The Dan Patrick Show: "The Best of the Week"

Date: August 30, 2025
Host: Dan Patrick
Podcast Network: iHeartPodcasts
Featured Guests: Ben DiNucci (NFL Quarterback/Broadcaster), Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins Head Coach)

Episode Overview

This episode of "The Best of The Week on The Dan Patrick Show" brings together insightful conversations with recently cut NFL quarterback Ben DiNucci and Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, culminating with Dan Patrick’s signature wit and candor on the blockbuster Cowboys–Packers trade involving Micah Parsons. Bridging personal journeys, league dynamics, and major news, Dan provides listeners with insider perspectives and behind-the-scenes stories from the upper echelons of sports.

Key Segments & Highlights

1. Ben DiNucci: A Quarterback’s Journeyman Story

Segment Start: [02:10]

Life of a Perpetual NFL Underdog

• Coping with Getting Cut
  • DiNucci has now been released seven times in his career. When asked if he ever gets used to it, DiNucci replies:
    • “At this point, I’m used to it. I’m kind of numb to it… You just kind of get used to it.” – Ben DiNucci [05:11]
• Experience on Cut Down Day
  • Describes the stress and finality of the preseason for fringed roster players:
    • “The preseason is your Super Bowl… You get maybe a couple quarters a game to put on tape what you're going to do—not just for the team you’re on, but the 31 other teams. It's very stressful. It's guys' lives, livelihoods…” – Ben DiNucci [05:42]

Handling Releases and Looking Ahead

• How He’s Informed About Being Cut
  • “My phone rang from a New York number… ‘Coach wants to see you. Bring your iPad, bring your charger, bring your playbook.’ That’s kind of how it rolls.” – Ben DiNucci [06:26]
• What's Next: Between Football and Broadcast Booth
  • Currently not officially retired, but open to what’s next:
    • “The NFL is an interesting kind of animal… You get a phone call at any second. Could be today, tomorrow, could be in six months—could never be again.” – Ben DiNucci [07:07]
    • Prepping to call Air Force vs. Bucknell for CBS Sports Network.

NFL Memories & Reflections

• Drafted by the Cowboys from Jerry Jones’ Yacht
  • “I might be one of the only people in Cowboys history to say I got drafted from Jerry Jones’s yacht… It was that Covid year.” – Ben DiNucci [08:14]
• Differences: Practice Squad vs. Active Roster
  • “Honestly, nothing’s different except your weekly checks… Those guys on the practice squad, they’re a vital part of the team—getting the starters ready to play out there on Sundays.” – Ben DiNucci [09:17]
• His Defining NFL Moment
  • “It’d be hard not to say…my rookie year, when I got to start that game on Sunday Night Football for the Cowboys…It’s an iconic brand…That was my ‘welcome to the NFL’ moment.” – Ben DiNucci [10:14]

Personal Touches: Jerseys and Emotions

• Keeps jerseys from each stop—except the Bills.
  • “You steal, but they still deduct it from your paycheck… That might have been my last parting gift from the Falcons.”
  • “400 bucks… It was worth it. It’s game used.” – Ben DiNucci [12:08][12:17]
• Gratitude & Emotional Honesty
  • “I’ve cried a couple of times. I’m filled with a lot of gratitude at this point… To be able to be cut that many times, teams gotta like you enough to sign you in the first place.” – Ben DiNucci [12:44]
• On Not Swapping Jerseys with Dak, Russ, or Allen
  • “Honestly, no. That thought never even crossed my mind. But looking back now, I sure would like to have a couple of those jerseys…” – Ben DiNucci [13:33]

Memorable Moment:

• Dan gently teases Ben about being introduced as an NFL quarterback despite being freshly cut:
  • “I’m still going to introduce you as NFL quarterback.” – Dan Patrick [08:46]

2. Mike McDaniel: The Art of Coaching & Adaptation

Segment Start: [19:57]

Playing Days and Coaching Philosophy

• Inside Receiver at Yale
  • “I was limited to inside receiver route tree because of lack of linear speed… I was quicker than fast, as they’d say.” – Mike McDaniel [20:41]
• Julian Edelman Comparison
  • “Were you Julian Edelman before Julian Edelman?” – Dan Patrick [20:30]
  • “Yes. In statement.” (jokingly) – Mike McDaniel [20:34]

Harnessing Player Talent

• Tyreek Hill and Offensive Adaptation

  • On what makes Tyreek Hill’s speed unique:
    • “He gets to top speed very quick… almost on the third step. The quickness and speed is hard to match.” – Mike McDaniel [21:12]
  • Offensive philosophy changes to fit skillsets, not force players into a mold. McDaniel traces the "adapt the offense to the player" trend back to the 2012 RGIII season with Shanahan in Washington, noting how that changed the whole Shanahan/McVay/LaFleur tree.
    • “You just hit on something super interesting because the whole tree… learned that in 2012 with RG3. We completely adapted… retooled it in Washington. For me and Kyle, we kept doing that everywhere we went.” – Mike McDaniel [23:30]

• Most Talented Quarterbacks He’s Worked With

  • “I would say Matt Ryan was up there, but I think Tua is probably the most talented quarterback… The most talented speed threat was probably Robert Griffin III.” – Mike McDaniel [25:09]

Pressure and Work-Life Boundaries

• On Feeling Pressure as a Head Coach
  • “You take a job like this… you’re very much aware of the reality of wins and losses… I know it exists, but I don’t feel it because it’s ingrained in what I understand this job to be.” – Mike McDaniel [26:27]
• Family Life and Emotional Balance
  • “My one and only daughter has really helped create some boundaries… I carry stuff through the car ride home, but when I get home… I try to leave it at work. Earlier in my career, I struggled to do that, but my daughter’s really helped me out with that one.” – Mike McDaniel [27:30]

Childhood Connections and Pop Culture

• His Autograph Collection and NFL Origin Story

  • Favorite autographs: "John Elway… Robert Del Pino one that led to me meeting my stepdad. That was probably the two best ones…” – Mike McDaniel [28:41]
  • The heartwarming story of becoming a Broncos ball boy because his stepdad, whom his mom met through a chance autograph incident at camp, worked for the team.

• On Not Knowing About Travis Kelce & Taylor Swift’s Engagement

  • “Oh, you just told me! I didn’t know. That’s my reaction.” – Mike McDaniel [31:26]
  • On being invited to player weddings:
    • “My expectation is that nobody wants to hang out with me ever. That, that I’m the boss of.” – Mike McDaniel [32:29]

3. Dan Patrick on the Shocking Cowboys–Packers Trade: Micah Parsons

Segment Start: [37:06]

Critique of Dallas Cowboys’ Front Office Decisions

• The Parsons Trade: Questioning the Logic
  • Dan is openly critical of Dallas moving Micah Parsons to Green Bay “a week before the start of the season,” rather than in the spring for more value.
  • “If you know you’re open to dealing a 26-year-old pass rusher, maybe the best defensive player in the game, why wait until a week before the start of the season?” – Dan Patrick [38:23]
  • Draws a hard contrast to the Herschel Walker trade, emphasizing that legendary deals must yield franchise-changing value, which he argues Dallas failed to secure.

Front Office Dynamics, Legacy, and Future

• Wonders if Stephen Jones, not Jerry, architected the deal—with possible tensions about the elder Jones eventually "giving this team to his son."
• On the Cowboys’ Declining Odds After the Trade:
  • After moving Parsons, Dallas’ Super Bowl odds plummet, while Green Bay’s jump significantly:
    • “You can’t tell me the Cowboys are better today than they were yesterday.” – Dan Patrick [49:16]
• On Contract Negotiation Blunders:
  • Quotes Jerry discussing offering Parsons a new contract in April, then criticizes the lack of GM-like structure in Dallas for enabling poor decisions.
    • “If you have a GM, a true GM… you don’t get to this point. Indecisive in sports is death, and they were indecisive.” – Dan Patrick [49:16 and 41:48-49:16]

Broader Insights

• Stresses the importance of acting decisively with generational players (“If you truly believe that’s the guy, then act on it…”).
• Continues to hammer the point that the defense is worse, and all Dallas got is “a glimmer of God, what could have been.”

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Ben DiNucci, on being cut:
  “At this point, I’m used to it. I’m kind of numb to it… You just kind of get used to it.” [05:11]

• Mike McDaniel, on adapting offenses:
  “The whole tree… learned [to adapt to player skillsets] in 2012 with RG3. We completely adapted… everywhere we went.” [23:30]

• Dan Patrick, on the Cowboys trading Micah Parsons:
  “You can’t tell me the Cowboys are better today than they were yesterday.” [49:16]

• Ben DiNucci, on his defining NFL moment:
  “To be able to do that and say, I started a game for the Dallas Cowboys is something… that was my, ‘hey, welcome to the NFL’ moment.” [10:14]

• Mike McDaniel, on being invited to weddings:
  “My expectation is that nobody wants to hang out with me ever. That, that I’m the boss of.” [32:29]

Listener Takeaways

• Resilience & Realism: DiNucci’s frank, resigned acceptance of NFL life at the margins—including the grind of practice squads and the gratitude for simply having the opportunity—offers insight for fans rarely exposed to the lower-rung player experience.
• Adaptation Is Survival: McDaniel’s entire coaching philosophy revolves around flexibility: adapting systems to players, not vice versa—a now-mainstream but once-radical concept.
• Front Office Follies: Dan Patrick’s breakdown of the Parsons trade is a primer on the risks of egotism, indecision, and lack of defined management in pro sports decision-making.
• Human Touch: From keeping game-worn jerseys to sharing stories of childhood and fatherhood, even big-league guests present refreshing humility and vulnerability.

If you missed the episode:
This “best of” pulls together frank player reflections, creative coaching wisdom, and candid, sometimes scathing, national sports commentary. Whether you crave personal stories, tactical X’s and O’s, or hot-seat front office drama, it’s all here—served in Dan Patrick’s signature conversational, humor-laced style.