The abusive relationship that is being a Miami Dolphins fan took another punch in the nose this January. Owner Stephen Ross finally, if a season too late, decided to fire Mike McDaniel who barely had the managerial skills to run a Best Buy much less a professional football team. Dolphin fans’ joy could only last for a couple weeks, as Ross chose another inexperienced stooge in Jeff Halfley to replace him.
What makes this crime even worse is there were so many coaches with NFL experience to interview. There were Super Bowl winners in John Harbaugh or Mike Tomlin. There was a two time NFL coach of the year winner in Kevin Stefanski or even a dude who had a 16-3 record against the Dolphins in Sean McDermott. Instead Ross went the cheap route as he always does, hiring a neophyte in Jeff Hafley who will learn on the job as the Dolphins stumble through another wasted season.
Since Ross bought the team in 2009, he’s hired five coaches following a shamefully predictable pattern. He picks a coordinator with no NFL head coaching experience. Lets them mess around to mediocre results for somewhere between three and four seasons, then fires them and does the same thing all over again.
To Hafley’s credit, unlike Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, Brian Flores or McDaniel, he does have some head coaching experience as he led Boston College for four years. To his discredit Hafley led the Boston College Eagles to a depressing 22-26 record. If you’re going to the minor leagues to find your NFL coach at least get yourself a winner.
What makes this even more infuriating is watching our hated rival New England Patriots rebuild so quickly after Tom Brady left them in 2019. The Patriots had five meandering years between Brady leaving New England and making the Super Bowl this year, but their owner was decisive. He saw former quarterback Mac Jones was serviceable, but not dominant. So they cut ties after three years and found a hero in Drake Maye. Meanwhile Ross gave Ryan Tannehill seven seasons and Tua Tagovailoa six years and counting to prove they weren’t elite.
After The Patriots canned their legendary coach Bill Belichick, they gave a rookie coach a shot in Jerod Mayo. Mayo floundered. Instead of giving him a few seasons to learn on the job, the Patriots saw an experienced coach on the market in Mike Vrabel and pounced. A year later they went from 4-13 to 14-3. Coaches matter in the NFL.
I assume Ross hired Hafley to tank in the hope of better draft picks. Ross famously, if allegedly, offered Brian Flores lots of money to throw games in 2019. But if Hafley looks like a halfwit during this upcoming lost 2026 season, Ross should learn from his good friend Donald Trump and say “You’re fired”. Then for once he should pony up some of his billions of dollars on a coach with a resume to give long suffering Dolphin fans the slightest bit of hope.
