Dave Hyde: Partnership with a good plan takes over troubled Dolphins

Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Jan 23, 2026

Published in Football

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — They presented themselves as a partnership, side by side, the new Miami Dolphins general manager and new coach, showing from their first words what’s different and at work this time. Even team owner Steve Ross, who hadn’t spoken directly to fans since firing Brian Flores in 2022, was ushered off the stage after saying a few words and then trying to sit down.

Day One was for general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley to share the same stage, have the same view, take the same questions and even feel the same emotion in getting this chance, as each fought back tears three or four times.

“I’ll get beat up in the media before I even start, like, ‘this guy couldn’t keep it together,’ ” Sullivan said while thanking his family.

Everyone appreciates a dream being realized. Day One was a good day in that manner. Aren’t they all? That’s the only caveat here. This franchise has had an alarming rate of good-news first days. Even Cam Cameron talked about how, “We know how to win,” before going 1-15 in 2007.

The hope is it’s different this time. It already is in an important way, too.

This is the first time Ross (and son-in-law Daniel Sillman, the point man on these searches), constructed this football partnership at the top in the proper manner. They hired the talent evaluator first. Sure, this is a partnership, Sullivan and Hafley. But for where this franchise is and what it needs, Sullivan is the senior partner.

Hafley, you see, can’t matter unless Sullivan matters first. This is the worst starting situation in the NFL’s worst franchise over the past 25 years. Take a look under the hood. Weak roster. Salary-cap handcuffs. A division where New England has joined Buffalo as an AFC power. And still no quarterback. (Do we need to spend time saying Tua Tagovailoa is gone?)

Here’s the good news: Sullivan has the right plan. That’s hasn’t always been the case.

“We’re going to draft, we’re going to develop, we’re going to retain our own, but that only works if you’re aligned with the player development part of things,’’ Sullivan said.

That’s where Hafley comes in. The general manager and coach start on the same Day One and say they see the game the same after having worked together in Green Bay. The Dolphins haven’t had this fundamental alignment at the top since before Ross’ time.

Just look at recent years. Former GM Chris Grier and Flores read the plan differently Then Mike McDaniel arrived on a different timetable and different vision of football. So, now the world looks in order: They got a GM who sounds like he has a constant direction and a coach who believes in this way.

Quarterback? They’re going to go the Green Bay Way, thank goodness. “We’re going to invest in the position every year if we can,’’ Sullivan said. “Depending on where we are, we’ll draft a quarterback every year or every other year.

Middle- and late-round draft picks? This has been a disaster for the Dolphins. One third-day draft pick in Grier’s 10 years — seventh-round kicker Jason Sanders — made it to a second contract with the team.

“I think the culture and caliber of players and the standard of how we go about the draft process allows us to get in on the middle and late rounds,’’ Sullivan said. “This is not to say we’re perfect. We’ve missed. But we’ve hit on a lot of players in the middle and late rounds that have allowed us to be successful.”

Will it work? Who knows? But it’s the right idea for once.

“What we’ve always done is build through the draft,’’ Sullivan said of Green Bay. “There are certain pillars — we don’t want to give away the secret sauce — that I think has allowed Green Bay to have success over time.”

Building through the draft takes some time and requires an organizational patience that’s been missing. Maybe that changes now. Maybe everything changes. Day One, as the tears of the new partners showed, always is a time to dream.