Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley shares his philosophy on one of the hottest trends in football
There are few things more “in” right now than going for it on fourth down. Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley just shared where he stands on the idea.
Name something more “in” across the NFL right now than going for it on fourth down. Go ahead. I’ll wait. For Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley, we don’t really have a grasp on how aggressive he’s going to ultimately be on the final down.
He’s endured a lot of that aggression the last two years as a defensive play-caller. Living in the NFC North, he’s been across from Detroit’s Dan Campbell and Chicago’s Ben Johnson a bunch. Both have helped to push the fourth-down aggressiveness to new heights as of late. We’ll get our first idea of where Hafley himself stands this weekend. But in the meantime, he did pull back the curtain on Monday to share some of his philosophy.
Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley shares his philosophy on fourth downs
“I think during the week, you study that and you kind of have, analytics say in this game, in these situations, say for example, fourth-and 4 on this yard line is a go. And then you say, let’s tweak that, let’s probably go more fourth-and 2 in that situation. So I think what you do is we sit down, we have those conversations, and you kind of give them my mindset. So then during the course of the game in this situation, it’s, hey, in this situation, we said fourth-and 2 was a go. And my gut at the time might be like let’s punt it or let’s kick the field goal.
I think you do your homework. I think you have a plan, and I think a lot of the times you try to stick with your plan, but there’s always got to be the feel of the game and where it’s going and the momentum of the game and how I think everything is going and what the team needs from me right now.“
— Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley on his fourth-down philosophy
The needs of this team in 2026 can only begin to be affirmed once the ball is set and we start playing for keeps. Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas serves as the first data point.
But based on what Hafley has laid out here, he’s probably not going to need a lot of time to think about things. If you’re truly prepared ahead of time, the decisions can come fast. That should be a big objective for this Dolphins coaching staff. Coach fast. Get the players to play fast. And, hopefully, that can lead the way for a win. But rest assured, the Dolphins will have the conversation ahead of time so that they’re ready.
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