On Saturday, the Buffalo Bills are singularly focused on defeating the Denver Broncos, thereby punching their ticket to the AFC Championship. But the NFL coaching carousel doesn’t stop. The Miami Dolphins are closing in on their next head coach, hoping to turn the tables in the AFC East.
According to NFL Insider Tom Pellissero, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator has “emerged as a frontrunner” to become Miami’s next head coach. That matches up with an earlier report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that noted Hafley has an in-person interview scheduled with the Dolphins early next week.
Dolphins fans seem to see the writing on the wall already, expecting Hafley to be announced as head coach next week once the formalities are out of the way. Hafley and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan already have an established relationship, so it appears to be a natural fit.
While Bills Mafia have seen many coaches come and go through Miami throughout the years, if the Dolphins do go forward with Hafley, the hire should not be dismissed. Clearly, with Miami choosing to replace Mike McDaniel with a defensive mind, the franchise is looking to get back to a more direct method of competing against Josh Allen and Drake Maye at the top of the division.
Jeff Hafley’s defensive background lines up with Miami’s long-standing Josh Allen problem
The Dolphins obviously have a long road ahead of them to compete with the Bills and New England Patriots in the AFC East, but Hafley would be an intriguing hire in that effort. Hafley, 46, is a relative newcomer, but he isn’t nearly as unknown as Mike McDaniel was when he was hired in 2022. Mind you, the Dolphins didn’t have a ton of success with their most recent defensive-minded head coach, Brian Flores, but there are plenty of reasons for the Fins fans in South Beach to feel some excitement and for Bills fans to begin to take notice.
Hafley doesn’t have a ton of experience near the top of an NFL coaching staff, but he’s built quite the resume since getting his first co-coordinator position with Ohio State back in 2019. He was brought on in Green Bay in 2024. The Packers carried elite defenses into the postseason both years, ranking 5th and 12th in yards and 6th and 11th in points.
Hafley comes from the Greg Schiano and Mike Pettine trees on the defensive side, but he has top-connections in the Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan offensive trees too, having worked under Shanahan in San Francisco and Matt LaFleur in Green Bay.
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Naturally, the biggest hurdle for Hafley and Sullivan to clear off the field will be constructing a coaching staff and then beginning the roster rebuild process. Still, Hafley’s connections on both sides of the ball might give him a leg up in getting the coaching staff right quickly.
No doubt, Miami’s next coaching staff will be built with stopping Josh Allen as the top priority. Allen and the Bills terrorized the Dolphins throughout the McDaniel era, winning seven of nine meetings.
Of course, nothing is official just yet. The Dolphins have other second interviews scheduled for next week, but all signs are pointing toward Hafley being their guy.