The Hafley Era is over in Green Bay, Jeff Hafley named new Miami Dolphins head coach.

Well, as expected the Jeff Hafley Defensive Coordinator Era has ended in Green Bay. What a short, wild ride it was. I remember when they hired Jeff Hafley two years ago to replace Joe Barry and I thought, “what the hell is a Jeff Hafley?” He wasn’t on ANYONE’S radar, and didn’t have a particularly star studded run as the head coach at Boston College. It was uninspiring to say the least.

Then I heard Jeff Hafley speak. From his first answer to the first question he fielded at his introductory press conference, it was clear he had ‘it.’ He was engaging, thoughtful, well spoken, he got you fired up! He seemed like a leader of men, and someone who probably had a future as a head coach if his defense could succeed in Green Bay.

And succeed they did. They were ranked 6th overall in total defense in his first season, and were hanging around the top 5 this season until Micah Parsons got hurt and they ended up finishing 12th overall in total yards and 11th overall in terms of points given up. Some fans will point to the dip after the Parsons injury and the meltdowns in Chicago as reasons why  they’re not sad he’s leaving, but even with that slide, this is the best the defense has looked since the first few seasons of Dom Capers. It’s a damn shame we’re losing him after it felt like we had finally found someone for that spot. We were wandering around in the wilderness with Mike Pettine and Joe Barry until Hafley finally provided some stability.

But it was pretty clear that Hafley wasn’t going to stay long as a coordinator. He was that good when he spoke. Hell, I chop up audio for sportscasts all week, and more often than not I thought Hafley provided better insight and was far more engaging that Matt LaFleur. And LaFleur isn’t even that bad! But Hafley was a supporting actor who carried himself as a main character. He was Heath Ledger in Dark Knight, or Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, or Val Kilmer in Tombstone.

So, now that he’s got a shiny new extension, Matt LaFleur needs to find someone to keep that unit at least in the top-10-ish range. Raheem Morris’ name is probably going to pop up, an internal candidate might be Demarcus Covington, Al Harris could come home as a rising name on the defensive assistant ladder, or maybe we FINALLY get Jimmy Leonhard back to Wisconsin. I have no bets as to who might be the clubhouse leader (they’re interviewing Eagles DB coach, Christian Parker today), but LaFleur needs to get this one correct. Even with that extension, if this team stumbles early, and the defense looks bad, his seat could get hot QUICK.

PS: This is a VERY niche reference, but if you follow Barstool and Frank The Tank Felming, here was his reaction to the Hafley hiring as a diehard Dolphins fan:

Hafley is going to win over that whole fanbase at his presser, mortal lock.