Hafley is the 12th head coach in Miami’s franchise history

The Miami Dolphins named Jeff Hafley as their new head coach Monday night, and the Capital Region can claim a piece of his journey.

Hafley, 46, comes to Miami after spending the past two seasons as the Green Bay Packers' defensive coordinator. Before that, he was the head coach at Boston College (2020-2023) and spent seven seasons as an NFL defensive backs coach with San Francisco, Cleveland, and Tampa Bay.

But before any of that NFL success, Hafley spent seven years right here in the Capital Region.

He played wide receiver at Siena College from 1997 to 2000, graduating cum laude with a history degree. Though injuries limited his playing time, those setbacks pushed him toward coaching.

After a brief stop at Worcester Polytechnic, Hafley joined Bob Ford's staff at UAlbany in 2002, coaching there through 2005 while earning his master's degree. During that time, he helped develop Kurt Campbell, who became the first UAlbany player ever drafted into the NFL when Green Bay selected him in 2005.

Now Hafley gets his first NFL head coaching shot with a Dolphins team that hasn't won a playoff game in 25 years—not since December 30, 2000, when Hafley was a senior at Siena.