New Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley should hope he gets to keep the job long enough for owner Stephen Ross to learn his name.
Hopefully, Troy Aikman was a little more involved in the hiring process when helping the Dolphins find their next general manager and head coach than Ross was. Because during Hafley’s introductory press conference, the 85-year-old owner appeared to forget the name of his new head coach.
🎥 Stephen Ross on hiring Jeff Hafley as the new head coach: “Jeff stood out amongst them all. We were really fortunate that he was available, we made our decision early… we got who we wanted.” (@MiamiDolphins) #PhinsUp pic.twitter.com/YnODrVr9Bn
— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) January 22, 2026
“After interviewing, talking to people that were all real, real great candidates. I think the enthusiasm, the knowledge, the background…” Ross said before giving about six seconds of umms while appearing to check his notes to remember the new hire’s name is “Jeff stood out amongst them all… I’m very happy to be standing today knowing we got who we wanted, and the rest of the teams are still looking.”
In defense of Ross, he’s 85 years old and this was just Jeff’s first official day in the building. On the contrary, it’s not a great look for a billionaire owner who just hired someone as important to their franchise as the head coach is, to briefly forget that person’s name is Jeff.
It ultimately shouldn’t matter. If Jeff Hafley is as good as Ross claimed he is during the introductory press conference, then the owner shouldn’t have to meddle much, which would be a good thing for the Dolphins.
Ross is widely considered one of the worst owners in sports. He has succeeded in boosting the Dolphins’ value since purchasing the franchise for $1.1 billion in 2008. But he has failed to win even one playoff game during his tenure. Additionally, Ross was heavily penalized for allegedly tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton in 2022, which stemmed from an investigation after former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by the NFL and teams.
Despite the past faults of Ross, if Aikman helped the Dolphins get it right with new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, on-field success can still be enough to mask the liabilities of a bad owner.
