Miami coach tells Tua Tagovailoa Georgia is SEC’s best

Much has been made this season about the connection between Mike McDaniel’s first season as Miami’s coach and the upturn in the play of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

The former Alabama All-America has the best passing-efficiency rating in the NFL, and Miami has its best record 11 games into a season since 2001 at 8-3.

MORE NFL:

· ALABAMA SPORTS HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES CLASS OF 2023

· 3 FORMER ALABAMA TEAMMATES WIN WEEK 12 AWARDS

· TOM BRADY ON JALEN HURTS: ‘HE’S PLAYNG AT A VERY, VERY HIGH LEVEL’

Wired for sound during the Dolphins’ 30-15 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday, McDaniel has plenty of interaction with Tagovailoa during the game, as would be expected, but he also has fun with the quarterback.

During warmups, the coach, while walking past the quarterback, said: “Georgia is definitely the best SEC school without a shadow of a doubt. I’m so glad Tua can’t hear me.”

On the sidelines, McDaniel tells Tagovailoa that he checked out the quarterback’s high school highlights on YouTube.

“Bro, your technique was trash. Thank God for Bev,” McDaniel said, referring to Dolphins quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell.

Tagovailoa completed 22-of-36 passes for 299 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against Houston. Because the Dolphins took Tagovailoa out leading 30-0 in the third quarter, the quarterback had second-half time to spend standing with McDaniel on the sideline.

RELATED: FATHERHOOD CHANGES TUA TAGOVAILOA’S THANKSGIVING PERSPECTIVE

The Dolphins play the San Francisco 49ers at 3:05 p.m. CST Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.