The San Francisco 49ers and Kyle Shanahan will face an old friend in Week 2. Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley coached on the same staff as Kyle Shanahan with the Cleveland Browns for a season in 2014. Hafley worked with the 49ers from 2016 and stayed on through a regime change when Shanahan was hired, serving as the Niners’ defensive backs coach through 2018.
It’s been quite the journey for Hafley since he left the Bay Area. He’s had stops at Ohio State, Boston College, and the Packers before being hired as the Dolphins’ head coach this past offseason.
Hafley couldn’t speak highly enough about what he learned from Shanahan, John Lynch, and the 49ers:
The biggest lasting impression for me, as a younger coach when I left the Niners: John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, coming in together, being aligned. It kind of, sent a message to me. If I ever get a chance to do this, I want it to be like that. I want it to be somebody that I’m aligned with.
When I came in and John Lynch, obviously one of the best football players, Hall of Fame player, but you wanna talk about a good guy, he’s one of the best human beings of all-time. Combine that with Kyle, I think it’s such a great fit.
Remember, we were 0-9. Kyle’s first season I’m there, we started off 0-9. We won a bunch of games. The next year, I think we won four or five games. The next year, they went to the Super Bowl. So he had a process. Kyle’s a huge influence on me. I truly believe he’s one of the reasons I’m here right now. Great coach, great friend. But I’ve learned so much from him.
And seeing him stick to the process and hold people to a standard during two really hard years, and building it the right way, and not flinching. And him and John just being like this. I think that has stuck with me. And look at us know. I’m not saying we’re going to start that way, but Sully [Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan] and I together, trying to build this thing the right way, Kyle kind of gave me the blueprint for that.
This season probably feels a lot like 2017 for Hafley. The Dolphins were projected to be among the worst teams in the NFL. They’re going to play a lot of inexperienced players. Miami had 436 snaps played by rookies in Week 1, the most of any team, per the AP’s Josh Dubow.
Three of the Dolphins’ top four wide receivers are rookies. Their left guard, Kadyn Proctor, is a rookie. Hafley starts three rookies on his defense. There will be growing pains, but the Dolphins are building a foundation. They will not be an easy out for San Francisco this week.
