Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley shares his advice to QB Malik Willis as offseason program opens in Miami.
The Miami Dolphins opened the doors to players on Tuesday. What advice did head coach Jeff Hafley have for Malik Willis?
The Miami Dolphins‘ offseason program is off and running. We’ve seen some flashes on social media of prominent players, including new quarterback Malik Willis in the building. We’ve also heard from head coach Jeff Hafley, who posted a 30 minute press conference with the South Florida media.
Among the things he discussed? His advice for Willis as he enters his first major opportunity to serve as a franchise quarterback.
Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley shares his advice to new QB Malik Willis
“Yeah, I had a great conversation with (Malik) yesterday, he came to office. I said, ‘Don’t change who you are.’ I said, ‘Don’t put any extra pressure on yourself. You’ve earned the right to be here and have this opportunity, and you’ve done that by doing all the things the right way – don’t change that. Don’t press, just be you’.
And I want to make sure that he understands that. It doesn’t have to be perfect. There’s going to be mistakes made, but I want him to play with that confidence and I want him to play the way he’s always done it.”
Head coach JefF Hafley
On His Advice To QB Malik Willis
This is where the trust and comfort that exists among the primary faces of this early Dolphins build come into play. It’s part of the reason why Willis made the decision to saddle up and head south to South Florida. These guys, thanks to two years of time on task together in Green Bay, understand each other.
There’s no guess work in who Malik Willis is, and Willis can get the positive reinforcement of who is is from his head coach despite the fact that both are uniting in this building with this roster for the first time.
If Willis is going to be a success story in Miami, he’ll likely be charged with being the catalyst of big plays and helping to elevate the play of the players around him on the roster in 2026. He won’t have an optimized supporting group around him this season — it will be young. It will not have WR Jaylen Waddle. But the common thread for all good quarterback play in the NFL is that it comes from confident quarterbacks. Hafley pushing that button early on in the start of the offseason program is a great tone to strike; even if we can’t be guaranteed it will sustain itself once the games start this fall.
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