QUINCY (WGEM) – New Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley has made the first addition to his staff by naming former Culver-Stockton College head coach Chris Tabor as special teams coordinator, the team announced Friday.
Tabor — long regarded as one of the NFL’s most respected and successful special teams coaches — joins Miami after only one season at the same position with AFC East rival Buffalo. His future with the Bills was uncertain after the team fired head coach Sean McDermott last week.
Tabor, 54, will be the Dolphins’ third special teams coach in three years, following Danny Crossman, who was dismissed after the 2024 season, and Craig Aukerman, who was hired a year ago but wasn’t retained by Hafley.
In 2001, Tabor was hired as the head coach at C-SC after serving as a grad assistant at the University of Missouri. He led the Wildcats to a 6–5 record — the school’s first winning season in 15 years — and a third-place finish in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
In Tabor’s only season at C-SC, his team set school records for points scored, touchdowns and total yards, and ranked 17th in the NAIA in total defense and 10th in pass defense.
Last season with Buffalo, Tabor’s teams ranked fourth in kickoff return average with Ray Davis earning Associated Press All-Pro honors. Davis led the league in kickoff return yaradage by averaging nearly 30.5 yards per return. However, the Bills punt return unit ranked just 29th in punt return average. Against opponents, Buffalo ranked 17th in kickoff return yards allowed and an impressive seventh in punt return yards allowed.
Tabor, 54, has served as the special teams coordinator for four NFL teams: Cleveland Browns (2011-2017), Chicago Bears (2018-2021), Carolina Panthers (2022-2023) and Buffalo this past season. He did not coach during the 2024 season.
After head coach Frank Reich’s dismissal, he served as Carolina’s interim head coach to finish the 2023 season and went 1-5 in that role. He also coached Chicago in one game (a loss) in 2021 when Bears head coach Matt Nagy was sidelined by the COVID-19 virus.
Tabor has coached a trio of All-Pro kick returners. Besides Davis this past season, Tabor also coached future Chicago Hall of Famer Devin Hester from 2008 through 2010, including an All-Pro season in 2010. Hester led the league in kick return yards and touchdowns (3) that season. In Cleveland, returner Josh Cribbs made the Pro Bowl in Tabor’s second season with the Browns as the special teams coordinator.
Tabor, who grew up in Missouri, was a quarterback at Benedictine (Kansas) College and worked for six collegiate teams before breaking into the NFL as Chicago’s special teams coach in 2008.
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