There are not many first-time head coaches who take over an NFL team that is rebuilding and find victories easy to come by. Of the 12 head coaches in Miami Dolphins history, only four coaches won their first game.
Jeff Hafley won't fall into that tier, but like the team he is coaching, his resume is being built for a longer, more sustainable winning future.
The Dolphins are hoping that Week 7 will break their winless streak that stretched to five games against the Bengals in Week 5. If not, Hafley will creep closer to having one of the least successful starts for any head coach in team history
Miami Dolphins' Jeff Hafley hopes to end winless slide and avoid history
The First Time Winners: 4
All four coaches who won their first games did so coming off a team already built to some degree. Jimmy Johnson took over for Don Shula, and Dave Wannstedt took over for Johnson. Both rosters were already solid, and Johnson had the luxury of Dan Marino.
Nick Saban would take over the 2004 Wannstedt team. A good team that struggled under the weight of the salary cap. The fourth coach was Mike McDaniel, who in 2020 inherited a solid team from Brian Flores. That's the end of the first-game winners.
The Game 2 Winners: 2
It may be the only time that Joe Philbin and Don Shula are mentioned in the same sentence, but Philbin got his first win against the Raiders on September 16th 2012. Miami finished that season 7-9. Needless to say, Shula had a much better finish in his first season with the Dolphins.
The Shula-led Dolphins beat the Houston Oilers in Week 2 of the 1970 season. Miami went 10-4 that year but lost to the Raiders in the first round of the playoffs.
The 3rd Game Tier: 2
Only two coaches won their first game after two failed attempts to start the season. Adam Gase's 2016 team beat Cleveland in overtime in Week 3 to get its first win. The Dolphins finished 10-6 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Tony Sparano's victory was a bit more impressive considering he was taking over the Cam Cameron 1-win season. Sparano's first win came against Tom Brady and the Patriots when they rolled out the Wild Cat and shocked the Bill Belichick-led Patriots. Miami lost to the Ravens in the first round of the playoffs that season.
The Coaches Hafley Can Beat: 3
Jeff Hafley would love to get his first win in Week 7. If he does, he would join George Wilson, who celebrated his first victory against the Denver Broncos. The Dolphins had Week 4 off that season, which puts Hafley in position to come off his bye week and do the same.
Brian Flores' tough love approach didn't start off well. Like Hafley, Flores started his NFL head coaching career with a team completely void of top talent. It was a rebuild that never got off the ground. Flores won his first game in Week 9 of the 2019 season, after a bye week.
Cam Cameron is the standard for atrocious coaching, and if Hafley doesn't turn it around, he could find himself making Cameron's name in the Dolphins' lore a little less ugly. Cameron's Dolphins beat the Ravens in Week 15 in overtime. Hafley has another 10 weeks before he has to start worrying about taking over that spot on his own, but no one wants to see that happen that late in the season.
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