New O-Line Coach and the Crazy 49ers Connection

The Miami Dolphins remain in the process of finalizing their staff under new head coach Jeff Hafley

Miami Dolphins offensive line coach Butch Barry against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium in 2024. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins will have a new offensive line coach in 2026 and it's a logical choice with a very interesting connection.

Butch Barry, who coached the offensive line for the past three seasons, will be rejoining head coach Mike McDaniel in the same capacity with the Los Angeles Chargers, according to NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe.

This was a move that could have been predicted pretty much from the time McDaniel officially became offensive coordinator of the Chargers on Tuesday morning.

Barry's replacement on the 2026 Dolphins staff will be Barry's co-assistant offensive line coach with the San Francisco 49ers in 2021, Zach Yesner.

The two were assistants that year under highly respected O-line coach Chris Foerster, who Dolphins fans likely remember for two less-than-memorable stints in Miami, first as offensive coordinator in 2004 and later under Adam Gase before he resigned in the aftermath of a video scandal.

Yesner, though, has a more direct connection to the current Dolphins coaching staff as the offensive line coach for the Houston Texans for the past two seasons, the first of which came with Bobby Slowik as offensive coordinator, the same Bobby Slowik who was promoted to that role by the Dolphins last week.

Yesner spent three seasons as assistant offensive line coach with the 49ers, arriving in 2019 after new head coach Jeff Hafley left to become the defensive coordinator at Ohio State. Another member of that 49ers coaching staff from 2019-21 — besides former Dolphins head coach of the Dolphins in 2022 — was, yes, Bobby Slowik.

So his familiarity with Slowik makes him a logical candidate.

Another possibility could have been Lemuel Jeanpierre, who has been with the Dolphins since Brian Flores hired him in 2020 as assistant offensive line coach. Jeanpierre was the lead O-line coach in 2021 before returning to assistant O-line coach duties the following season when Mike McDaniel arrived and hired Matt Applebaum away from Boston College.

It'll be interesting to see if Jeanpierre will be retained and continue as assistant offensive line coach.

In yet another twist, Applebaum's head coach at BC when he left to join the Dolphins and when he returned a year later after being fired was, yet, Jeff Hafley. Applebaum is not considered a candidate to come back to Miami for a second stint.

DOLPHINS COACHES WHO HAVE LEFT

Barry's departure comes after an official announcement from the New York Jets that they had hired Brian Duker as their new defensive coordinator. Duker spent the past two seasons with the Dolphins as defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach.

That's now six assistants from the 2025 staff who have found their new team for next season.

Along with Barry and Duker, there's special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman and wide receivers coach Robert Prince, now with the Atlanta Falcons; outside linebackers coach Sean Ryan, now QB coach at Syracuse; cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo, now with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Offensive coordinator Frank Smith and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver both currently are in limbo, though Smith could be a candidate to rejoin McDaniel in Los Angeles in some capacity.