The Miami Dolphins have hired Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to become their new head coach, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport announced on Monday.
Hafley, 46, served as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator for the last two seasons. He was previously the head coach for Boston College for four seasons, going 22-26 in that span. He reunites with Jon-Eric Sullivan in Miami, their new general manager, who was previously the Packers’ vice president of player personnel.
Hafley becomes the third head coach hired in this year’s NFL head-coaching carousel, and he’s also the first of the bunch to be hired as a first-time NFL head coach. Let’s take a look at the Dolphins’ hire and assign a grade to determine if it was a good move.
Grading the Jeff Hafley Hire
2026 marks a unique NFL coaching carousel, as there will be 10 new head coaching hires, and several of the fired coaches are household names. Miami made a smart move to cut ties with Mike McDaniel, even with their improvement in play down the stretch of the season. His teams had fallen short of expectations each of the last two years.
It was smart of the Dolphins to make a defensive-minded hire, especially considering they had one of the least efficient defenses in the NFL this season. Having an experienced mind like Hafley should help get them back on track. They have some talented pass rushers on their roster, and a better defensive coaching staff in place should help them.
Despite having the right approach, Hafley might not be the home-run hire the Giants made with John Harbaugh or the Falcons made with Kevin Stefanski. In each of the last two seasons, the Packers fell short of top-ten rankings in PFSN’s Defense Impact scoring.
They actually regressed in 2025, falling from a 78.7 score in 2024 to a 74.4 score this season. Part of that decrease was their missing Micah Parsons over the last few games, but that’s not the greatest look for a head-coaching hire. His record as a head coach at Boston College wasn’t particularly impressive, either.
As far as first-time NFL head coaches go, Hafley is undoubtedly ahead of the curve because of his time leading Boston College before his stint in Green Bay. As far as defensive-minded head coaches go, however, the likes of Jesse Minter, Chris Shula, and Vance Joseph are among those whose defenders outperformed the Packers’ unit this season. It would’ve been beneficial to check in on the newly fired Sean McDermott, too.
Hafley’s earlier experience as a defensive backs coach should help a Miami secondary that’s pretty bare bones heading into the 2026 offseason. He should definitely help them get better on defense, but they also face an uphill battle moving on from Tua Tagovailoa and rebuilding an offense that’s fallen from grace in recent seasons.
Don’t expect the Dolphins to excel right out of the gate; this is a process that should take some time. It’s up to Miami’s front office to give their new head coach the patience that he deserves.
