I don't want to say beyond his years, but you can just tell he gets it. He gets what it's like out there on the field. He's very player-first and he can communicate with guys to get the best out of them."
Head coach Hat?Asked if he could envision Daniels as a head coach one day, Smith said, without hesitation, "Oh, absolutely." He's not the only person with that reaction. O'Connell and Daniels do too.
"I want to be where my feet are, obviously," Daniels said. "But I do have high hopes of being a head coach in this league."
He said he almost considered switching to defense early in his coaching career to give himself a better shot at becoming a head coach.
"But I went back to what my true purpose is, and that's to touch and teach as many individuals as I can," Daniels said. "And nobody gets to do that like a special teams coach, except the head coach."
He plans to "be so good that this league can't deny me as a head coach."
Daniels, who is Black, mentioned former Dolphins coach Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL, the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos alleging racist hiring practices that skirted the Rooney Rule put in place for head coach and general manager openings.
"You would think after the Brian Flores situation that things will truly change and teams won't just interview minority coaches just to check a box," Daniels said. "I think you'll start seeing more minority coaches come into the light."
Daniels pauses and mentions how he and Bruce used to discuss things like that.
"I get so caught up in football that it still hasn't really hit me that my father is gone," Daniels said. "I was his pride and joy. Now I'm getting one of my greatest accomplishments and he doesn't have the opportunity to be here and witness it.
"That's tough. Tough. But I do think he's watching somewhere. No doubt about it.
"https://www.startribune.com/vikings-special-teams-coordinator-matt-daniels-the-hat-harrison-smith/600214139/
"And then I realized he also has the experience. He just never had the title or got the credit. He's a big reason we've found ways to win this year."
Daniels played in only seven games over five NFL seasons with the Rams, Jaguars and Chargers. He was becoming a useful special teamer as a rookie when he blew out his knee in a 45-7 loss to the Patriots in London. He would play only three more games the rest of his career as a broken leg cut short his second season after only two games.
"But it was after that knee injury my rookie year that I started thinking about becoming a coach," Daniels said. "I'm on IR and I entrenched myself into learning the game more. Understanding it more. That's when I attached my hips to 'Bones' [Fassel, the Rams special teams coordinator]."
When his playing career ended, Daniels reached out to then-Colorado head coach Mike McIntyre, who was Daniels' defensive coordinator at Duke. McIntyre hired him as a graduate assistant in 2017.
"When I got to Colorado, I had just gotten married [to Tiffany] and was trying to figure out what I was going to do," said Daniels, whose daughter, Yara, turned 3 last Sunday. "So I sat down and wrote handwritten letters to every coach I ever came across in my life."
One of them was Fassel. As fate again would have it, Fassel's assistant got a job with the Titans the following spring. Daniels became Fassel's assistant for two years with the Los Angeles Rams and two more in Dallas. The first season with the Rams, 2018, they coached in the Super Bowl.
Daniels said Fassel taught him the importance of "edutaining" players relegated to special teams, "turning the red-headed stepchild of special teams into an education that's also an entertaining, fun place where offensive and defensive guys are mingling, working, growing together."
Daniels plays music in his meeting room. His baseball caps with "ST" on the front are becoming a must-wear item at TCO Performance Center. He's also got 32-year-old cornerback Patrick Peterson, a potential Hall of Famer, demanding to be part of the action because, he said, "Hat's special teams are a bunch of wild dogs that can change the tempo of the game at any given moment."
Daniels also has a supportive Smith sitting in on his meetings, years after the safety last served on special teams.
"I didn't realize at first that he's younger than me," Smith said. "The presence he has as a coach is very — I don't want to say beyond his years, but you can just tell he gets it. He gets what it's like out there on the field. He's very player-first and he can communicate with guys to get the best out of them."
Head coach Hat?Asked if he could envision Daniels as a head coach one day, Smith said, without hesitation, "Oh, absolutely." He's not the only person with that reaction. O'Connell and Daniels do too.
"I want to be where my feet are, obviously," Daniels said. "But I do have high hopes of being a head coach in this league."
He said he almost considered switching to defense early in his coaching career to give himself a better shot at becoming a head coach.
"But I went back to what my true purpose is, and that's to touch and teach as many individuals as I can," Daniels said. "And nobody gets to do that like a special teams coach, except the head coach."
He plans to "be so good that this league can't deny me as a head coach."
Daniels, who is Black, mentioned former Dolphins coach Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL, the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos alleging racist hiring practices that skirted the Rooney Rule put in place for head coach and general manager openings.
"You would think after the Brian Flores situation that things will truly change and teams won't just interview minority coaches just to check a box," Daniels said. "I think you'll start seeing more minority coaches come into the light."
Daniels pauses and mentions how he and Bruce used to discuss things like that.
"I get so caught up in football that it still hasn't really hit me that my father is gone," Daniels said. "I was his pride and joy. Now I'm getting one of my greatest accomplishments and he doesn't have the opportunity to be here and witness it.
"That's tough. Tough. But I do think he's watching somewhere. No doubt about it.
"https://www.startribune.com/vikings-special-teams-coordinator-matt-daniels-the-hat-harrison-smith/600214139/
