Getty
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Ron Middleton posing for a photo opp.
One of the most popular former New York Jets assistant coaches has returned to the NFL.
The Miami Dolphins announced that their 2026 coaching staff is set. Miami hired Ron Middleton to be the new tight ends coach.
He took a year off in 2025, most recently having served as the Jets’ TEs coach from 2021 through 2024 under then-head coach Robert Saleh.
“He has 28 years of coaching experience, primarily at the tight end position, including 15 in the NFL,” the Dolphins wrote in a press release. “Prior to New York, he was the tight ends coach with Jacksonville (2013-20), where he also served as an assistant special teams coach in his first three seasons with the team (2013-15). Middleton helped the Jaguars clinch the AFC South and reach the AFC Championship Game in 2017. He also coached tight ends and was an assistant special teams coach with Tampa Bay from 2004 to 2006.”
“Middleton spent 13 seasons at the collegiate level, beginning his career at Troy, where he worked as a tight ends coach and assisted with the offensive tackles (1997-98). He spent five seasons at Ole Miss, first as the tight ends coach (1999-2001) and then as the running backs/special teams coordinator (2002-03), one season at Alabama as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator (2007), and five seasons at Duke (2008-12), where he was the associate head coach/special teams coordinator/tight ends coach. Middleton played 10 seasons in the NFL and won Super Bowl XXVI with Washington,” the press release stated.
Highlighting Middleton’s Best Moments With the Jets
Middleton, 60, crossed over with Saleh twice during his coaching career. They initially worked together with the Jaguars for three seasons (2014-16). When Saleh got the HC job with the NYJ, he brought Middleton with him.
During Saleh’s first year running the Jets, he contracted COVID. That made him unable to serve as the head coach in Week 16 against Jacksonville. Saleh chose Middleton to fill in for him on an interim basis for that week.
Typically, positional coaches don’t speak to the media routinely. Suddenly, Middleton was thrust into the spotlight and had to fill in for all of Saleh’s media appearances that week.
Middleton went viral on social media for his interesting phrases and facial expressions he made during those press conferences.
The Jets beat the Jaguars 26-21 in Week 16 in 2021. That was the only game Middleton had to serve in before Saleh took the team back over.
A few months later, the Jets picked Middleton to serve as the head coach for the National team at the Senior Bowl.
Before his team ran out onto the field for the Senior Bowl game, Middleton told the group, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”
That clip went viral.
Popular former #Jets coach Ron Middleton is back in the #NFL, coaching the #Dolphins TEs.
He had one of the greatest quotes of all time when he was the @seniorbowl HC:
“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” 🤣
“If it moves, hit it. If it don’t move, hit it. And if you aren’t sure, guess what? Hit it! Let’s come out of this the most physical team on that field today, regardless. Let’s win the hitting battle. You got me? Touch somebody, let’s pray,” Middleton told his team in another viral moment from the Senior Bowl.
Middleton’s team ended up winning the Senior Bowl, improving his HC record to 2-0.
Easy Guy to Root For
Former Jets QB Zach Wilson said in August of 2023, while he was still on the team, that Middleton is a “great leader” … “players love him” … and described him as a “father figure” to the locker room.
#Jets QB Zach Wilson (@ZachWilson) agreed w/ @espnbob that the team’s TE room doesn’t get the love they deserve, ‘they have a great leader in coach [Ron] Middleton, he does a phenomenal job, those guys love him like he’s a father figure’ + ‘definitely a good room’ 🎥 @nyjets
Middleton is now the enemy, at least, twice a year against the Jets, being inside the AFC East with Miami. However, he is a good person who left a mark on the Jets organization during his short time there.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
More Heavy on Jets
Loading more stories