The Miami Dolphins have an offensive coordinator!

And they didn’t stray very far from home to find one. Reports on Saturday evening indicated that the Dolphins were promoting offensive assistant Bobby Slowik to offensive coordinator, making him the first coach off Mike McDaniel’s staff to secure a spot on new head coach Jeff Hafley‘s staff. Slowik was once considered a young star coordinator for his work with Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud as a rookie.

After a regression in 2024, Slowik was let go and joined the Dolphins’ staff as a senior passing game coordinator. The Dolphins’ passing game didn’t leap off the screen in 2025, but it’s nearly impossible to filter assignment of blame between Slowik, QB coach Darrell Bevell, OC Frank Smith, former head coach Mike McDaniel, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s regression.

Who could some of the early winners and losers be for Hafley’s decision to promote Slowik?

Potential winners, losers from Hafley’s decision to promote Bobby Slowik

WINNER: Center Aaron Brewer

Everyone was worried about what Aaron Brewer’s future in Miami would look like after his breakout under McDaniel. Well, we’ve not gotten a vote of confidence from new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who called Brewer a building block of the roster, and now Hafley is keeping Slowik on staff.

There will be changes to the offense, but the root family of the scheme is off the same tree as what Miami has run the last two seasons. That means Brewer’s weaponized athleticism and range as a blocker should get similar opportunities to shine in 2026.

LOSER: Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa

It’s very difficult to compartmentalize what role Slowik did and didn’t have in the new version of the offense from 2025. It is clear that it didn’t work.

Tagovailoa, in a cruel twist, had his second healthy season in the NFL in 2025 but still missed the final three games due to benching. And he did not play well in Slowik’s one season in Miami.

Tagovailoa has voiced an interest in a fresh start. If he was going to get one in Miami, keeping assistants from last year’s offensive staff amid a head coaching change doesn’t feel like the best way to get it.

WINNER: Offensive line coach Butch Barry?

We don’t know Butch Barry’s fate yet. But what we do know is that Barry and Slowik go back. WAY BACK. All the way back to 2006 at Michigan Tech, where Barry was the offensive coordinator for Slowik’s last two seasons as a player.

Slowik will help the Dolphins run an offensive scheme rooted in Miami’s under McDaniel. He knows these players, and so does Barry — he’s got up to three years of time on task with Miami’s linemen. Barry did great work with Brewer and left tackle Patrick Paul and helped to get the best out of tackle Austin Jackson, too.

Slowik keeping the scheme family in place would presumably boost Barry’s chances of staying.

LOSER: Wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

This turned out to be quite the “square peg, round hole” scenario in 2025. Westbrook-Ikhine was brought in to be a physical blocker and secondary counter-punch in the passing game. He finished the year with 11 receptions for 81 yards.

They were lower numbers across the board than we’ve seen from Westbrook-Ikhine since his rookie season in 2020. And now, with Westbrook-Ikhine looming as a potential salary cap casualty, he’ll get no reprieve in the way of a new offensive system in Miami. I would guess this pushes him closer to being a roster cut this offseason.

WINNER: Fullback Alec Ingold

While Westbrook-Ikhine now looks like a potential roster cut with the move to promote Slowik, this feels like good news for highly regarded fullback Alec Ingold. Ingold carries a $5 million salary cap charge in 2026, and, depending on the offensive vision, Ingold could have been deemed redundant or no longer worth the combination of a high cap charge and a roster spot to play fullback.

Now? Ingold gets some peace of mind knowing that the fullback isn’t necessarily on the way out in Miami. Fullback Andrew Beck played nearly 350 snaps for Slowik in Houston in 2023, his first season as the Texans’ offensive coordinator. Ingold isn’t out of the woods yet, but knowing that Hafley wants to get under center and run the ball, plus Slowik’s experience with a fullback, bodes well.