Jeff Hafley ran a Packers defense that ranked among the NFL's top dozen, but also suffered an epic collapse to the Bears in the playoffs.
The Miami Dolphins just hired the guy who led a defense that ranked among the top dozen in the NFL the past two years.
The Miami Dolphins also hired the guy whose defense just suffered an epic collapse in the playoffs.
See how easy it is to paint the incoming Jeff Hafley regime any way you like?
The Dolphins are going to introduce Hafley as their next head coach any day now. Monday night, a buzz came over their stadium, Hard Rock, and not just because Miami and Indiana were about to battle it out for college football’s national championship. In a most inopportune bit of timing, word leaked out that Hafley had been the survivor in a pool of 11 head-coaching candidates to succeed Mike McDaniel.
Hafley arrives after having coordinated Green Bay’s defense the past couple of seasons. His arrival came as a shock to anyone somehow unaware that the Dolphins had just hired Jon-Eric Sullivan as general manager, and Sullivan arrives from — yup — Green Bay’s front office.
So while Hafley will be the face of the Dolphins on the sidelines on Sundays, Sullivan is the guy really on the hook. Hafley pans out, Sullivan looks like a genius. He doesn’t, Sullivan’s pick will be looked at as cronyism.
No matter what, never underestimate the power of familiarity in the NFL.
Is Hafley another in a long line of Stephen Ross hires with no NFL head-coaching experience? Yes.
How did the others turn out? Well, uh, the Dolphins did wake up Monday morning searching for a coach, didn’t they? And we’ve gotten used to that every four Januarys, haven’t we?
Sean McVay was first-time head coach when Rams hired him
Does that mean Hafley won’t pan out? Of course not. Sean McVay was a first-timer when the Rams hired him and we all know how that turned out. Experience helps, especially when it comes to smoothing out the rough edges in dealing with today’s athletes, but it’s not a be-all, end-all. Everybody has to start somewhere.
Still, there’s a nagging thought that makes you wish the Dolphins had at least taken a harder look than they apparently did at Sean McDermott, the latest blockbuster firing/resignation by a proven NFL coach this cycle. McDermott had taken the Buffalo Bills to the playoffs eight of his nine seasons. The AFC East ran through him.
McDermott didn’t take his team to the Super Bowl, not even with Josh Allen, that’s true. But for a Dolphins franchise that struggles to get to the playoffs, let alone hasn’t won a playoff game in 25 years, if you offer them eight playoff trips from 2026-2034, the only proper answer should be: Sign us up.
A quick word, also, on one coach who we know was considered. Chris Shula, defensive coordinator of the Rams, is going to get his shot in this league, probably sooner rather than later. For anyone who has cared about the Dolphins, it’s impossible not to root for him. For anyone who cares about the Shula family, you had to hope it happens elsewhere, because the pressure on him here would be excruciating. Things go wrong, he’d be compared to how his grandfather, Don, did it while becoming the winningest coach in NFL history. Things go right, he’d still be compared to Granddad. It’s an unfair burden, even for a Shula.
As for Hafley …
In Green Bay, his defense ranked 11th in fewest points allowed and 12th in total defense this season after ranking sixth in points and fifth in total D last year. The year before he arrived, the Packers were 10th in scoring and 17th in total D.
Talk to Packers fans today and you may not hear much about that. What you will hear is how Green Bay took a 21-3 halftime lead against the hated Chicago Bears in the wild-card round and managed to lose 31-27 while giving up two touchdowns in the final 4:18.
It was the Bears’ largest playoff comeback. More importantly, it was the Packers’ biggest playoff collapse. It even appeared to crank up heat (temporarily) on coach Matt LaFleur.
Of course, Green Bay’s defense by this time had long operated without injured Micah Parsons, as elite a defender as there is in this league.
Few if any coaches relied on the kind of personal touch Dolphins players grew used to under McDaniel. But Hafley has said he has to know his players in order to lead them, so he’s not going to be a my-door-is-always-closed type, either. His pedigree, of having worked at various times with Kyle Shanahan and Ryan Day among others is a plus.
Hafley will be charged with cranking up the toughness and physicality on the Dolphins, a shift from McDaniel’s reliance (until 2025) on speed. He must make the defense better.
How would Aaron Rodgers look in a Dolphins uniform?
What about the offense? A major decision will be his choice of offensive coordinator. That’s Step 1. Step 2 will be straightening out the quarterback situation.
Suggestion: If the Miami Dolphins really want to be Green Bay South, might I suggest a certain 42-year-old former Packers quarterback who just threw 24 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Aaron Rodgers, how ’bout it, for just a year while they get the salary cap straightened out?
Finally, Hafley does seem like the kind who has coaching in his blood and has long known it. Back when he was a 185-pound receiver at Siena College, he had leg injuries that required multiple surgeries. He made the most of his time.
“While I was recovering, I’d go in and watch tape with the coaches,” he told The Bergen Record. “Then they’d even let me sit up in the booth and I’d help them coach until I got better. At that point, I kind of figured, ‘You know what? Maybe I want to coach in college.’ ”
Hafley got that shot. Coached Boston College to bowl-eligible status.
Now, he must match that in Miami.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins GM banking on protege Jeff Hafley as head coach
Category: General Sports
