{"id":294017,"date":"2026-06-03T04:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294017\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T04:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:23:19","slug":"can-jeff-hafley-have-dave-wannstedts-level-of-success-with-dolphins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294017\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Jeff Hafley have Dave Wannstedt\u2019s level of success with Dolphins?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was one of those rare days when the Miami Dolphins\u2019 past overlapped with the present, and possibly the franchise\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Dave Wannstedt, the coach who gave Jeff Hafley his first big coaching break, hiring him as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh in 2006, was in attendance for Tuesday\u2019s start of Miami\u2019s mandatory minicamp. And so were some of his most accomplished players during those playoff-bound seasons in the early 2000\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Trace Armstrong, who played six of his 15 NFL seasons in Miami, Louis Olivier, a six-year starter for the Dolphins, and Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas were on the field watching, laughing, reminiscing while the beginning stages of a franchise\u2019s reset was on the field working.<\/p>\n

The practice field they were watching was full of rookies and players on minimum salaries, which means they have to earn their keep on a daily basis, and it looked like it.<\/p>\n

\u201cZach Thomas?\u201d Dolphins linebacker Tyrel Dodson said when told Thomas watched Tuesday\u2019s practice, which was highlighted by cornerback JuJu Brents\u2019 one interception. \u201cHe was out there? Oh damn\u2026.. Is he still here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the players on Miami\u2019s roster weren\u2019t even alive when Thomas was in a Dolphins jersey and Wannstedt roamed the sidelines.<\/p>\n

This Dolphins team features 25 rookies and 49 players with less than three years of NFL experience, many of whom were signed on one-year deals that pay the NFL minimum.<\/p>\n

That means the Dolphins have little to nothing invested in them. But most are here for the opportunity this blank canvas presents.<\/p>\n

Based on Hafley\u2019s approach, you keep what you kill, to quote the movie \u201cThe Chronicles of Riddick,\u201d and that\u2019s the one positive thing we can take from this season.<\/p>\n

The era of entitlement, which has plagued this franchise for at least a decade, has ended.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody here is working. It\u2019s a bunch of young dudes and a lot of one-year [contract] dudes. When you have a lot of guys like that they are hungry,\u201d center Aaron Brewer said. \u201cThey have something to prove, something to earn, and that\u2019s the mentality everyone is walking around with. Put our head down and working, improving themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armstrong, a 1989 first-round pick, knows what Chop Robinson\u2019s going through laboring to prove he\u2019s an every down edge-setter.<\/p>\n

Oliver, whom the Dolphins selected 25th overall in the first round of the 1989 Draft and started immediately, should be relatable to many of Miami\u2019s 2025 and 2026 draftees, players who will be called on to contribute immediately, possibly filling prominent roles.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a seamless comparison of Thomas and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, the Dolphins\u2019 2026 second-round pick, who shined at Texas Tech, Thomas\u2019 alma mater, winning just about every collegiate award that could go to a defender.<\/p>\n

If the Dolphins are lucky Rodriguez\u2019s play will demand he see the field this season. But that\u2019s not a given.<\/p>\n

And neither is Hafley\u2019s team being competitive this season.<\/p>\n

While the Dolphins didn\u2019t win anything substantial during the Wannstedt years, they did advance to the playoffs twice and possessed a forceful defense, one that was respected, if not feared, in the NFL at the time.<\/p>\n

The South Florida fan base might have turned its nose up at the Wannstedt era, but he delivered four consecutive winning seasons, a 42-31 record, and the franchise\u2019s last playoff win in 2000, before getting fired because of a 1-8 start in 2004.<\/p>\n

Since his departure, the Dolphins got teased then dumped by Nick Saban, reached rock bottom in Cam Cameron\u2019s dismal 2007 season, went through a massive rebuild in the Bill Parcells era, which was coached by Tony Sparano.<\/p>\n

And there were the Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel eras, or errors, none of which had the success of Wannstedt.<\/p>\n

It might be offensive to say Wannstedt\u2019s success should be the new standard, but that\u2019s the reality for this franchise, which hasn\u2019t won a playoff game in 25 seasons and counting.<\/p>\n

Wannstedt benefitted from Jimmy Johnson\u2019s talent evaluation and player development, which produced stars such as Thomas and fellow Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain, and Chris Chambers and Randy McMichael, the final two drafted by Wannstedt when he ran Miami\u2019s front office after Johnson retired.<\/p>\n

Hafley could certainly benefit from the Dolphins adding some difference-makers like Wannstedt had. If things go right in this rebuild, which started with the Dolphins\u2019 purging the roster of veterans via trade or release, ultimately carrying $179 million in dead cap, he will discover and develop some foundational players.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what this season is about, and if things pan out the way Hafley envisions, maybe the Dolphins will quickly get back to producing winning seasons, and playoff victories like they had in the Wannstedt era.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
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