McDaniel on Heat lessons and his text to Spoelstra. And Dolphins rookie keeps impressing

A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Tuesday:

▪ Mike McDaniel, who’s closer with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra than any of his predecessors, continues to enjoy the Heat’s improbable postseason run and hopes his players take something meaningful from it.

McDaniel texted Spoelstra after the Heat’s Game 7 Eastern Conference finals win in Boston.

“The best words I could come up for – I texted him right after they won Game 7 – was something that he knew what I was getting at, but adversity is opportunity,” McDaniel said Tuesday. “I say that to the team all the time. I really, really believe that and I don’t care how sick anybody ever gets of hearing it. I think it’s true to what life and professional sports and team is all about.

“And you want to talk about a team that has utilized adversity for their own gain! Those lessons especially now, by and large, almost every player on our team is watching their season.... You hear all these people so surprised, to feel like there’s a sportscaster, a national sportscaster, definitely not local, but nationally a sportscaster every week or every game that’s saying, ‘oh, yeah, they have no chance.’

“That is the pinnacle of success in sports, is a group of individuals working towards a goal and not letting anything stand in their way. For example, the last game they just won [Game 2 of the Finals in Denver]; there was a lot – to be able to look at a sports team and say, ‘You know what, I don’t necessarily know how they’re going to do it, but I’m not going to bet against them…’”

McDaniel has attended many of the playoff home games and said: “I think we’re very fortunate to see it first hand and feel like we’re indirectly a part of it. But I think it also goes for just people in general -- I think it’s a life lesson that it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you really, really, really commit.”

Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips said of the long postseason runs by the Heat and Panthers: “I’ve been watching. The only thing that I wish is that we could be playing now at the same time as them, because then we could really feed off that motivation. But it’s been great seeing the South Florida sports being successful.

“Obviously when everybody is winning down here, everybody is a lot happier. We hope that they can continue the success. We’re rooting for them for sure.”

▪ Former UM undrafted rookie edge player Mitchell Agude continues to impress. Our beat writer, Daniel Oyefusi, conveyed that Agude had at least one sack and multiple tackles for loss during Tuesday’s minicamp session.

Agude had three sacks in two previous practices open to reporters.

Phillips took a similar path as Agude, beginning his college career at UCLA and then transferring to UM.

“He’s a baller,” Phillips said. “He’s super twitchy, he’s super athletic. Me and Mitch; we have a little bit of history now. Obviously he went to UCLA and transferred out to Miami. While he was being recruited to Miami, I talked to him and told him about my journey, and the blueprint I kind of found, and he really felt that and locked in with that.

“When he got to the Dolphins, I was like, ‘it’s a prophecy at this point.’ It’s been really cool to be a mentor to him and seeing him work. We got a great young group and [Nebraska rookie edge player] Garrett Nelson is doing really well, too.”

“It’s pretty crazy how [Agude] kind of followed that same path in terms of locations as me. He’s really cool because he’s very receptive to coaching and to advice from me.

“He comes up to me all the time like, ‘Jaelan, what were you doing your rookie year? What type of things can I do to work on my method and different things like that?’ I really appreciate that from him and you can see it on the field.”

▪ Phillips said he and fellow starting outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, acquired in a trade from Denver at midseason last season, have “gotten a lot closer obviously since he’s been here. I’m just excited for us to have a full offseason, full OTAs, a full training camp to really keep gelling and developing our identity as players. We definitely spend a lot of time getting closer off the field and I feel that just helps on the field.

“His technique is really what I like the most. I kind of look up to him when it comes to that honestly and have him show me different techniques and things. He’s very crafty and obviously physically gifted, so I love having him on the opposite side of me for sure.”

▪ At least three Dolphins who are entering the final season of contracts would welcome extensions, a group that includes defensive linemen Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler (who both attended the first day of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday) and center Connor Williams (who did not).

Does guard Rob Hunt - whose deal runs through 2023 - also covet an extension?

“I leave that up to the people up front and my agents,” Hunt said Tuesday. “Of course, I got some say so in it, but I’m not worried about it right now. That’s the least of my worries right now. I would like a Super Bowl or something like that, a playoff win.”

▪ Making the Pro Bowl remains a goal for Hunt, who was Pro Football Focus’ 12th rated guard last season.

“As an individual that is a goal of mine, to be that. I thought I played well enough last year, but I guess I didn’t so I got to try to up it up this year and play a little better, and hopefully it works out. If it doesn’t then I’ll keep busting my [butt] and try to get it. I think I’m a hell of a player in this league, and I think it’s in the future hopefully.”

▪ Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey on Dolphins rookie second-round cornerback Cam Smith: “He’s got a lot of confidence which is good. That’s like the main thing you need to play this position in the NFL. He’s learning the defense pretty quickly. Going through some rookie things, but I mean that’s given. He’ll continue growing and doing good things. He’s cool. He’s good.”