Dolphins hiring Jeff Hafley

[Sibster]

Packers DC is now the head coach in Miami.

https://www.thephinsider.com/miami-dolphins-coaching-staff/114468/miami-dolphins-head-coach-update-jeff-hafley-hired-2026-mike-mcdaniel

[Pappy13]

I hope Miami focuses on the defensive side of the ball and the offensive line this year in the draft. There's not a QB in the draft worth spending a high draft choice on. In my opinion they should try to trade Tua and failing that designate him as a June 1st cut and spread his dead cap money over the next 2 years. Let Ewers compete with whomever you can pick up off the scrap heap or with another low round rookie QB and make due. Run the ball and play defense. After next year you can try to find your long term QB, but next year should be about controlling the line of scrimmage, run the ball, stop the run, try to maintain possession and at least be in the game in the 4th quarter and go from there. My satisfaction with the new GM and head coach will be based on how closely they stick to that script.

[masterfins]

Dolphins Past HC's:

Dave Wannstedt 200-2004
Nick Saban 2005-2006
Cam Cameron 2007
Tony Sparano 2008-2011
Joe Philbin  2012-2015
Adam Gase 2016-2018
Brian Flores 2019-2021
Mike McDaniel 2022-2025

Jeff Hafley 2026 -

What do they all have in common??  NONE of them had NFL Head Coaching Experience when hired by the Dolphins.  All that coaching talent out there this year and Miami hires the friend of the GM that was the DC for Green Bay; a Green Bay team that didn't even have a good defense.  Why was he hired?

So disappointing.  I didn't expect 2026 to be a good year, but I thought there was potential for moving forward if Ewers could develop, but I just see regression for the next three years.  Great job by the Troy Aikman brain trust.  Can we beg McDaniel to come back?  I actually saw some imporvement from him after Grier was fired.

[Spider-Dan]

Dave Wannstedt had previous NFL head coaching experience with the Bears when he was hired by Miami.

[Sibster]

Dolphins Past HC's:

Dave Wannstedt 200-2004
Nick Saban 2005-2006
Cam Cameron 2007
Tony Sparano 2008-2011
Joe Philbin  2012-2015
Adam Gase 2016-2018
Brian Flores 2019-2021
Mike McDaniel 2022-2025

Jeff Hafley 2026 -

What do they all have in common??  NONE of them had NFL Head Coaching Experience when hired by the Dolphins.  All that coaching talent out there this year and Miami hires the friend of the GM that was the DC for Green Bay; a Green Bay team that didn't even have a good defense.  Why was he hired?

So disappointing.  I didn't expect 2026 to be a good year, but I thought there was potential for moving forward if Ewers could develop, but I just see regression for the next three years.  Great job by the Troy Aikman brain trust.  Can we beg McDaniel to come back?  I actually saw some imporvement from him after Grier was fired.

Aside from Wannstedt who had previous head coaching experience, you are spot on.   And that's why the Dolphins will never succeed with Ross as owner.   He could've gotten McDermott who would've immediately changed the culture.   Instead he goes his usual route of hiring coordinators who don't have head coaching experience.

Ross is a complete disaster with this team.   You could ask him to make you a cup of coffee and he'd find a way to fuck it up.

[Pappy13]

Dolphins Past HC's:

Dave Wannstedt 200-2004
Nick Saban 2005-2006
Cam Cameron 2007
Tony Sparano 2008-2011
Joe Philbin  2012-2015
Adam Gase 2016-2018
Brian Flores 2019-2021
Mike McDaniel 2022-2025

What do they all have in common??  NONE of them had NFL Head Coaching Experience when hired by the Dolphins.

Something else they all had in common? Chris Grier as a member the of Dolphins staff either in a scout role or GM role. That's changed. It's conceivable that alone will make a difference as there are examples of first time head coaches having success, just not with the Dolphins and Grier. In fact I would go as far as to say that Ross is counting on it.

[masterfins]

Something else they all had in common? Chris Grier as a member the of Dolphins staff either in a scout role or GM role. That's changed. It's conceivable that alone will make a difference as there are examples of first time head coaches having success, just not with the Dolphins and Grier. In fact I would go say far as to say that Ross is counting on it.

Well if he's counting on success because he let go of a guy he's had in the building for 25 years, then what does that say about his decision making.  Ross has a couple jobs:

1) put up the money to pay people - He does that.

2) Hire a competent GM to fill the roster.  I don't think Grier was terrible (like a couple of his predecessors), but he made enough big mistakes to be let go (and he didn't back away from the mistakes).  His new GM is off to a bad start IMO.

3) Weigh in on QB decisions.  I think he failed at this as far as Tua is concerned.

4) Weigh in on HC decisions.  He doesn't have a good track record in this department.

I'd rather have Ross as an owner compared to some of the other NFL ownership out there, but he's not doing a great job.

[masterfins]

Aside from Wannstedt who had previous head coaching experience, you are spot on.   And that's why the Dolphins will never succeed with Ross as owner.   He could've gotten McDermott who would've immediately changed the culture.   Instead he goes his usual route of hiring coordinators who don't have head coaching experience.

Ross is a complete disaster with this team.   You could ask him to make you a cup of coffee and he'd find a way to fuck it up.

He could have gotten anybody but Harbaugh (and maybe that's a good thing considering all the demands Harbaugh had), but they rushed in and hired a 2nd or 3rd tier guy.  You throw enough money at a guy and they will work for you.  This coaching draft class was like having a QB rich draft and you go and take a 3rd round guy because you think he has great potential.  Over and over again Miami picks players/coaches because of some perceived potential and they fail time and time again.

[Pappy13]

He could have gotten anybody but Harbaugh (and maybe that's a good thing considering all the demands Harbaugh had), but they rushed in and hired a 2nd or 3rd tier guy.  You throw enough money at a guy and they will work for you.  This coaching draft class was like having a QB rich draft and you go and take a 3rd round guy because you think he has great potential.  Over and over again Miami picks players/coaches because of some perceived potential and they fail time and time again.

I think you are overestimating Miami's chances at landing a top coach. With the position that Miami is in (no QB and cap space hell) they weren't in position to dictate what head coaches were going to come here. Sure those coaches were going to come in for interviews, but were their hearts really into making Miami their next home? I don't think they were. They may have ONLY gotten Hafley because of the GM hire. You might say we were lucky to get who we got.

On top of that, that's why some of us weren't keen on letting McDaniel go. Just because you think the current guy isn't good enough doesn't mean you are going to find a better replacement. McDaniel is probably over the moon that he's now the OC with the Chargers. We might regret letting him go.

[Phishfan]

I don't know much about this guy but I'm not feeling much excitement from people.

[Dave Gray]

I don't know much about this guy but I'm not feeling much excitement from people.

I'm tired, boss.

I refuse to get excited about this guy or anyone else.  I have lost faith in Ross.  I think we are a bit of a clown show and that we ditched (and how we parted with) McDaniel just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  It seems like we just changed because of the result without looking at the cause.  McDaniel seems to have been fired as a resulted of his own previous success.  I was finally excited about the kind of team we could be and now I'm not.

That's not fair to the new guy, so I hope he's great and he'll have all the chance in the world to prove it, but if I'm being asked to be excited by this team that just fires the coach every 4 years for decade after decade, maybe it's not the coaches...

[Spider-Dan]

This entire sequence of events screams good ol' boy network hiring.

Which is fine if you're getting an established executive like Bill Parcells, or an established coach like John Harbaugh... but to bring in a first-time GM and allow him to immediately bring over his buddy as a first-time head coach means you'd better fucking win, and quick.

[CF DolFan]

I kind of feel the same as I did with Mike. Not excited but hopeful something could change. I mean, the law of averages say we have to hit on one sooner or later, right? hahaha

[Dolfanalyst]

This entire sequence of events screams good ol' boy network hiring.

Which is fine if you're getting an established executive like Bill Parcells, or an established coach like John Harbaugh... but to bring in a first-time GM and allow him to immediately bring over his buddy as a first-time head coach means you'd better fucking win, and quick.

I don't think that's necessarily the case.  It's entirely possible the hires were made such that 1) the Dolphins first hired one of the best up and coming executives available at GM, and 2) he in turn hired one of the coordinators widely thought to be ready for a head coaching position, and one with whom he already has a good working relationship, given the importance that relationship (GM and head coach) will have with the Dolphins.

[Pappy13]

This makes me happy. The QB should be the same as all the other positions on your team. Every year you should be looking to upgrade at that position if you can. Whether that be in the 1st round or the 7th, if you think there's a player that will upgrade the position then take a shot. Now if you have a QB that is a franchise QB, then probably you're not going to need to draft one every other year and you might go 3 years without drafting one, but you should still be looking at the position. If you see one in the middle rounds you think could be your backup, pick him and groom him. At worst you can trade him to someone else for draft picks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/miamidolphins/comments/1qk04ib/barry_jackson_sullivan_said_team_will_draft/