The Important Lesson Dolphins Coach Jeff Hafley Took From His Brief Time with the 49ers

Jeff Hafley made four previous stops around the NFL before he became head coach on the Miami Dolphins in January, and he's back this week where he had his longest tenure.

No, while Hafley is most known for his time as Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator (perhaps because it's the most recent), it was with the San Francisco 49ers that Hafley spent the most time.

He worked for the 49ers from 2016-18, and witnessed the rebirth of the franchise under head coach Kyle Shanahan after Shanahan took over in 2017 and he thought enough of Hafley that he made him one of the only two coaches he kept from the previous staff — the two had coached together in Cleveland in 2014).

It was a great learning experience in many ways for Hafley, but now what he remembers most is how the 49ers were able to go from a franchise that had lost its way after the departure of Jim Harbaugh to one that's a perennial contender with two Super Bowl appearances in the past seven seasons.

"Even looking back, I think about a lot of these guys were there when I was there back in '18," Hafley said before practice in Napap on Wednesday. "So it's the same guys in the same system with the same coach, and they brought some guys back and added some weapons, but it will be a big challenge. I have a ton of respect for all those players, and obviously Kyle."

THE BIGGEST LESSON HAFLEY LEARNED

Along with having a lot of respect for Shanahan's coaching ability, Hafley admired the way he and GM John Lynch worked in concert to bring back the 49ers.

And he obviously think it's a good point of reference for he and new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan after they both came over from the Green Bay Packers this year.

"This was the biggest lasting impression for me as a younger coach when I left the Niners, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan coming in together, being aligned," Hafley said. "It kind of sent a message to me, if I ever get a chance to do this, I want it to be like that. I want it to be somebody that I'm aligned with. When I came in and John Lynch, who one of the best, obviously football players, a Hall of Fame football player, but you want to talk about a good guy? He's one of the best human beings of all time. Combine that with Kyle, I just think it's such a great fit."

Hafley then proceeded to break down the progression the 49ers made, going 6-1 in their final seven games of Shanahan's first season after an 0-9 start and just two years later going 13-3 and making the Super Bowl, though Hafley had moved on by then to come co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State.

"He had a process, and Kyle's a huge influence on me, and I truly believe he's one of the reasons that I'm here right now," Hafley said. "A great coach, great friend, but I've learned so much from him, and seeing him stick to the process and hold people to a standard during two really hard years, and building it the right way and not flinching, and him and John just being like this.

"I think that has stuck with me. And you look at us now, I'm not saying by any means that's we're gonna start that way, but Sully and I together trying to build this thing the right way, Kyle kind of gave me the blueprint for that."

As a point of reference, Shanahan's first game as head coach of the 49ers in 2017 ended with a 23-3 loss against the Carolina Panthers, an even more decided outcome than the Dolphins' 14-point loss against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

This certainly isn't to suggest that Hafley and Sullivan will follow the same path with the same kind of success as Shanahan and Lynch have done, but they're certainly going to try the same approach.

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