FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Early in Robert Saleh’s coaching career, he awkwardly sat at a table at the Texans facility across from a young coach he’d never met before.
Mike McDaniel was hired as offensive assistant for Gary Kubiak’s staff with Houston in 2006, and when he arrived at the facility, there was a tall, bald man sitting in his office. It was like a scene out of “Office Space” — Saleh was part of Dom Capers’ staff with the Texans that had been fired, but he still had a few weeks of pay left when the new staff arrived, so he hung around, hoping to convince Kubiak to keep him.
“He sat in there all week. I believe I was there on Tuesday. He just sat down across from me in the awkward room. (I’m) like: ‘Hey, dude, do you got a job?’ ‘No, not really. I’m trying to see Gary Kubiak,’” McDaniel told reporters in Miami this week. “He just waited there until Friday, barged in (to Kubiak’s office) and told him, ‘Hey, I’d really want to work for you.’”
It worked. Saleh was hired. 16 years later, both are head coaches. Saleh with the JetsMcDaniel and the Dolphins. They’ll face off for the first time on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
“Since then, we’ve been pretty darn close,” Saleh said, adding that he “always knew” McDaniel would “seize the moment” when he became a head coach.
“He has a philosophy. He believes. He’s a good man. He’s got great principles. He doesn’t break. He doesn’t fold under pressure,” Saleh said. “He’s going to be fantastic for a long time.
