Champ Kelly isn’t here to babysit Dolphins roster. He’s trying to make an impact
The Miami Dolphins seemingly valued Champ Kelly’s fresh set of eyes, analytical background and his prior experience serving as an interim general manager for the Las Vegas Raiders.
That’s why owner Steve Ross anointed him as general manager Chris Grier’s replacement when South Florida’s NFL franchise decided to part ways with the team’s top football executive for the past seven years.
Kelly is now in charge of an uneven 3-7 football team that has been blown out three times, dominated two opponents and lost four games because of fourth-quarter collapses.
He was given no promises that he would become Grier’s permanent successor, but has been given the authority to do whatever he needs to do to transform the roster, ensuring that the 2025 Dolphins win more games than they lose in the second half of the season.
“Everyone is under evaluation at this point. Myself included,” Kelly said Friday. “This is a unique situation I’m in as an interim because I can truly go to a player and say ‘Bro, we’re in the same spot.’
“I’m going out to win, you need to go out to win because our future matters.”
Their futures — executives, coaches, players — all depend on the franchise turning the season around.
That means they’re all in it together.
“If I can meet them with that commonality, that vulnerability, you build trust,” Kelly said as the Dolphins began Friday’s practice for Sunday’s international game against the Washington Commanders. “The team that hoists the trophy at the end, they have the most trust, and that’s all we’re trying to build.”
Oddly, Kelly became an interim general manager for the first and second time on Halloween.
The Jaelan Phillips trade to the Philadelphia Eagles, which produced a 2026 third-round pick, was the first time Kelly made the call to tell a team a trade had been finalized.
“It was a rep in an area I didn’t have,” Kelly said. “I appreciate every moment and every rep that shows the years of work and preparation pays off.”
Before the trade deadline, the Dolphins executives set a trade value for every player, and took offers in “a vacuum.”
Kelly said he spoke to every player whose name was generating interest in the trade market and told them the organization’s position.
“When tasked, or blessed with this particular pressure, there is promise inside of it,” Kelly said. “I just want to attack it with the focus and fight I’ve done my entire life.”
Kelly’s referring to being born the son of a drug-dealing father and mother addicted to drugs. While his parents were in his life, he was raised by his grandparents in Campbellton, which is a small city in North Florida, near Pensacola.
He played cornerback at Kentucky, and when his playing career was over he immediately went to work for IBM, using his computer science degree before eventually getting hired as a college scout for the Denver Broncos in 2007.
That’s where Kelly and McDaniel, who both come from the Kyle Shanahan coaching and executive tree, first began to cross paths.
Kelly views McDaniel as an “offensive guru” and an innovator when it comes to utilizing his personnel to the team’s benefit. He mentioned the challenges Miami weathered through earlier this season, primarily the injuries that have depleted the Dolphins of their offensive line and weaponry, but didn’t use them as an excuse for the team’s struggles earlier this season.
“We’ve had performances that have not made our fans proud, and what I appreciate the most about Mike and these coaches, and the players is that they have resiliency. They have a fight to them that is uncommon, and if we continue to collectively buy in, believe and fight together, you’ll continue to see [outcomes] like we saw last week [against Buffalo].
“It starts with a belief, and then it turns into a behavior,” Kelly said. “If we continue to execute, play with the physicality that’s required in football, we’ll continue to see results that we all want to see, and our fans deserve.”
Kelly intends on improving the roster at every position however he can, and that journey starts with strengthening the back end of it.
Since he’s taken over, the Dolphins elevated two players — tight end Greg Dulcich and cornerback JuJu Brents — claimed off the waiver wire earlier this season, and both have filled more prominent roles. Maybe more waiver wire claims are on the horizon.
But Kelly points out that a franchise has to build the foundation of the team through the draft because of how financially taxing it is to build or supplement a team through free agency, which is usually how young players make the most of their career earnings.
“I work as hard as I could with the mind-set of winning, and that’s in every situation,” Kelly said. “In Vegas I had been with that team for a year and a half. I was a part of helping implement the structure, implement the scouting system, and knew everything that was in place. I was working with a head coach whose was in his first time as a head coach and was doing things together. In this situation I came in with fresh eyes. Things I was able to see here that maybe I would have glanced over if I were already in place.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 9:37 AM.
