January 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cAfter interviewing, talking to people that were all real, real great candidates. I think the enthusiasm, the knowledge, the background\u2026\u201d Ross said before giving about six seconds of umms while appearing to check his notes to remember the new hire\u2019s name is \u201cJeff stood out amongst them all\u2026 I\u2019m very happy to be standing today knowing we got who we wanted, and the rest of the teams are still looking.\u201d<\/p>\n
In defense of Ross, he\u2019s 85 years old and this was just Jeff\u2019s first official day in the building. On the contrary, it\u2019s not a great look for a billionaire owner who just hired someone as important to their franchise as the head coach is, to briefly forget that person\u2019s name is Jeff.<\/p>\n
It ultimately shouldn\u2019t matter. If Jeff Hafley is as good as Ross claimed he is during the introductory press conference, then the owner shouldn\u2019t have to meddle much, which would be a good thing for the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
Ross is widely considered one of the worst owners in sports. He has succeeded in boosting the Dolphins\u2019 value since purchasing the franchise for $1.1 billion in 2008. But he has failed to win even one playoff game during his tenure. Additionally, Ross was heavily penalized for allegedly tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton in 2022, which stemmed from an investigation after former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by the NFL and teams.<\/p>\n
Despite the past faults of Ross, if Aikman helped the Dolphins get it right with new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, on-field success can still be enough to mask the liabilities of a bad owner.<\/p>\n
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