Ever since he was named as the Miami Dolphins' new head coach in February, Mike McDaniel has continued to stress the importance of building a strong bond with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. From Tagovailoa’s standpoint, he has much appreciated the length that McDaniel has so far gone to do just that.

Speaking during a press conference at the Dolphins’ OTAs on Thursday, Tagovailoa opened up about his growing relationship with the first-year Miami head coach.

“I would say that’s just something that Mike (McDaniel) would always try to get me to do is just open up to him,” Tagovailoa said. “In the hallway or in the meeting room, he would just pop in. When I’m lifting, he’d just want to chat. Every opportunity he got. I ended up opening up a little bit to him.

“I would say the way I am, the way I share things with him a little is sort of similar to the way I share things with the guys in the locker room. The comfortability with him is getting pretty comfortable.”

It is quite evident that McDaniel’s personality contrasts with that of some of Tagovailoa's former coaches like Alabama head coach Nick Saban and now-former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. In the big picture, the former Crimson Tide standout is fond of just how McDaniel has kicked off his opening run as a head coach in the NFL.

“It’s been cool,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s been different. I’ve never been around a coach like this who’s just extremely positive. Growing up, my dad’s always been hard on me.

“My high school coach has been hard on me. Coach [Nick] Saban has been hard on me and all the coaches that I’ve had prior, they’ve all been hard on me. [McDaniel is] hard, but he takes another alleyway, if you will, on kind of teaching and helping.”

All attention sure will be on how well Tagovailoa and McDaniel will end up meshing in the 2022 campaign, but as the latter noted during his introductory press conference with the Dolphins, he is much more focused on how the team can “grow together because that’s what wins football games.”

The Dolphins will cap off their OTAs on June 10.