MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JANUARY 22: Miami Dolphins General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, and Head Coach Jeff Hafley pose for a photo during a press conference at Baptist Health Training Complex on January 22, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The 2025-2026 Miami Dolphins season ended where it has far too often in recent times, with the last game of the regular season. With another disappointing season behind us, what many of us knew was likely coming did. The ownership of our Miami Dolphins decided to fire both the general manager and the head coach, and with that, I asked the following question:
Do you think that the ownership has finally got things right with their latest hire of Jeff Hafley, another first-time head coach, or do you think they again made the wrong choice and that we will just be right back here in the next four or five years? If you believe Hafley was the correct choice, why, and if not, which direction should this team have gone in?
Below are some of your thoughts and answers-
Phin is the Word believes it was a better swing than some of the past ones.
RE: GM and Coach, I think they got it right-er than the last personages on those jobs.
AquaAndOrange is relieved that Grier is gone and doesn’t really care how strange anyone looks, so long as they can pull off the job.
Well, they got rid of grier. That was definitely the right decision. I’m going to actually wait until I see how Hafley does before I go all chicken little. I don’t care about his hair or his forehead. I didn’t care about McD’s shoes or pants or watch either. Those are just ad hominem (fallacy) attacks. I just want my team to win games. They haven’t even started the season yet. We had to suffer through griers ineptness for how many years ? I think I’ll give the new regime a chance. Could they honestly be any worse than what we’ve been through already ? I think we’ve reached rock bottom and the only way to go is up.
MiamiItaliano is confident that they got it right, but is still a bit reserved because it was Ross pulling the levers.
I like Sully’s strategy of building in the trenches on both sides of the ball. If you give Hafley a monster D-line, he will find ways to throw opposing QBs off their game and make secondary coverages easier in the process. Hafley trusts Slowik to get the most out of the offense and Sully should fix the pass blocking problems with a solid O-line. I’m optimistic that Ross made two good decisions. But, it is Ross, so all fans should wait and see if the Dolphins become a competent football team.
Lone_Star88 believes we must give the new regime at least a year or two of grace as they rebuild, but we won’t know whether they made the right choice for at least three or four years.
Did they get it right? That’s the question on one can answer, not yet. We realistically won’t be able to answer that for 3-4 years. There’s so much that has to be fixed that years 1-2 will be more about cleaning up the mess from the prior administration’s mistakes. He wasn’t my choice, but I also don’t know what candidates were actually a real possibility. JES seems to be the right choice, so for now we just have to defer to his judgement. Haf seems to have allot of interest in the league and a very good reputation, so we’ll see if he can step up and lead an entire locker room and not just one side of the ball. Again, he’s gonna need a whole bunch of grace his first couple of years while he and JES get this mess sorta out, so we all need to keep that in mind when we start criticizing every move they make this offseason and then during the regular season.
Spok507 says it wasn’t his choice, but doesn’t hate it either.
Not who I wanted, but I don’t dislike the hires. If anything, they should be able to bring some toughness and shift some of the narratives. So in that respect, it’s something we haven’t had in a long time. I’m willing to give Hafley a chance to see what he can do and who ha can bring on board. So I’m willing to give them a shot. Let’s see who they bring on staff and how they manage their first draft. Then we’ll have a better idea of whether or not they can build something positive here.
Molly Polly II believes they might have gotten it right.
NeenerWhacker is in on the new GM but not so much the new HC.
I like JES. I think he was the right hire.
But I don’t think Hafley has the stuff to be head coach. Another true coordinator hire just like the last 2. I can see how Haf aced the interview process. Speaks well (compared to uhm, uh, um) says he wants to do the opposite of all the things we’ve been criticized for years for.
I just don’t see the value in having your head coach call defensive plays. Although McDonald vs Mcvay was pretty cool last week on that final drive. Hope I’m wrong about Haf
ncumpire51 seems completely on board.
Yes,I have no issue with the hire of sully and haff as they say they like to be called. Don Shula was a defensive backs coach before becoming Baltimore’s HC, and went on to having a record of 71-23-4 for the Colts.So it can work out for a first time HC with no prior HC experience. You can’t base it on who we’ve had in the past.Both our GM and HC came from a winning organization and worked hard to get to the point to where they have this opportunity. I watched the 57 minute introductory press conference and loved every minute of it.They’re the complete opposite of what we just had. If they can instill the toughness and back up what they say they will bring to this franchise I’m all for it. Let’s all give these men a chance and see what our beloved Dolphins play like before we bury them.
Dolphinsfan2021 isn’t so sure, especially about some of the assistant coaches brought on thus far.
I think Hafley was a good pick, maybe not the best option, but hopefully he turns out to be a solid head coach. Some concerns about his assistants though. There are a lot of good coaches out there and I think you have to put aside bringing in all your buddies to bring in the best assistants. So far the assistants seem ok, thought some better options were out there but willing to see how they work out. Highly against Hackett. He is not a good coach and has bad track record, dont understand that hiring. He has made teams worse everywhere he went. So not a good pick when Dolphins most important fix will be at QB position. Hafley’s career will be tied to his QB pick the next 3 years and QB coach and OC. So not off to good start. Getting the sense team will be back to days of Dave Wanstedt with good defense no QB and questionable offense. Let’s hope Hafley is the next McDonald, and the GM pulls some great moves and hits on draft picks. Otherwise could be 4 years and done again.
JKBMia believes that picking quality guys from a quality organization is a solid start.
I think JES was a good hire and I think we’re picking quality people up from a quality organization and they’re saying all the right things.
Hafley wasn’t my first choice, but it would stand to reason that we had a completely different group of people making the decision this time, and even though it wasn’t what I wanted, I tend to have trust in those people who were in charge.
I do have hope, but I think it would be ridiculous to say at this point that they got it right.
Well, that’s our random ten comments for this evening. If you would like to see all of the original comments, you can see the original post
HERE. As always, I would like to thank each of you who takes the time most evenings to read and answer our Phinsider Question Of The Day.
Miami Dolphins have the fourth lowest salary cap space in the NFL going into the 2026 season. (
LETS GO FINZ NATION 