New Miami Dolphins special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman has some work to do with a unit that has not been very efficient or consistent over the last several seasons.

Since former special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi left town in 2018, the Dolphins’ coverage units have been lackluster under three different head coaches: Adam Gase, Brian Flores, and now Mike McDaniel.

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Aukerman spent the 2013-2015 seasons with the Tennessee Titans as their assistant special teams coordinator and then joined the San Diego Chargers in 2016 to head their special teams group. He returned to Tennessee in 2017 as their assistant special teams coordinator then took the reins in 2018 until he was let go in 2023.

“Getting an opportunity to come down here to South Florida, be a part of the great organization with the Miami Dolphins – it really excited me,” Aukerman told reporters this week. “And then when I got offered the job, I couldn’t wait to get down here, so I’m looking forward to being down here with all the players, all the coaches, the organization. Super excited.”

With Aukerman comes former Titans punter Ryan Stonehouse, who will compete with Jake Bailey in camp. Finding a winner in that battle will be Aukerman’s first test in Miami.

There are plenty of other tasks on the coordinator’s plate, though. He’ll be on the lookout for new juice from a return unit that hasn’t taken a punt or kickoff back for a touchdown since 2020.

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“I’m excited about Malik (Washington), I’m excited about Dee (Eskridge),” Aukerman said. “I’m excited about a bunch of guys. If we’ve got Tyreek (Hill) back there, if we’ve got Jaylen Waddle back there. Like whoever is back there, I know one of the biggest things that we talk about is we’re going to continue to raise those expectations and continue to get better each and every day.”

The Dolphins’ consistent penalty issues on special teams were asked about as well.

“I think you can ask the players already about my meetings on what the emphasis is, and that’s a huge emphasis,” Aukerman said. “We understand that, hey, being penalized on special teams is going to hurt the football and that’s what we’re not.

“We want to help the football team win games, not hurt them, so it’s getting emphasized pretty much every day with those players and I would be disappointed if you would ask them a question and they wouldn’t be saying something about how we’ve got to be disciplined and understand, ‘Hey, this is going to hurt our football team.”

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If the coverage units improve, the punting game gets more consistent, and the Dolphins can find explosive moments in the return game, Miami’s special teams would go a long way toward helping the team find wins.

This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Craig Aukerman tasked with improving Dolphins’ subpar special teams