What Troy Aikman's Latest Comments Reveal About Dolphins HC Search

When the Miami Dolphins began their search for a new general manager, a surprise name popped up on the hiring committee.

Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman was tapped to help the team lead its search. And once Jon-Eric Sullivan was hired, the Dolphins brass asked Aikman to help with the head coach hiring process.

Aikman joined The Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday, and his comments should somewhat assuage the concerns of Dolphins fans who think Jeff Hafley was hired just because he was with Sullivan on the Packers.

In fact, Aikman liked Hafley long before he was involved with the Dolphins’ search.

“Our first production meeting with Jeff, I remember saying to our crew, ‘This guy’s going to be a head coach real soon.’ And he already had been in college. I believe he checks all the boxes, I really do,” Aikman said.

Aikman was referring to a production meeting he had in 2024, which was almost certainly before the Packers’ 34-0 Monday night thrashing of the New Orleans Saints in Week 16.

Sullivan might have been drawn to Hafley because of their connection to the Packers, but it’s pretty clear Aikman was a fan long before that.

Aikman’s High Praise For Hafley

The Hall of Fame quarterback also compared Hafley to two of the NFL’s best defensive coaches in his interview with Eisen.

“There have been coaches who, when I’ve had production meetings with them, who I didn’t know, and as soon as I meet them, I’ve said, ‘Wow, this guy’s not going to be a coordinator long. He’s going to be a head coach real soon!’ " Aikman said.

“I thought Mike Vrabel was that guy. I thought DeMeco Ryans was that guy. And I’ll tell you, I felt that way about Jeff Hafley a year ago, back in ’24, when we first did the Packers.”

Comparing Hafley to Ryans and Vrabel is high praise for obvious reasons. Vrabel is getting ready to coach the Super Bowl this weekend, and he’s got a 68-48 regular season record, along with a 5-3 postseason record.

Ryans hasn’t managed to get the Houston Texans to the Super Bowl, but he’s 32-19 in three seasons — plus 3-3 in the postseason.

Houston has failed to get out of the divisional round, but the Dolphins have the league’s longest playoff-win drought, so Hafley getting a 3-3 record in postseason games would be a huge improvement.

It’s hard to succeed as a defensive coach in today’s NFL, but what’s separated Vrabel and Ryans from their peers is hitting on the quarterback.

Drake Maye might win MVP in Year 2, and although C.J. Stroud’s stock is down right now, he’s still an above-average NFL starter with multiple playoff wins. Aikman mentioned this would be a challenge for Hafley.

“He has the challenge of addressing the offensive side of the ball in an offense league,” Aikman said. “Those are the issues all defensive coaches have to concern themselves with.”

Aikman didn’t specifically mention the quarterback position, but it’s not hard to read between the lines. Of course, the offensive coordinator is a part of that too, and ironically, Hafley hired Bobby Slowik for that job.

Slowik, of course, was Ryans and Stroud’s offensive coordinator for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

We’ll see if Slowik and Hafley can re-create some of Houston’s success. At the least, it’s good to know one member of Miami’s hiring committee didn’t base their decision solely on Hafley’s connection to Sullivan.

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