With the hiring of Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley as general manager and head coach, respectively, the Miami Dolphins have been nicknamed the Miami Packers with the amount of personnel that is moving from Green Bay to South Florida.
Now, following the official signing of former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel to be the next offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, McDaniel is helping to do a little poaching of his own. On Wednesday, it was announced that Butch Barry, Miami's former offensive line coach, would be added to the Chargers' staff in the same role.
Barry had spent the last three seasons as the Dolphins' OL coach, mildly improving the unit in his tenure from the disaster it was prior to his arrival. Before Barry got to Miami, the Dolphins had alternated offensive line coaches essentially on a yearly basis.
Former Dolphins' OL coach Butch Barry follows Mike McDaniel to Los Angeles
Barry's hiring in 2023 was met with skepticism from analysts and those within the Dolphins' fan base. Just the year before, he was the offensive line coach for the Denver Broncos, and the results were abysmal. Denver's unit had allowed a league-high 63 sacks that year and didn't fare much better in the run game. He was fired midseason, soon after Nathaniel Hackett was let go as the Broncos' head coach.
Barry had ties with McDaniel, however, as the two had worked together in San Francisco. And despite the criticism that came with Barry's hiring, Miami's OL netted positive results in his first year with the Dolphins.
Like most seasons with the Dolphins, the offensive line roster was less than stellar, to put it mildly, going into the 2023 season. Moreover, given injuries across the line, Barry was forced to make a number of lineup changes as the season went on. Nevertheless, the Dolphins' unit held up strongly by allowing just 31 sacks on the year and led the NFL in fewest quarterback hits allowed.
Much of that had to do with McDaniel's quick offense and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa getting the ball out at the fastest rate in the league. With that said, Miami's offensive line has made one of the biggest improvements at the position in quite some time.
The Dolphins' OL took a slight dip in 2024 but still maintained a mid-tier level before falling to a bottom-five unit this past season. As mentioned, before Barry's arrival, the Dolphins had alternated multiple offensive line coaches, with most lasting just one season, and none more than two, dating all the way back to Hudson Houck from 2005-07.
Miami wasted no time, however, in announcing Barry's successor as OL coach faster than I could write this article.
Zach Yenser, from the Texans, will be Dolphins new OL coach, per source. Aaron Wilson and football scoop had linked him to Miami
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) January 28, 2026
Zach Yenser, formerly of the Houston Texans, has reportedly agreed to become Miami's next offensive line coach. With Houston, Yenser was the assistant OL coach from 2024-25. He has an extensive history of coaching the offensive line in both the college and professional ranks. The Texans' offense struggled this past season, but much of that can be put on QB C.J. Stroud and not necessarily the unit blocking in front of him. Prior to that, Yenser led the OL staff at the University of Kentucky.
Yenser's ties to Miami are with Bobby Slowik, who was recently promoted to be the Dolphins' next offensive coordinator. The two spent time together in Slowik's final season as the Texans' OC.