The Phinsider
The Miami Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley as their head coach on Monday, beginning a new era for the franchise. Hafley joins Miami after two years as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator. He enters the position as the first time, he has been named an NFL head coach, though he did spend four years as the head coach at Boston College.
Dolphins fans are struggling with the hire. Some have issues with the team’s new general manager, Jon-Eric Sullivan, who was previously the Packers’ vice president of player personnel, hiring a coach with whom he worked previously. Two weeks ago, Dolphins fans wanted the then-head coach, Mike McDaniel, fired so the new GM could hire a head coach he wanted and with whom he could work. Sullivan hired a coach he wanted and with whom he could work, and somehow that is wrong.
Another issue Dolphins fans are having revolves around hiring a “first-time head coach.” Many fans wanted the new coach to bring previous NFL head coaching experience to the team. Arguments are made that first-time head coaches always fail, so the Dolphins needed to go get a coach with experience. In an offseason that includes John Harbaugh and Sean McDermott being fired while Mike Tomlin stepped down, there are options for an experienced coach, but is that the only way to have success in the NFL? How do coaches get experience as a head coach if they should not be hired to be a head coach the first time? How many “retread” coaches are there in the NFL?
I went through each of the 32 teams this morning to look at what experience their head coach had. Across the league, eight teams have a coach who was a head coach for another NFL team at some point in his career. There are 16 teams who have a head coach who had no head coaching experience prior to being hired. The Dolphins are the only team with a coach who has only had head coaching experience at the collegiate level. The remaining six teams are still searching for their next head coach – with McDermott likely to land one of those jobs and increase the number of experienced coaches.
It also appears that the Pittsburgh Steelers are closing in on hiring Mike McCarthy as their head coach, potentially adding another former head coach to the list.
Of note, no head coach has won a Super Bowl with multiple teams – just to add that to the discussion.
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