Jeff Hafley is attracting a handful of NFL teams who are in search of a new head coach, but one franchise in particular is reportedly keying in on the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator.
Hafley, 46, has emerged as the leading candidate for the Miami Dolphins’ head-coaching job, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who reported Saturday that he was told the former Boston College head coach “blew everyone away in his initial virtual interview with the Dolphins.”
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It’s also important to note that Miami hired former Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan as its new general manager earlier this month. Hafley joined Green Bay’s staff in 2024, and he worked with Sullivan over the past two seasons while Sullivan served as the Packers’ vice president of player personnel.
Pelissero pointed out in his Saturday report, however, that the Dolphins haven’t made a final decision, and that they have more interviews scheduled, including one on Sunday with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
Plus, Miami has competition for Hafley. Four other teams — the Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals — have all requested second interviews with Hafley, and he’s slated to interview for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head-coaching vacancy on Saturday, per Pelissero.
The Packers got off to a 9-3-1 start this season. Along the way, they allowed just 19 points per game. That was even an improvement from the 19.9 points per game they gave up in 2024, Hafley’s first season on the job, when they clocked out sixth in the NFL in scoring defense.
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But the loss of premier edge rusher Micah Parsons in Week 15 coincided with the start of a season-ending losing streak that stretched to five games in the playoffs. Parsons, a five-time Pro Bowler who piled up 12.5 sacks in 14 games in his first season with Hafley and the Packers, suffered a torn ACL, and Green Bay missed him sorely down the stretch.
Before Matt LaFleur brought Hafley aboard in Green Bay, Hafley went 22-26 as BC’s head coach from 2020-23. He went from coordinating a suffocating Ohio State defense in 2019 to navigating the pandemic in 2020 and leading BC to a winning season in his first year as a first-time head coach.
Hafley finished his stay at BC with another winning season, capped by a Fenway Bowl victory over a 17th-ranked SMU team.
Hafley spent seven seasons as an NFL assistant in the 2010s, coaching defensive backs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012-13), Cleveland Browns (2014-15) and San Francisco 49ers (2016-18).
Now he’s a coveted NFL head-coaching candidate.
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