According to several sources, the Miami Dolphins are finalizing plans to make Jeff Hafley their next head coach. Hafley earned the gig after just two seasons with the Green Bay Packers as their defensive coordinator. There, he turned around a unit that struggled under Joe Barry and produced a defense that ranked sixth in scoring in 2024 and 11th in 2025.
Obviously, that’s tough news for the Packers, who had made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons with the help of Hafley, although both of those seasons were cut short by losses in the Wild Card. Hafley was well-regarded by both analysts and fans alike.
The Packers’ pain is the Lions’ gain, but this news has an even further benefit to the Detroit Lions organization. Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard also interviewed for this Dolphins head coaching gig earlier on Monday. This means Sheppard is in line to return to Detroit for his second season as the defensive coordinator—although with so many head coaching vacancies still out there, nothing is certain. At the time of this writing, there are no reports that Sheppard has interviewed for any of the remaining head coaching jobs.
While some of the opinion of Sheppard may be different, it’s clear he’s valued within the Lions organization and they’d prefer to have him back for 2026, despite some defensive struggles last season. Toward the end of the season, Lions coach Dan Campbell had this to say about Sheppard’s first season as defensive play-caller.
“I like Shep. Shep has really grown this year,” Campbell said. “I think with any first-time coordinator, first-time coach, you go through a lot. You learn along the way. You make adjustments. You find things that you believe in. You throw other things to the side that don’t fit you. You find ways to adjust, and it’s just part of the process. I think Shep’s done a damn good job. There’s always going to be things that you learn from this job, but I like Shep.”
Catch all of the Lions coaching news and rumors over on our 2026 Lions staff tracker.
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