Dolphins’ Jeff Hafley sets tone to start offseason program

MIAMI GARDENS — New Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley called it the first day of school for his players.

And his students were handed the syllabus and introduced to their new professors Tuesday.

It was the first day of the Dolphins’ offseason workout program at team facilities under the direction of Hafley.

To this point in the offseason of the new regime of Hafley coaching and Jon-Eric Sullivan as general manager, it’s mostly been Sullivan’s show. The GM has made key decisions on cutting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill, trading fellow wideout Jaylen Waddle and signing a free agent class headlined by quarterback Malik Willis.

That will even be the case in a couple of weeks, as the draft rolls around and the Dolphins are slated to bring in 11 drafted rookies, with seven picks in the first three rounds.

On Tuesday, it was Hafley’s time to finally get his players in the building and start laying the foundation for the 2026 team.

“(Tuesday) is a lot of me kind of setting expectations, going over rules, talking to them about the culture, the foundation, my expectations,” Hafley said Tuesday afternoon after going through morning meetings with players. “For the position coaches — offense, defense and special teams — it’s probably a lot of, like, first day of school, get to know the coaches, let them in their position rooms, go over their positional room expectations, their rules, what they’re looking for.”

Offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and defensive coordinator Sean Duggan spoke to their respective units, and then they broke off into positional meetings.

“I know both coordinators spoke to the offense and the defense separately, and then they kind of broke up in position meetings. Then we got into some football because there was time, but all we’re really allowed right now in Phase 1 is working out and in those meetings, so that’s what we got accomplished today.”

Phase 1, which started Tuesday, consists of the first two weeks of the offseason program. The league mandates activities are limited to meetings, strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation.

Phase 2 is the following three weeks, where positional workouts can take place on the field and drills can take place at a walkthrough pace, with no live contact or team offense versus team defense.

After that, the final stage of the offseason workouts is when voluntary practices deemed organized team activities (OTAs) occur.

The Dolphins, as one of the teams with a new head coach, are one of the teams allowed to start ahead of those with returning coaches.

On social media Tuesday morning, the Dolphins released video of different players arriving, including Willis, center Aaron Brewer, linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson and defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. In the afternoon, video of Willis throwing to wide receiver Malik Washington in the indoor facility was unveiled.

Star running back De’Von Achane was not present Tuesday, Hafley said. Achane is negotiating a contract extension as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.

But there was energy abound at team headquarters, nonetheless.

“There’s a level of excitement,” Hafley said. “We have a lot of new players. We have a lot of new coaches. I think some players are probably anxious, some are probably nervous. I’m sure some are excited and looking forward to it. Guys getting to know each other, that’s going to take time as we learn to connect and get to really know one another, but the coaches were excited. I mean, I’ve been looking forward to this since I took the job.

“Do I love coming to work every day? Sure, but when the players are here, then I really love coming to work every day. It’s why we do what we do.”

Hafley’s message to players early in the program is simple.

“Show up on time and give everything you have every single day,” he said. “That’s kind of how I view everything. It’s process-driven to the point where there really is no end-game result right now. It’s show up, do everything you can every single day and do the best you can at it, whether that’s in the weight room, whether that’s in a meeting room. That’s got to be in everything that you do.”

As players are merely doing strength and conditioning at this state, Hafley already has a practice plan mapped out for once his players do hit the field.

“There’s going to be some long, hard, physical practices, and there’s going to be some quick, physical practices — and then there’ll be some fast, non-physical practices,” he said. “We just can’t go out there every single day and bang shoulders and think we’re going to wind up being healthy, so we’ve got to be smart about it.”

As some questions for Hafley on Tuesday got ahead of where the team is positioned, the new coach offered a glimpse into his direct style of communication.

“I’ll tell you when training camp is done who we really are, or else it’s just a bunch of coach talk and I’m full of it up here,” he said. “I’m not just going to throw out a bunch of phrases and lingo; that’s just not me. I want to find out who this team is, and I want to match that with who we become so it’s real, and I’m not saying one thing and we’re playing like another thing.”