Dolphins’ Hafley makes more hires, offers insight on his thinking. And more news
Like every new coach seemingly in the history of pro sports, Jeff Hafley’s first Dolphins coaching staff will be filled to a large extent -- but not entirely -- by people with whom he has worked before.
Of the 12 hires that have been confirmed, eight worked with Hafley previously.
Among the eight: offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.
Haffley also has worked with Packers linebackers coach Sean Duggan, who is reportedly a strong candidate for the Dolphins defensive coordinator job, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (Duggan is not included in the eight because his expected hiring by the Dolphins has not been confirmed.)
In an in-house Dolphins podcast, Hafley explained one reason why he has opted for familiarity.
“When you look at hiring a staff, the number one [consideration] is you win with people,” Hafley told Travis Wingfield. “We are going to go through adversity together. You have to have people that you trust that when things get hard, they’re not going to change who they are and they are going to rise up.
“[Slowik and Tabor] are two people I’ve been around. I was with Tabor in Cleveland, with Bobby in San Francisco. They’re two good people built the right way and they’re really good coaches.”
Hafley said hiring Slowik as offensive coordinator was a “no-brainer.”
They worked together with the 49ers, and Hafley said “Bobby is brilliant.”
In noting that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan moved Slowik from a job on the defensive staff to a position on offense in 2019, Hafley pointed out that “Kyle… takes the guys he thinks are the smartest on the staff and moves them over to offense.”
Slowik, who was the Dolphins pass game coordinator last season, was Houston’s offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024 before being dismissed.
“In Houston, he coached the rookie of the year [CJ Stroud], went to two playoffs,” Hafley said. “It didn’t work out that second year for him. I continued to stay in touch” with him last season.
Hafley said new hire Tabor is “one of the most respected special teams coaches in... the National Football League.”
Among the 12 known Dolphins hires, the others who were with Hafley are new linebackers coach Al Washington (together at Ohio State), defensive backs coach Ryan Downard (Green Bay), offensive line coach Zach Yenser (together with the 49ers), defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis (Packers), quarterback coach Nathaniel Hackett (Packers) and assistant offensive line coach Matt Applebaum (Boston College).
Washington joined the Dolphins late this week after spending the past four seasons as Notre Dame’s defensive line coach. He was shifted to linebackers coach earlier this offseason. A former defensive tackle at Notre Dame, Washington previously was linebackers coach at Michigan (2018) and Ohio State (2019 through 2021).
Hafley worked with Washington at Ohio State in 2019, when Hafley served as the Buckeyes’ co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Yenser was the Houston Texans’ assistant offensive line coach the past two seasons. He will be assisted by Appebaum, who was Hafley’s offensive line coach at Boston College and was Mike McDaniel’s first offensive line coach with the Dolphins (2022) before being dismissed after one season.
Hackett, who was fired late in his first season as Broncos head coach in 2022 after a 4-11 start, has worked as an offensive coordinator for four NFL teams and spent last season as a defensive analyst for the Packers.
Duggan, 38, recently completed his first season as the Packers’ linebackers coach. He worked in the same position on Hafley’s Boston College staff and also has worked in that role at Hawaii and Massachusetts.
Six weeks after Hafley left Boston College to become Packers’ defensive coordinator in January of 2024, the Packers hired Duggan as a defensive assistant.
The four confirmed new Dolphins assistants who have not worked with Hafley: cornerbacks coach Jahmile Addae, running backs coach Ladell Betts, receivers coach Tyke Tolbert and assistant defensive line coach Chuck Ndulue.
This and that
▪ In his chat with Wingfield, Hafley said his predecessor, Mike McDaniel, “is awesome. I have a ton of respect for Mike as a play-caller and coach in general.”
▪ The Dolphins will receive third-round compensatory picks in the 2026 and 2027 drafts if the Arizona Cardinals hire former Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver as their head coach. Weaver is not the betting front-runner for the job. ESPN reported that the two teams still looking for head coaches - the Cardinals and Raiders - both have strong interest in Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
▪ In his interview with Wingfield, Hafley emphasized the importance of adapting a scheme to a team’s personnel, reminding that Green Bay moved from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 when he became the Packers’ defensive coordinator before the 2024 season and also noting that he changed a lot of what he planned to do this past season when the Packers acquired All Pro Micah Parsons from the Cowboys in August.
▪ According to NFL Network, the league informed teams that it is projecting a 2026 salary cap in the range of $301.2 million to $305.7 million.
That would be a big jump from this year’s $279.2 million cap.
If the cap – which will be formally set by March 11 -- ends up at $305 million, the Dolphins would be about $25 million over the cap. Releasing receiver Tyreek Hill before March 11 would leave Miami less than $2 million above the cap.
The Dolphins already have $35 million in dead money on their 2026 cap – a number that’s likely to grow. That includes $20.9 million for Jalen Ramsey and $10.7 million for retired Terron Armstead, per overthecap.com.
▪ The Minnesota Vikings on Saturday hired former Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith as their new assistant head coach.
This story was originally published January 31, 2026 at 11:29 AM.
