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Jeff Hafley gave Dolphins fans plenty to notice at the first open practice

The Dolphins opened the door for fans for the first time under Jeff Hafley.
Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley
Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan are hoping to build the Miami Dolphins into a winning franchise. A complete regime change was needed, but in many cases, routines tend to stay the same. That isn't the case with Hafley.

While not entirely cut out of practices, Hafley has suggested that there will be no more 7-on-7 drills as the team uses more 11-on-11. That's a smart football move from a coaching standpoint, but on Sunday, Dolphins fans got their first look at Hafley's approach, and needless to say, they were a bit surprised.

One of the Dolphins' most popular fans is Ian Berger. The former Dolphins "Fan of the Year" hasn't missed many practices over the years, so when he notices an early format change, you can bet it's for a reason.

Miami Dolphins are all business despite the presence of fans for the first time this training camp

Running onto the field to begin practice has always been an opportunity to "hype up" the fans. Loud music has played over the speakers, players hit the field waving their arms, and loud cheers echo from under the covered bleachers, but not this year.

Hafley was asked ahead of Sunday's practice about how the team would approach their first day with fans in attendance. He didn't seem to care about the semantics of it, but was more interested in his players giving the fans a reason to cheer. Hafley was directly asked if they were going to have the rookie hype up the fans.

"Hopefully we hype them up by the way the guys makes the plays."

Hafley also said that "If certain players wanted to go out and get them hyped up, well that's great." It was clear that the Dolphins head coach wasn't going to follow in his predecessors' shoes, and when the team ran onto the practice field, there was no big intro, no loud music, just, as "Big E" said, it was all business.

For those fans in attendance, there may have been some surprising moments of "Where is all the pomp and circumstance?" But ultimately, they are watching a head coach build a culture in Miami whose priority is to win.

At some point, it all may change. This is year one for Hafley. In Green Bay, there is a tradition of kids giving their bikes to players to ride into practice. That won't become a tradition in Miami, but once things settle down, maybe that loud introduction of players may return. For now, it's more refreshing to see Miami take a more muted tone.

Hafley did, however, deliver on his expectations. On the final play of practice, backup quarterback Cam Miller dropped a deep pass to A.J. Henning, who scored the touchdown, and the fans got the juice Hafley was hoping for.

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