Examining Hafley's Expectations for his Rookie Season as Dolphins Head Coach

The multitude of NFL power rankings are back after the 2026 NFL draft, and not surprisingly the Miami Dolphins are at or near the bottom of basically every one of them.

This shouldn't be viewed as a slap to the Dolphins, who overhauled their roster in the offseason and moved on from most of their key players of recent years — Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Bradley Chubb, Minkah Fitzpatrick. That's an awful of star power right there.

GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley basically are starting from scratch after arriving from the Green Bay Packers, with what will be a very young (and unproven) roster and a salary cap that will include more money devoted to players no longer around than those who will be on the 53-man roster in 2026.

The bottom line is it's pretty hard to objectively look at the 2026 Dolphins and see a team that's going to be in playoff contention because there are just too many questions remaining on the roster and probably too many young players in key roles.

That, however, will not stop Sullivan and Hafley from having big goals for the team next season.

But those goals obviously aren't as simple as, say, making the playoff or winning the AFC East.

HAFLEY'S OBJECTIVES FOR 2026

Appearing on a podcast with former NFL standout cornerback Richard Sherman, who he coached during his time as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers, Hafley laid out what he wants to see from his team in 2026.

"Any situation I want to go in, I want to win in everything that we do," Hafley told Sherman. "I think the expectations for right now are we have to build this foundation and build this culture the right way. And I know people don't want to hear me say that, but I think that's really important. And then ... you have to create that competition to push guys to improve every single day. We need to create that by drafting these players and signing some free agents. We need to create that competitive way right now, and I think that's really important.

And then the other thing for me, it's going to be I want to play harder than everybody that we play against, and if they're not living up to that standard, there's going to be someone else in back that I'm going to put in. So as long as we start to do that, and we play hard and we play smart, and we coach well, and yeah, I want to win in everything we can. What's that going to look like? I'm not sure, but I'm excited to build it the right way. And I want this thing to be built so we can have sustained success over time."

With 13 draft picks, including five in the first three rounds, the Dolphins will be fielding one of the youngest teams in the NFL and that will come with some growing pains, as there were last year with then-rookies Jonah Savaiinaea and the three drafted defensive tackles, Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers.

The key for the Dolphins — and what Hafley wants to see — is hard work and, more significantly, steady progress.

"I want them to see a bunch of guys that fly around, that play for each other, that play smart, physical, tough football," Hafley said. "And I want to see improvement throughout the year. We've got to be playing our best football in the last game of the season. That's going to be so important, and that we celebrate some of those successes that we have along the way, understanding that we're building this thing. And those are the things that are really, really important to me."

In the end, the Dolphins' final record — and their spot in the final power rankings — will be secondary to establishing that foundation, so that at this time next year the Dolphins will be ranked much higher.

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