Jeff Hafley is proving to have an unconventional answer to one of the biggest questions surrounding around his Miami Dolphins coaching staff
There have been questions about if Jeff Hafley’s Miami Dolphins coaching staff has enough experience. Hafley’s certainly not short on that in his inner circle.
The Miami Dolphins coaching staff assembled by Jeff Hafley is an interesting melting pot of backgrounds. There are young college coaches. Well-established position coaches. Former players. And a handful of experienced veteran coaches.
But for Hafley, who is a first-time NFL head coach, many have questioned if the staff has enough experience at the head of the table. Chris Tabor, the team’s special teams coordinator, was experience as an interim head coach. But that’s it. So the question persists: does Hafley have enough experience around him to navigate the challenges of being an NFL head coach? This week brought some answers — in an unorthodox way. Hafley may not have former head coaches on his staff, but he’s got them in his inner circle.
Jeff Hafley recently caught up with former Miami Dolphins head coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt
Three separate Miami Dolphins head coaches in one photograph. The chapters of Hafley’s tenure in South Florida haven’t been written yet. But Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt are a combined 81-64 as the men who led the Dolphins directly on the heels of Don Shula’s run in Miami. They know plenty about what goes into a successful team in South Florida. The challenges that come with playing and leading in this community. And the pressure that comes with trying to live up to larger than life legends of the game, such as Shula and Marino.
These two saw it all. And they were the stewards of the last consistently competitive chapter of this franchise.
Wannstedt, of course, gave Hafley one of his big breaks in coaching. Hafley coached under him at the University of Pittsburgh. And Wannstedt has reportedly been hanging around at minicamp this week, supporting his understudy and the new man in charge of the Dolphins.
The connection between Wannstedt and Johnson runs deep. The pair goes all the way back to the late 1970s, when Johnson was coaching at Pitt and Wannstedt was serving as a grad assistant. They worked together at Pitt, the University of Miami, Oklahoma State, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Miami Dolphins.
It creates an intriguing, untraditional pipeline of support for Hafley as he navigates the waters of being an NFL head coach. It’s cool to see Hafley rubbing elbows with his mentor, and his mentor’s mentor — especially given the connection they all have as head coaches of the Dolphins. Every bit of a support system counts. And Hafley, amid the concerns some had about experience on his staff, appears to have more support than he could ever need on his side. Here’s to it helping create the kind of consistent winner Miami is hungry for.
Miami Dolphins News