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After finishing the 2025 season with a 7-10 record, the Miami Dolphins fired head coach Mike McDaniel and hired Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to take his place.
While Hafley has spent his life coaching on the defensive side of the ball, he's allowing defensive coordinator Sean Duggan to run the unit while the head coach familiarizes himself with Bobby Slowik's offense.
“Once training camp hits I’ll take [the defense] back over. [This] allows me to be the head coach right now and that’s huge,” Hafley told Richard Sherman on his podcast. “I’m sitting in the quarterback meetings. I’m sitting in the offensive installs. Because what I learned from this go around is I have to learn everything that’s going on. I can’t be the defensive coach. I don’t want the players to see me as just the defensive coordinator. I want them to see me, and feel me as the head coach. And I want to know all of the scheme.”
Slowik is a holdover from McDaniel's staff last year after serving as the Houston Texans offensive coordinator for two seasons. He and Hafley worked together with the San Francisco 49ers from 2017-18.
Having that balance is really important, especially as an inexperienced head coach. It's probably something that McDaniel could've benefitted from, as he had really only worked on the offensive side of the ball, and he was pretty hands-off with his defensive coordinators in Miami.
Hopefully, the cross-training helps Hafley understand things better and communicate better with his team, resulting in sustained success.
More Dolphins: NFL analyst says Dolphins rookie WR will be a "nightmare" for defenses
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Jeff Hafley doing something Mike McDaniel could've benefited from
Continue reading...
While Hafley has spent his life coaching on the defensive side of the ball, he's allowing defensive coordinator Sean Duggan to run the unit while the head coach familiarizes himself with Bobby Slowik's offense.
“Once training camp hits I’ll take [the defense] back over. [This] allows me to be the head coach right now and that’s huge,” Hafley told Richard Sherman on his podcast. “I’m sitting in the quarterback meetings. I’m sitting in the offensive installs. Because what I learned from this go around is I have to learn everything that’s going on. I can’t be the defensive coach. I don’t want the players to see me as just the defensive coordinator. I want them to see me, and feel me as the head coach. And I want to know all of the scheme.”
Slowik is a holdover from McDaniel's staff last year after serving as the Houston Texans offensive coordinator for two seasons. He and Hafley worked together with the San Francisco 49ers from 2017-18.
Having that balance is really important, especially as an inexperienced head coach. It's probably something that McDaniel could've benefitted from, as he had really only worked on the offensive side of the ball, and he was pretty hands-off with his defensive coordinators in Miami.
Hopefully, the cross-training helps Hafley understand things better and communicate better with his team, resulting in sustained success.
More Dolphins: NFL analyst says Dolphins rookie WR will be a "nightmare" for defenses
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Jeff Hafley doing something Mike McDaniel could've benefited from
Continue reading...
