These Jeff Hafley Critiques Are Absolutely Ridiculous

The reaction among Dolphins fans was negative, as they felt as if this was a bad hire for a few reasons. There’s no issue with wanting another candidate, but the points being made as to why he will not pan out as a head coach or why he was hired are downright silly.

Using The Chicago Bears Playoff Loss As A Be-All And End-All Is Laughable

When the hiring was first announced, a popular point made was that the Green Bay Packers’ defense collapsed against the Chicago Bears his last game there.

Granted, the loss was flat-out embarrassing and was one of the biggest collapses in recent memory. Nevertheless, what is being forgotten here is that Hafley’s defense was down major starters with Micah Parsons and Devonte Wyatt suffering season-ending injuries. The Packers also dealt with injuries in an already thin secondary room, and had to sign the remains of Trevon Diggs, who was just released. There will be a certain group that will use the “no excuses” card and put the blame solely on him, but that’s just lazy.

To those who choose to take this route, some of the best coaches in the league today had dark moments before they embarked on a new journey.

A perfect example is Kyle Shanahan. Before becoming head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, his last game as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator was the biggest collapse in Super Bowl history. That’s right, Shanahan was the play caller of a team that lost a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots in the biggest game of them all. Did the 49ers decide to erase his past work just because of that one game? Absolutely not. They identified their guy and made a phenomenal choice, reaching two Super Bowls and multiple NFC championships under Shanahan. Heck, he just might win coach of the year this season.

The next coach that be put in this category is Sean McVay. In his last game as Washington’s offensive coordinator, his offense scored a grand total of 10 points and was shut out in the first half. Using this logic of what someone did in their last game as the measuring stick, the Los Angeles Rams should have went a different route. Fast forward to now, McVay is regarded as one of the best offensive minds in football.

Last but not least, let’s take a broader approach with current Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. Before becoming the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, Vrabel was the defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans for the 2017-2018 season. In his lone season there, his defense allowed the most points per game at 27.3 in a year where JJ Watt played only five games. He still received a head coaching opportunity and did wonders in Tennessee, being one game away from a Super Bowl, and was also the number one seed two seasons after.

Out of those names listed, McVay and Vrabel have their respected teams one game away from the Super Bowl, with Vrabel accomplishing this his first year in New England.

Those are three prime examples as to why fans need to take a deeper approach in assessing if someone has the potential to be a good head coach or not.

Saying Jon-Eric Sullivan Hired Haffley Because That’s His “Buddy”

Because new Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan came from Green Bay, an assumption was made that this was a lazy hire. Not that Hafley can possibly be a good head coach, or they chose the best candidate, but that he only got the job because he knows Sullivan.

Let’s take a look at what Hafley did in two seasons at Green Bay and how he turned the defense around. In his first year as defensive coordinator, Green Bay’s defense went from 17th in total defense to fifth and had a significant turnover increase from 31 to 18. Green Bay’s run defense also went from being ranked 28th in 2023 to top 10 in 2024.

The following season, there was a drop off, but it wasn’t as if the defense became Swiss cheese (pun intended). The Packers ranked 11th in pass defense and points allowed and were 12th in total defense. This is still with the poor finish they had to end the year after Parsons went down. As noted with Vrabel earlier in Houston, when a team loses there best defensive player, a drop off is expected to occur.

Hafley inherited a defense that had a plethora of flaws and turned this unit into one of the best defensive units in the league. Credit needs to be given when it’s due, and Hafley played a big role in that.

Beyond that, it’s clear that the Dolphins had major leadership issues under former head coach Mike McDaniel. Miami does not want to repeat that same issue and believes that Hafley can be a guy who not only connects with players, but knows how to stir the ship when low points happen throughout the season.

It’s not as if Miami was the only team that had its eyes on Hafley. The Titans, Arizona Cardinals, and Las Vegas Raiders wanted to bring Hafley in person for an interview. It was clear that more teams viewed Hafley as someone who could be their next head coach, not just the Dolphins.

End Of My Jeff Hafley Rant

This is not to say that Hafley is going to be the next great head coach. The main point is that he needs to be given a fair chance to see if he can turn things around. I know Dolphin fans are scared of first-time head coaches, but Kevin Stefanski and John Harbaugh were out of the picture. Fans should be rooting for the best outcome instead of having negative thoughts that he will be gone in three years.

And for any of those mad bringing in more people from Green Bay, the Packers have accomplished 20 times more than the Dolphins have in recent memory. As of now, no one will know if Hafley will be a lifesaver or another failure. Only time will tell, but Hafley deserves time, and the fans should rally around him instead of being gloomy.