The Miami Dolphins recently hired Mike McDaniel who replaced Brian Flores who was fired and filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and three teams. Once McDainel was hired, many media pundits praised the hire of a minority coach, since he is multiracial having a Black father. However, during his introductory press conference he stated that he wants to be identified as a human being, saying that he’s never experienced racism, but his parents did, and as a result, he can identify with other people’s problems.

“It’s been very odd to tell you the truth,” McDaniel said. “This idea of identifying as something, I think people identify me as something, but I identify as a human being, and my dad’s Black so whatever you want to call it, I know there’s a lot of people with a shared experience.”

McDaniel says his multiracial background did subject him to bigotry growing up. On a few occasions, his friends weren’t allowed to spend the night at his home. McDaniel said initially he  had “no idea” why, but after a series of temper tantrums, his mother, Donna, finally told him. He and his mother were also ostracized by members of her family for her decision to marry and have a child with a Black man, which McDaniel said was “eye-opening.”

McDaniel says a trip to his paternal grandmother’s home when he was 5 years old was the first time he realized he was different, when he noticed his skin was a far lighter shade than that of anyone else in his grandmother’s photos. While growing up with people not identifying him as biracial, he said he attempted to find a way to make sense of the situation.

“I think what I was saying [Thursday] is that you have to come to a realization at some point, you have to have a comfort level, you have to have a resolution when you’re younger and you have these odd things happening to you,” the head coach said according to ESPN. “And for me, it was, ‘OK, you’re a human.’ That was my resolution. For me in my experience, that’s how I resolved that. I think it’s something that helped me not feel so confused through the whole process.

“It shaped a very unique perspective for me because I am biracial and I know these things are wrong, but people are identifying me as something else, so it’s not happening to me. It’s a conflicting emotion.”

McDaniel becomes the Dolphins head coach after four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, serving as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2021.

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