Breaking Down the Latest Dolphins Staff Developments

The Miami Dolphins could have a new defensive coordinator in place very soon

Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley makes his first remarks at his introductory press conference | Alain Poupart/Miami Dolphins On SI

New Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley is working toward finalizing his staff for the 2026 season, and there are couple of key pieces on the way from his former team.

The Dolphins will bringing in two defensive assistants from the Green Bay Packers, with the expectation that linebackers coach Sean Duggan will become the new Miami defensive coordinator, according to sources, and DB coach Ryan Downard reportedly will be taking on the same role for Hafley.

Miami's approach in the past after a head coach change has been to announce its entire coaching staff at once, and there's even more reason to hold off this year because of the Anthony Weaver situation.

Weaver remains in contention, albeit seemingly a long shot, for the head coaching position with the Arizona Cardinals and the Dolphins would get two compensatory third-round picks if he were to land a head coaching job while still employed by the team.

The favorite for the Arizona job, according to reports, appears to be Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, the brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.

The coaching staff moves made so far — Bobby Slowik promoted to offensive coordinator, Chris Tabor hired as special teams coordinator — have been confirmed but not officially announced.

THE DUGGAN CONNECTION

Duggan was among the candidates we identified right after the hiring of Hafley as a strong contender for the defensive coordinator position.

This always was a logical move given Duggan's work with the Packers the past two seasons and perhaps more importantly his long working relationship with Hafley.

The two first worked together at Ohio State in 2019 when Hafley was co-defensive coordinator and DB coach and Duggan was a graduate assistant. Duggan then followed Hafley to BC when the latter became head coach, working as linebackers coach from 2020-22 before adding the role of co-defensive coordinator in 2023.

Hafley and Duggan then both joined the Packers coaching staff in 2024, Hafley as defensive coordinator and Duggan as linebackers coach.

The hiring of Duggan follows the same logic as Brian Flores bringing in Patrick Graham as his defensive coordinator after he became Dolphins head coach in 2019 and Mike McDaniel hiring Frank Smith as offensive coordinator after he took over in 2022. Both Graham and Smith were first-time NFL coordinators working on the side of the ball that was their head coach's area of expertise.

Like McDaniel did in 2022, Hafley has complemented this move by having the coordinator on the other side of the ball somebody who already was on staff — McDaniel retained Josh Boyer was retained from Flores' staff.

Duggan not only coached at Boston College, he also played there and was a team captain.

Along with their two years together in Green Bay, Hafley and Downard also spent one season on the now-famous 2014 Cleveland Browns staff, Hafley as DB coach and Downard as a defensive assistant.

That 2014 Browns staff under head coach Mike Pettine included 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel, former Dolphins offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, Weaver and Tabor.

WEAVER'S CLOSE CALL

Before his second in-person interview with the Cardinals on Monday, Weaver also had interviews with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills.

While the expectation is the Bills will be going for an offensive coach, Weaver apparently was a very strong contender for the Pittsburgh job before it eventually went to former Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday that Weaver was among the three finalists for the job along with McCarthy and Flores.