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Inside Hafley's Journey From D-III to the Dolphins

Originally posted on Miami Dolphins on SI
By Jake Mendel | Last updated Jan 23, 2026 4:00 PM ET

Jeff Hafley’s football journey featured many twists and turns before landing as the 12th full-time head coach in Miami Dolphins franchise history.

Hafley followed his passion for over two decades, coaching football in roles ranging from Division III to the NFL. He detailed his path to becoming the Dolphins head coach during his introductory press conference Thursday.

“I've had a little bit different journey,” Hafley said. “I started off coaching Division III football, worked my way up, went to the NFL, went back to college football, became a head coach, went back to the NFL, coordinated.

“Now I'm [in Miami], but here's what I learned. I started coaching Division III football, where I lined fields and cleaned helmets and did laundry, and I loved it. What I learned was there's no job too small, and that's what you're going to get from me every single day, because I learned how to work hard, like, really hard.”

More than 20 years before taking over as defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, Hafley’s coaching career began in 2001 as the running backs coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute under head coach Ed Zaloom, for whom he played as a wide receiver at Siena.

He landed at Albany the following season as a graduate assistant on head coach Bob Ford’s staff. Hafley was promoted to defensive backs coach in 2004 and spent two years in the role.

“I talked to Ed Zaloom, probably he texted me before almost every game… and then Bob Ford is one of the winningest coaches in all of football. He took Albany from Division III to II to I-AA all the way to [Division] I, and he's one of the best to ever do it. I learned everything from those guys.

“It laid my foundation. It taught me how to work hard. It taught me how to treat people, and it taught me how to coach the game of football, the fundamentals, the technique. And it told me there was no shortcuts, right? I wasn't a guy who all of a sudden started coaching, and I was sitting here in the NFL. I had to work, and I had really good role models to look to, to do that, and I would do it no other way.”

After five seasons of coaching, Hafley’s work ethic landed him in Division I with the Pittsburgh Panthers.

“When I left to go to Pitt, I got dropped off, and I slept under my desk for two years,” Hafley said. “What would I say to that guy now? I'd say it worked. I left a full-time job at Albany, where I coached DBs and Paul Rhoads hired me. Paul, who I have a ton of respect for, who I later hired at Boston College, he was the defensive coordinator, brought me with him to Pitt.

“I wanted to have no regrets, and I wanted to give everything that I had because I had sacrificed a lot. I woke up real early. I was always the first one in, and I was always the last to leave. So at least I could say no one could beat me in and out of the office, but I gave it everything that I had, so I'd have no regrets.”

Dave Wannstedt’s Impact

Hafley took a step back in job title after arriving at Pittsburgh, but it came with more opportunities. He started as a graduate assistant under head coach Dave Wannstedt, who coached the Dolphins when they last won a playoff game in 2000.

Hafley talked about his relationship with Wannstedt when asked about a leader he looks up to while taking questions from fans on the team website Thursday: “He's a guy that I still talk to every week, treats people the right way, believed in me, taught me so much, treated my family the right way, and that is so important to me.”

Questions from the fans, answers from Coach Hafley. pic.twitter.com/DopSqVqt5E
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 22, 2026

Hafley was promoted to defensive backs coach in 2008 and served for three seasons. He then joined Rutgers as DBs coach in 2011 before jumping to the NFL the following year.

“I just think it's, again, it's a life lesson of hard work, and I mean really hard work and sacrifice,” Hafley said during the press conference. “If you do it, [it will] pay off. Now, I think that guy might have been a little crazier than I am now, but it worked.”

Hafley was a DBs coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers before returning to college to become co-defensive coordinator of the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2019.

He was hired as head coach at Boston College after one season at Ohio State.

Leadership Lessons at Boston College

Hafley navigated uncharted waters during his four seasons at Boston College. The COVID-19 pandemic happened shortly after he was hired in 2020.

“I had to learn that everybody's got a plan until you get punched in the face, and I got punched pretty hard,” Hafley said. “What I learned about myself is that you can get through anything. If you get organized, you get detailed, and you go one step at a time and you just go to work, you surround yourself with a really good staff and you pour into your players and you bring that energy.

“I learned a ton. I had to do a lot there. I had to do academics. I had to worry about nutrition and residence halls and everything — you can name it — and deal with the Board of Regents, and I had to be a CEO.”

Hafley went 6–5 in his first season at Boston College and finished his four-year tenure with a 22–26 record and three bowl invitations.

“I made mistakes as a young coach, which you're going to make in a lot of different ways, and I learned from them over those four years,” Hafley said. “We had some hard years. We had some really good years, but I think those experiences will help me out a lot as I go forward.

“I've grown and I've matured, and I have learned. I can admit those mistakes and I grow from them so they won't happen again here.”

After dealing with COVID, Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) deals were implemented in 2021, which had a sweeping impact on the college sports landscape.

“Why did I leave? At the end of the day, I wanted to coach football, and there was a lot going on that really wasn't allowing me to do that anymore,” Hafley said. “The landscape had changed with NIL and the portal and everything else that came in.”

Hafley returned to the NFL in 2024 when he was offered the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator position by head coach Matt LaFleur. He said it was hard to leave his players and staff, but added that he no longer felt like himself as BC’s head coach.

The Packers finished fifth in yards allowed in Hafley’s first season as defensive coordinator. Green Bay’s defense took a step back in 2025, dropping to 14th in yards allowed. That said, Hafley’s resume, experience, and dedication showed enough to the Dolphins' brain trust to hire him as the franchise’s latest head coach.

“I learned a lot from a lot of coaches,” Hafley said. “I learned how to tell players the truth, even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear. I learned that it's OK to tell a player you love them and to pour everything you can into them, because they're going to give it right back to you. I learned how to be at my best when things get hard and I learned that when things are good, that's when I got to put my thumb on them. I learned what it's like to hold people to an extreme level of accountability. I learned what toughness is about, and I learned how to grind.

“From Hall of Fame players, I learned that you can't be afraid to coach guys. Every good player wants to be told what to do and how hard to do it, and you can't back down because they all want to get better. I learned about alignment and that you have to have people's backs and you have to come together, which is a huge reason why I'm here today with this guy right here. I learned how to win, and unfortunately, I've taken some losses, but what I've learned, I'm going to get back up every single time. And so are those people that are around me every single day.”

This article first appeared on Miami Dolphins on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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