MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins’ long-awaited culture change and much-needed strategic change have finally happened. They’re no longer a veteran-laden, attention-loving squad with an unreliable, high-profile offense. They’ve been transformed into a humble, hard-working team with a blue collar attitude, led by a stable, run-first offensive philosophy. This is a good thing.

Unfortunately, however, this fundamental transformation that’s led to the Dolphins (7-9) winning six of their past nine games should have happened a couple of years ago. Now it’s too late.

Sweeping organizational changes are needed, and one of the main reasons is because no one in the administration saw the need for a change until recently. The Dolphins wasted three years.

If organizational changes aren’t completed (former general manager Chris Grier has already been fired and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has already been demoted), it’ll be interesting to see how owner Steve Ross sells fans on the idea that more mediocrity is a good thing.

And it’ll be interesting to see how coach Mike McDaniel convinces Ross that something more than mediocrity is coming.

Let’s face facts here. The Dolphins are staging a furious late-season rally so they can reach mediocrity, or the status quo, the very thing that Ross said wouldn’t be accepted. The Dolphins’ best hope for the season is finishing one game below .500.

In the bigger picture, McDaniel needed this late-season surge to improve to a 35-32 (.522) regular-season record, 35-34 (.507) including playoffs. That’s mediocrity defined.

And here’s another thing: For all of the late-season rallying, personality changes and strategic changes, the Dolphins are still doing what they’ve always done under McDaniel — losing to good teams and beating bad teams.

The Dolphins began the season 4-20 (.167) against playoff teams. This season they’re 1-5 (.167) against playoff teams, including a recent loss to Pittsburgh.

In a sense, they’re still the same Dolphins.

It’s worth mentioning that McDaniel and Grier successfully flipped attitudes and personalities in the locker room along with the on-field strategy and it translated to victories on the field.

McDaniel, who might or might not be fighting for his job, deserves credit, along with Grier, for this turnaround.

But you have to ask yourself why this didn’t happen years ago when it was obvious such changes were required.

I’ve been open about my thinking that Ross should take a broom to the Big 3 — general manager, head coach and quarterback — and start anew. That remains my thought. I haven’t changed.

At the same time, I don’t mind saying McDaniel has done a hell of a job in the latter part of this season.

Beyond that, I’ll acknowledge McDaniel proved me wrong on a major point. I predicted players would stop listening to him. They didn’t.

I’ve always said players like McDaniel and respect McDaniel. That’s always been true and that remains true. But I thought around the time they were 1-6 and 2-7 they’d tune him out. It didn’t happen. In fact, they dug in around McDaniel.

I asked McDaniel last week how he’d describe this team’s personality.

“I would say this team’s personality is easily summed up by they were able to get their seventh win, and I think we had one win after seven games,” he said. “The last six wins in particular were earned in situations where you’re not earning those wins if you’re splintering, if you don’t believe in each other and if you don’t have the relentless competitors.”

He’s right.

In the latter part of the season, the Dolphins were ruled by the workmanlike attitudes of linebacker Jordyn Brooks and center Aaron Brewer instead of the high maintenance, “look-at-me” attitudes of wide receiver Tyreek Hill and former defensive back Jalen Ramsey that ruled previous Dolphins teams.

It’s substance over style. Finally. The new-school Dolphins have rediscovered an old-school formula for winning — run the ball, stop the run, win the turnover battle, keep penalties to a minimum.

But if McDaniel returns, there’s legit reason to wonder whether he’d revert to the big-play pass offense of previous years. You’ll recall last year they finished 6-3 after going to the dink-and-dunk offense. And what happened? The Dolphins went right back to the big-play pass offense early this season.

It’s obvious that the run-first offense, grinding, up-from-the-mud mentality fits this team better than the big-play passing offense and flamboyant South Beach mindset that made McDaniel’s previous Dolphins teams darlings of social media, local media and national media.

You knew the Dolphins had offensive issues as early as 2022. Accordingly, this offensive transition should have happened after the 2022 season. You have to wonder why no one in the organization knew change was needed.

Thank goodness that the 2025 Dolphins are different from previous McDaniel teams.

This team isn’t composed of players who are dating social media influencers or are concerned with orchestrating touchdown celebrations or are obsessed with contract extensions.

It’s refreshing.

But it’s also frustrating.

Because the bigger point is that all of these good things are happening years too late. And there’s no assurance things won’t revert to the ways of previous years if McDaniel returns.

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