The Miami Dolphins have their next head coach, hiring Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley to guide the team in the post-Mike McDaniel era. Hafley arrives in Miami after two seasons as the DC in Green Bay. The team was top six in points allowed, yards allowed and takeaways in his first season, then slipped a bit last year, but not too much, ranking 12th in yards allowed and 11th in points allowed. It's a solid hire, but the Dolphins have to hope Hafley makes the right offensive coordinator hire, something that might be a little...worrisome.
See, Hafley spent four seasons as Boston College's head coach before taking the Packers job, and his offenses there were bad. Across his four seasons, the team never ranked better than 68th in scoring offense. Part of that was bad luck with offensive coordinators. He hired Frank Cignetti for his first season, but after two seasons, Cignetti left for Pitt. His two hires after that didn't inspire much confidence, with John McNulty and Steve Shimko each lasting just a single year in the position. Those guys are obviously out as options for Dolphins offensive coordinator. Let's take a look at four realistic options that Hafley could go after to avoid a repeat of his collegiate issues.
Luke Getsy
This is probably the most obvious option. Getsy brings some baggage with him after a failed 2024 as offensive coordinator for the Raiders, but it's hard to hold that against him too much. He built a strong rushing attack in two seasons as the Bears' OC, but it was hard to replicate that on a Raiders team whose best running back was Alexander Mattison. Wipe that year away from your memory and focus just on Getsy's time with the Bears and he looks like a much better candidate.
Rushing Yards Rank | Rushing Touchdowns Rank | |
|---|---|---|
2022 - Chicago | 1st | 7th |
2023 - Chicago | 2nd | 11th |
2024 - Las Vegas | 32nd | 28th |
Getsy is also familiar with Hafley, as both were on the Packers staff this past season, with Getsy serving as a senor assistant. He has plenty of experience in the NFL and would provide Hafley with a trustworthy option as OC.
Jason Vrable
If Hafley is looking to bring an up-and-coming name along with him from Green Bay, then Jason Vrable is the way to go. The 40-year-old has served as Green Bay's passing game coordinator since 2022 and has been with the Packers since 2019. Before that, he had stints as an assistant with the Bills and Jets, and in 2012 as offensive coordinator of Division II Charleston, he helped the Golden Eagles go 9-2 and finish ranked in the AFCA poll for just the second time ever at that point.
Maybe there's concern here that Vrable has worked under a strong coaching staff in Green Bay and thus we can't necessarily contribute the team's offensive success to him. I totally get that. Sometimes, though, you must take a leap of faith, so if Hafley decides to hire an OC without previous NFL OC experience, look for Vrable to be the name that pops up.
Brian Daboll
Assuming the Sean McDermott firing in Buffalo wasn't a prelude to the team bringing Brian Daboll in as head coach, adding the former Giants head coach as OC would be a big win for Hafley.
Yes, it's fair to wonder if Daboll's success in Buffalo was simply because he had a chance to coach Josh Allen. Maybe Allen was destined to be good regardless of who his OC was? Or maybe Daboll did a good job developing Allen and he just wasn't a great fit for the Giants head coaching position? Sometimes, certain coaches just work better as coordinators than as head coaches. It's like Wade Phillips, who was always fairly meh in head coaching positions but could instantly turn a franchise around as a defensive coordinator.
Bobby Slowik
It wasn't long ago that Bobby Slowik was one of the top rising names in the league. After his first season as Texans offensive coordinator, Slowik was getting discussed as a future NFL head coach, but Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud regressed in 2024 and the offense as a whole just wasn't nearly as electric as in 2023. Slowik took the blame and was fired.
But Stroud ended up getting worse in 2025, culminating in a playoff disaster that has the Texans in a tough spot going forward. Maybe we — a "we" that definitely includes me — were too harsh on Slowik? Maybe he deserves a second chance?
Something that might help Slowik earn that second chance is his familiarity with these Dolphins players, as he currently serves as the senior pass game coordinator in Miami. The Eagles have requested an interview with him already for their open offensive coordinator position, and to be honest, Slowik needs to take that job if it's offered to him, but if Philly isn't an option, Hafley could do much, much worse than just promoting Slowik into the role.