The Miami Dolphins made a surprising move in this coaching cycle by hiring Jeff Hafley as their next head coach. Over the past two seasons, Hafley served as the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers. He is not a name most fans expected, and there is already some uncertainty around what he brings to the table as the new face of the Dolphins.
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Before this new gig, Hafley’s last head coaching experience came at the college level. He spent four seasons at Boston College, finishing with a 22-26 record and three bowl appearances. However, he only coached in one of those games, a 23-14 win over SMU in the 2023 Fenway Bowl. After that, he made his way back to the NFL, joining Green Bay.
Because of that background, Hafley’s jump to an NFL head coaching role has raised some eyebrows. With no previous head coaching experience in the league and subpar records in his previous tenures, analysts like Ryan Heath have already voiced concerns about whether he is ready to lead the Dolphins at all.
“He exceeded 6 wins in only one of his four years as head coach at Boston College. Living in the area, I never got the sense that he had many supporters around here by the end,” Heath posted on X, adding,
“He didn’t want to deal with building a roster in the NIL/transfer portal era, so he left to coordinate a Packers defense that arguably underperformed its talent in 2025 (bottom-12 in EPA/play allowed).”
The Packers’ defense did underperform this season. They started strong, allowing 18 or fewer points in four of their first five games. But they struggled over the back half of the year and saw several second-half collapses. Their worst collapse ultimately ended their season when they blew an 18-point lead to the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card.
With this in mind, Heath simply can’t see Hafley as an upgrade over Mike McDaniel.
I won’t pretend to know a ton about Hafley.
But he exceeded 6 wins in only one of his four years as head coach at Boston College. Living in the area, I never got the sense that he had many supporters around here by the end.
He didn’t want to deal with building a roster in the… https://t.co/NjflrwIXay
— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) January 19, 2026
Not to mention, historically, the Dolphins and first-year head coach signings haven’t worked out. It’s a pattern that’s followed them ever since they hired Nick Saban in 2005. Sports reporter Michael Villegas spoke about this on X:
Thread:
Went 22-26 as HC at Boston College before leaving to become DC with the Packers where in his final game as DC for Green Bay, the Bears come back from 21-3 in the 4th to win 31-27…The last time the Dolphins took from the Packers was Joe Philbin…
Here’s a list of… https://t.co/9c2zgtpF8J
— Michael Villegas (@mikevillegas__) January 19, 2026
In our opinion, Hafley is not an exciting hire, and it’s hard to say whether he’ll be an upgrade over McDaniel. The biggest issue we have with the hire is that there are other better coaching options on the open market. Sean McDermott is now looking for a job and would’ve been a spectacular hire. Chris Shula also would’ve been a great story, being the grandson of Dolphins legend Don Shula.
At the end of the day, though, it goes to show how little interest there was in the Dolphins’ head coaching position. The team lost a lot of key players this past season and looks to be going through a transition at quarterback. Because of this, it seems like most coaches don’t want to risk being the next scapegoat for a failed season.
Hafley will happily take on this risk, as it’s his first NFL head coaching job ever. It’s an opportunity too good to pass up, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Dolphins get on with him moving forward.
