New Dolphins coach Hafley hires Green Bay assistant for key role
New Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley continued filling out his coaching staff on Monday, hiring Packers defensive backs coach Ryan Downard for a similar role, a league source confirmed.
ESPN said his exact title will be Dolphins defensive pass game coordinator.
Downard had been with the Packers since 2018, serving one year as quality control coach on the defensive side and then working three seasons as their assistant defensive backs coach before he was promoted to safeties coach in 2022 and defensive backs coach before the 2023 season.
In his three seasons as defensive backs coach, the Packers ranked ninth, 14th and 11th in yards passing permitted per game.
A former defensive back at Eastern Michigan, the 37-year-old Downard began his coaching career as a high school assistant in Lima, Ohio in 2012, then was a graduate assistant at Toledo and Texas Tech before the Cleveland Browns hired him as an assistant coach in 2014.
He spent two years with the Browns and another two as director of football operations at Bowling Green before joining the Packers.
Downard had six interceptions as a redshirt freshman at Eastern Michigan and was named an honorable mention All American. Injuries eventually curtailed his playing career.
He’s the fourth confirmed assistant coach to join Hafley’s staff, joining offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik (who was the Dolphins’ passing game coordinator last season), special teams coach Chris Tabor (who held that job in Buffalo last season) and receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, who served in that role with the Tennessee Titans last year.
Last season, Brian Duker was the Dolphins’ secondary coach and Mathieu Araujo was the cornerbacks coach. Araujo reportedly is taking an assistant coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In other Monday news involving former Dolphins coaches, Mike McDaniel - as expected - was named offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers. And Craig Aukerman, who was the Dolphins’ special teams coach last season, took the same job with the Atlanta Falcons.
Here’s my Monday piece on Dolphins guard Jonah Savaiinaea.
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 5:20 PM.
