List of Miami Dolphins head coaches
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in Miami Gardens, Florida. They are members of the East Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Dolphins began play in 1966 as an expansion team in the American Football League (AFL), and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger. The team has played their home games at Hard Rock Stadium, originally known as Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Landshark Stadium, and Sun Life Stadium, since 1987.[1] The Dolphins are currently owned by Stephen M. Ross.[2]
There have been fifteen head coaches for the Dolphins franchise. The team's first head coach was George Wilson, who coached for four complete seasons.[3] Don Shula, who coached the Dolphins for 26 consecutive seasons, is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (392), the most regular-season game wins (257), the most playoff games coached (31), and the most playoff-game wins (17). Shula is also the only Dolphins head coach to win a Super Bowl with the team, winning two. He was named NFL Coach of the Year by the Associated Press (AP), The Sporting News (TSN), Pro Football Weekly (PFW), and United Press International (UPI) during his tenure with the Dolphins.[4] The current head coach of the Dolphins, Jeff Hafley, was hired on January 19, 2026.[5]
Key
| # | Number of coaches[N 1] |
| Yrs | Years coached |
| First | First season coached |
| Last | Last season coached |
| GC | Games Coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Loses |
| T | Ties |
| Win% | Win – Loss percentage |
| † | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
| * | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Dolphins |
Coaches
- Note: Statistics are accurate through the conclusion of the 2025 NFL season.
| # | Image | Name | Term[N 2] | Regular season | Playoffs | Accomplishments | Ref. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yrs | First | Last | GC | W | L | T | W% | GC | W | L | W% | |||||
| 1 |  |
George Wilson | 4 | 1966 | 1969 | 56 | 15 | 39 | 2 | .286 | — | [3] | ||||
| 2 |  |
Don Shula † | 26 | 1970 | 1995 | 392 | 257 | 133 | 2 | .658 | 31 | 17 | 14 | .548 | Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (1997) 2 Super Bowl championships (VII, VIII) 5 AFC championships (1971, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1984) 11 AFC East championships (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1994) 16 Playoff Berths AP NFL Coach of the Year (1972) Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1970, 1972) Pro Football Weekly NFL Coach of the Year (1970, 1972) UPI AFC Coach of the Year (1971) |
[4][6] |
| 3 | _2009.jpg) |
Jimmy Johnson † | 4 | 1996 | 1999 | 64 | 36 | 28 | 0 | .563 | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (2020) 3 Playoff Berths |
[7] |
| 4 |  |
Dave Wannstedt | 5 | 2000 | 2004[N 3] | 73 | 42 | 31 | 0 | .575 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | AFC East championship (2000) 2 Playoff Berths |
[8] |
| 5 | Jim Bates* | 1 | 2004[N 3] | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | — | [9] | ||||||
| 6 |  |
Nick Saban* | 2 | 2005 | 2006 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | .469 | — | [10] | ||||
| 7 |  |
Cam Cameron* | 1 | 2007 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | — | [11] | |||||
| 8 | .jpg) |
Tony Sparano | 4 | 2008 | 2011[N 4] | 61 | 29 | 32 | 0 | .475 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | AFC East championship (2008) 1 Playoff Berth |
[12] |
| 9 | .png) |
Todd Bowles | 1 | 2011[N 4] | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | — | [13] | |||||
| 10 | Joe Philbin | 4 | 2012 | 2015[N 5] | 52 | 24 | 28 | 0 | .462 | — | [14] | |||||
| 11 | .jpg) |
Dan Campbell | 1 | 2015[N 5] | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | — | [15] | |||||
| 12 |  |
Adam Gase | 3 | 2016 | 2018 | 48 | 23 | 25 | 0 | .479 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 Playoff Berth | [16] |
| 13 | Brian Flores* | 3 | 2019 | 2021 | 49 | 24 | 25 | 0 | .490 | — | [17] | |||||
| 14 | |
Mike McDaniel* | 4 | 2022 | 2025 | 68 | 35 | 33 | 0 | .515 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 Playoff Berths | [18] |
| 15 | Jeff Hafley* | 1 | 2026 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | — | [19] | |||||
| Totals | 60 | 1966 | 2025 | 933 | 511 | 418 | 4 | .550 | 43 | 20 | 23 | .465 | ||||
Notes
- A running total of the number of coaches of the Dolphins. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once.
- Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
- Dave Wannstedt resigned during the bye week with a 1–8 record. Defensive coordinator Jim Bates served as interim head coach for the remaining 7 games.
- After the Dolphins dropped to a 4–9 record, Tony Sparano was fired. Assistant coach Todd Bowles served as interim head coach for the remaining 3 games.
- After the Dolphins started with a 1−3 record, Joe Philbin was fired. Tight ends coach Dan Campbell served as interim head coach for the remaining 12 games.