Evaluating Jeff Hafley's Decision to Call Plays, Offensive Philosophy

One of the reasons the Miami Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley as head coach is because of his defensive expertise, and to nobody’s surprise, he’ll be leaning on that this season. 

During his introductory press conference Wednesday, Hafley told the South Florida media he would call the team’s defense this coming season. 

“I’m going to call plays, and that’s really important to me,” Hafley said. “I have a plan in place with potential hires to allow me to be the head coach in the offseason, kinda like how I watched Kyle Shanahan do it, and kinda like how I watched Matt LaFleur do it in Green Bay.”

“[Calling plays] is something I love to do. It will really connect me with that group and bring a lot of energy to that side of the football. I think the details will be exactly how I want them early on as we go.” 

This really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Hafley’s work calling the Packers defense is what got him to this point, and he likely feels it's the best use of his talents. 

What to Make of Hafley Calling Plays 

Setting aside the lack of surprise, there’s some concern that Hafley calling plays will not allow him to properly manage the rest of the roster and execute other head coaching duties. 

Given Miami’s recent history at head coach, that concern is understandable. Mike McDaniel, Brian Flores, Adam Gase, and Joe Philbin all called plays, and all had trouble — to varying degrees — with locker room and game management. 

It’s why many Dolphins fans wanted a head coach with prior head-coaching experience. Ideally, there would be a lower learning curve in those areas for someone with prior experience. 

GM Jon-Eric Sullivan even said head-coaching experience was heavily considered throughout the head-coaching search. 

Sullivan didn’t say this, but it’s hard to imagine that Hafley’s time as the head coach at Boston College didn’t give him a leg up over some other up-and-coming defensive minds. This won’t be Hafley’s first time calling plays and managing a locker room. 

It’s not NFL experience, but it’s something. 

The other thing to consider here is that while this model hasn’t worked for the Dolphins, it’s done wonders for the rest of the league. 

Out of the entire playoff field this season, only four teams made it without a head coach who is a primary play-caller: Jim Harbaugh (Chargers), Mike Vrabel (Patriots), Mike Tomlin (Steelers), and Nick Sirianni (Eagles). 

Of those teams, only one (the Patriots) advanced past the first round. And the three teams that didn’t are either hiring new coordinators (Eagles, Chargers) or hiring an entire new staff (Steelers). 

The CEO approach at head coach isn’t dead by any means, but it’s never been harder to win that way. Every year the Eagles have struggled under Sirianni, it’s because he’s made bad hires at the coordinator spots. 

He’s not a play-caller, so he can’t really step in and fix things on either side of the ball. One reason Tomlin’s Steelers couldn’t get over the hump in recent seasons is that they lagged behind the rest of the league in Xs and Os. 

This is in no way saying that Hafley calling plays means he’ll be better than any of the coaches listed above. It’s just to say that the NFL is evolving. We’re at a point where the preferred model for long-term success is having a head coach who can heavily impact one side of the ball. 

Of course, that comes with its own downsides, but just because it didn’t work for Miami before doesn’t mean it should stop trying to create the right infrastructure. 

Now, if your issue with Hafley calling plays is that you don’t think he’s a good play-caller, that’s a whole different conversation. 

Hafley’s defense subscribes to just about every modern approach to scheme that you can, but there are absolutely holes you can poke in how his defense performed in Green Bay. 

Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see on the front. 

Hafley’s Offensive Philosophy 

Miami’s new head coach also spoke briefly about what he’ll want the offense to look like, even though he’s not calling plays on that side. 

He mentioned the idea that the scheme should be modified to fit the players already on the roster, but every coach says that. Instead, the more revealing quote came when he got more specific. 

“There’s certain core beliefs that I really do believe in, like running the ball and being really physical upfront, so when they know we’re going to run the ball, we’re still going to run it well. That’s going to be huge for me.” 

“And then we need to build it around the quarterback. You have to surround that quarterback with weapons: the O-line, the wide outs, the backs, so it’s not all on him.” 

If you take Hafley at his word, that first part will be a departure from the last Dolphins’ regime. On this note, the Dolphins reportedly requested to interview Texans QBs coach Jerrod Johnson for their OC job on Wednesday. 

Regardless of who the Dolphins hire at OC, it’s clear Hafley wants to separate himself from the last regime’s ideology on that side of the ball.

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