New Coordinator Talks Special Teams

After six seasons under Danny Crossman, the Miami Dolphins are headed in a new direction on special teams.

The team hired longtime NFL coach Craig Aukerman, who’s entering his 16th year in the league and seventh as a special teams coordinator, to lead the group in 2025. In his first media session in his new role this week, Aukerman discussed why he joined the Dolphins, Miami’s plans at punter, and what to expect from the unit. 

“Getting an opportunity to come down here to South Florida, be a part of the great organization with the Miami Dolphins, it really excited me,” Aukerman said. “I couldn’t wait to get down here, so I’m looking forward to being down here with all the players, all the coaches, the organization. Super excited.”

Aukerman, who mentioned growing up rooting for the Dolphins, was a special teams assistant for the Los Angeles Rams last season after seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans, including five as special teams coordinator. With 26 years of coaching experience under his belt, he now turns his attention to a unit that ranked 31st last season by PFF. 

“I told the players, ‘Listen, whatever happened in ’24 is in the past,” Aukerman said. “What we’re going to do is we’re going to raise expectations, no matter if we were the second-best special teams unit or the 31st; it doesn’t matter. 

“Everyone is going to get a fresh start and it’s their opportunity to go in there and compete and get after it with that fresh start with me.”

Stonehouse vs. Bailey

The Dolphins added former Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse, who appeared in 46 games over his three-year career. A 2022 undrafted rookie out of Colorado State, Stonehouse holds the top two single-season punting averages in NFL history (53.1 yards and 53.06 yards).

Aukerman was Stonehouse’s special teams coordinator for both of those seasons. Stonehouse was a Pro Bowl alternate last season after finishing third in yards per punt and recording a career-long 75-yarder, but became a free agent after Tennessee declined to extend a restricted free agent tender.

“My major thing is I’m all about competition,” Aukerman said. “Jake [Bailey] is an All-Pro punter. Ryan Stonehouse is an All-Pro punter. Nothing is guaranteed to anybody. Coming in here and competing against one another, two really good punters, I think that’s only going to help those guys out.”

Bailey has been Miami’s punter for two seasons after four years in New England, where he earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2021. He’s entering the final year of a two-year contract extension after averaging 47 yards per punt in 2024. His season-long punt of 64 yards ranked 29th, and his 22 punts inside the 20 were tied for 21st. 

His added value as a holder is worth noting, too. With Bailey on the field, Jason Sanders converted 61 of 69 field goals over the last two seasons. His 88 percent field goal rate marked a 10-point jump from his 78 percent average in 2021–22.

“I think everything – holding, punting, directional punting, distance, hang time – all that stuff,” Aukerman said of the punter competition. “Obviously Jake [Bailey] has a lot of reps with Jason [Sanders], but it’s also going to be our job to get Ryan [Stonehouse] and Jason ready just in case he ends up winning the job. 

“Who knows, but Jason had an unbelievable year and I credit Jake with that, too, because it’s tough to go through a bunch of long snappers in a season and I thought those guys handled it like pros last year and obviously Jason had one of his best years of his career which was unbelievable.”

Who's Returning Kicks?

The Dolphins began the 2024 season with Braxton Berrios returning kickoffs and punts, but he was placed on injured reserve due to a torn ACL after six games. With Berrios now with the Houston Texans, Miami has a few options to fill the kick returner role. 

Sixth-round rookie Malik Washington stepped up as Miami’s primary kick returner last year, averaging 30.7 yards per kickoff return and 7.4 yards on 18 punt returns. Dee Eskridge averaged 29 yards on five kickoff returns, and Tyreek Hill returned three punts for 31 yards. 

Jaylen Waddle has returned 14 combined kicks and punts in his career, but hasn’t handled return duties since 2022.

Overall, Miami’s kickoff group ranked ninth with an average return of 29 yards. The punt return unit was 18th with an average return of 9.6 yards on 28 attempts. 

“That was one of the biggest things when I came down here,” Aukerman said. “I’m like, they have a bunch of guys that are very skilled football players that can go back and return punts or kickoffs.”

A New Long-Snapper in Miami

Blake Ferguson had been Miami’s long-snapper for over five seasons but was placed on the non-football injury list in October. Matt Overton, Tucker Addington and Zach Triner spent time long-snapping before the team ended the year with Jake McQuaide, who was signed to the active roster for the final three games.

In May, the Dolphins signed longtime New England Patriots long-snapper Joe Cardona to stabilize the position. He’s appeared in 160 games throughout his 10-year career after being selected in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL draft. 

“I think I sprinted down to Chris’ office and said, ‘Hey, this guy has done it for 10 years in the National Football League at a very high level.’ I was excited for the opportunity to have that chance to get him,” Aukerman said. “It was really big for us as an organization to bring a guy in there with that type of experience – a guy who’s won multiple Super Bowls, who’s done it a very long time – so really excited to have him here.”

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