The Miami Dolphins Jeff Hafley signing as the team’s next head coach is a head scratcher. Not only has he never been a head coach in the NFL, but he was not a great defensive coordinator, and he failed at his last head coaching stop (Boston College). It’s clear that he either interviews extremely well or he’s part of some club that includes Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan.
The last success that Hafley had was as a defensive coordinator for NCAA powerhouse Ohio State. In a league where top teams can purchase the top players from the transfer portal and in high school recruiting, Hafley succeeded in having the most talented squad on the field play better than less talented squads. The Buckeyes featured the fourth-best scoring defense in college football (13.7ppg) with him calling the plays.
Hafley’s success in Columbus earned him his first head coaching gig for BC. His first season at the helm, the team went 6-5, averaging 25.8 points per game (68th in the country) and allowing 28.4 points per game (60th). After a full year of recruiting and a transfer portal cycle, he was able to lead the team to a 6-6 record in 2021. They averaged 24.7 points per game (93rd) and gave up 22.2 (31). In year three, he took a huge step backwards, going 3-9, scoring 17.8ppg (122) and allowing 30.3 (100).
In his final season, he got the team back where they started, going 7-6, averaging 24.8ppg (82) and giving up 28.3 (86). Over the four seasons combined, he posted a record of 22-26, and scored fewer points (23.8) than he gave up (27.3). He made it to one bowl game in four seasons, the Fenway Bowl, and defeated SMU 23-14. That kind of performance was just what the Green Bay Packers were looking for on their staff.
Hafley’s first season calling plays for Matt LaFleur’s defense was a success. The team was ranked sixth in the league in scoring defense (19.9), fourth in turnovers generated (31), fifth in tackles for a loss (95), and eighth in sacks (45). The team then invested $48 million in cornerback Nate Hobbs and traded for arguably the NFL’s best defender in Micah Parsons. With these additions, it’s only natural that he would do worse than the year before.
With Halfey calling the plays in 2025, the Packers were 11th in scoring defense (21.2), 28th in turnovers (14), 22nd in tackles for a loss (72), and 21st in sacks (31). The Dolphins could not help themselves. A coach with these qualities comes along once in a lifetime, and they did not want to risk a team like the Buffalo Bills (who had no interest) from snagging Halfey out from under them.
Hafley is clearly not great at calling defensive plays, and his stint as the head coach of an organization was lackluster at best. So, who knows what sort of results he will have in Miami? Receiver Tyreek Hill is always unhappy, and starting Tua Tagovailoa is locked into a lottery-winning contract while he regresses. The team swung and missed badly with Brian Flores, then not as badly with Mike McDaniel. It appears that now, they want the world to know just how poor their swing is.
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