The Phinsider
The Miami Dolphins are hiring Jeff Hafley as their new head coach. The hire comes after a week of virtual interviews with eight candidates and three in-person interviews. Hafley, the former defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, joins Miami as he completed an in-person interview on Monday, following up a virtual meeting last week.
The Dolphins announced the completion of an interview with Hafley on Monday evening, with multiple media reports immediately indicating the two sides were working to come to an agreement on a contract.
Miami held virtual interviews with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, Hafley, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, and Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula. Along with Hafley, the held in-person interviews with Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, and former Cleveland Browns (and new Atlanta Falcons) head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Hafley began his coaching career at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2001 as a running backs coach. He spent the next two years as a defensive assistant at Albany before working for two years as their defensive backs coach. In 2006, he starting a five-year stint with at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was a defensive assistant and defensive backs coach. In 2011, he was the defensive backs coach at Rutgers.
His first move into the NFL began in 2012 when he was named as assistant defensive backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was promoted to defensive backs coach in 2013, then took the same position with the Cleveland Browns in 2014. He joined the San Francisco 49ers as their defensive backs coach in 2016.
In 2019, Hafley became the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Ohio State before being named the head coach at Boston College in 2020. He held that position for four seasons, compiling a 22-26 record, including a win in the 2023 Fenway Bowl. He also qualified Boston College for bowl games in 2020 and 2021, but COVID-19 concerns cancelled those games.
In 2024, Hafley stepped down from his position at Boston College to become the Packers’ defensive coordinator.
“He wants to go coach football again in a league that is all about football,” a source told ESPN’s Pete Thamel in January 2024. “College coaching has become fundraising, NIL and recruiting your own team and transfers. There’s no time to coach football anymore. A lot of things that he went back to college for have disappeared.”
Hafley replaces Mike McDaniel who was fired after four seasons with the Dolphins. McDaniel took over the team in 2022, replacing Brian Flores. The Dolphins qualified for the playoffs in each of the first two seasons under McDaniel, trailing the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East both years, but clinching wild-card positions. Miami was 9-8 and 11-6 in those seasons, but...
