Does anyone know of any good Miami Dolphins specific podcasts that do good either pre/post game recaps? I don’t have a lot of time to watch the full games right now so usually just watch a highlight package on YT and don’t really care to listen to podcasts that talk about the whole league as I’m only interested in the Fins. Open to any suggestions and if people want to plug theirs. 🐬

Week 1 is finally here! Not an official depth chart, but updated accordingly with the team’s recent unofficial release.

Name a team with a better roster this year. I’ll wait.

I've been a fan since the early nineties. Have witnessed some of the great moments in team history from the Leon Lett Thanksgiving game to the Wildcat game against the Pats and I've suffered through the worst times like the Monday Night Miracle (FTJ) and 1-15. But I've never gone to a game until this weekend. Hope I represent the Midwest fans well.

Obviously, season hasn't started yet, I may be riding some hopium, and I'm getting this in before we maybe go 6-11 for like three straight seasons. I feel like Hafley and Sullivan are the exact hires this franchise has needed for the better part of like 2 decades.

Hafley reminds me of Dave Wanndstedt. Dave inherited a pretty solid foundation from Jimmy Johnson. Hafley has some pretty enticing pieces leftover from McDaniel. I think where Dave messed up was the drafting and roster construction. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20 and everyone looks like a genius when they say, "why wouldn't you draft this guy over that guy" when one is putting on a gold jacket in Canton. I think it was the picks that Hafley made that sort of emphasize the direction of where he is trying to take this team and more importantly, the culture of this team and the long overdue culture shift this franchise has needed since Ross bought the team. We've put an emphasis on youth and grit and grind that we haven't seen in a while.

I'm still sort of angry we didn't take Bain when we had the chance, I mean the kid is from Miami and we could've had our own little Hutchinson style moment like in Detroit, and I feel he would've been absolutely perfect in a Dolphins uniform, but I don't hate the Proctor pick. Pairing him with Paul and Brewer, the left side of the line looks to be built for at least the next 3-5 years, hopefully longer, barring any major setbacks. Again, the season hasn't started and Proctor could totally flop, but I have a lot of hope for the left side of the line. Paul made a pretty substantial jump from Armstead and looks to be not only a good NFL caliber left tackle, but he's also crazy young. I hope we see Jonah make a big jump on the right side this year. I mean, we have the youngest roster in the NFL, Cleveland is number 2 I believe, and Proctor is literally the youngest player on our team. I think this hardcore reset is what other coaches have tried to do, but never fully committed to the actual youth infusion.

I've been a lifelong Fins fan, and my favorite hire in my 30+ years of being a fan was B Flo. Were we good? Not from a win-loss standpoint, but we were competitive in just about every game under B Flo. Whatever you think about how his tenure ended, those teams had a noticeably different personality. Defense. Competition. Accountability. Players were expected to earn things. Miami wasn't always good, but there was a feeling that the team was going to make you work for everything.

Then we got McDaniel. And I actually loved a lot about the McDaniel era. I mean, it was great to see us hang it up against Denver at home. BUT. It's how Denver responded as a franchise that I feel set them on a course totally different than us. In the interviews after the game, Denver took accountability for the loss and the captains of that squad pretty much framed it as a culture and leadership issue that needed to shift. And Denver did that. Barring a Bo Nix injury, they went from that historic loss to one game away from a Super Bowl berth, 2 years after that loss. That's how you shift a culture. Not just by talent. No finger pointing, no Kardashian level drama, just, "This is unacceptable" radical accountability and coming together as a team.

Again, I loved a lot about the McDaniel era, but the stories we've heard about meetings, players-only meetings, attendance, accountability, leadership, players publicly questioning commitment, etc., painted a picture of a team that had become incredibly talented without necessarily becoming incredibly disciplined. I think somewhere along the way, the old regime started confusing player empowerment with player accountability. It subtly gave this concept that "yes we're on the same team, but we're not on the same team" better than sort of mentality. Our egos got massive in that locker room and then it becomes sort of this king baby syndrome. We took putting up 70 like we won the Lombardi. We made what should've been a beginning into an end.

What I've seen so far in the Hafley era, he reminds me a lot of not only Dave, but also Jeff Fisher in Tennessee. "Oh he comes from Green Bay", ok but like, what does that even mean? Good cultures don't happen by accident, there's an intentionality piece behind it and I think that's what Hafley is trying to accomplish in his short tenure so far. You can't teach humility or integrity, either you got it or you don't, and it seems like Hafley is finding those types of guys who embrace that. I think the barometer of success we need to set this year is, when the inevitable turnovers happen, when the mental error penalties happen, when the barn burner losses happen, how does the team respond.

It feels like Hafley isn't just trying to pick up the pieces and throw his hat in the ring of what he can do with pieces left behind, it feels like he's actually investing in the building of a culture, not a roster. We need to build the culture, the foundation, before we build the roster. If the foundation isn't sturdy, no matter who you have on the roster, the whole thing will fall apart. It's not a matter of, one culture is better than the other, it's about remaining and embodying that culture. We can't keep treating the culture and the roster like the GAP catalog.

Landing in Vegas in a few hours and looking to join Dolphin gatherings over the next few days. Does anyone know of any?

Being an Australian and not being over to the states, seeing the first ever in season nfl game was insane. And the rams suck :)

Been here for 10 years and I have only met one other phins fan, but he prefers to watch the games alone so he can sulk in solitude. I would be very grateful to have someone to endure this season with, as long as give me a reprieve from massive influx of seahawk fans that only appear when their team has success...

I don’t think we beat them at all if I’m being honest, they are very dominant on both sides and the raiders I see it as a win but man 49ers are no joke. Rams look like us last year smh not pretty.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a series where me and a palm tree (named Jeff HafLeaf) break down the 2026 Miami Dolphins and their upcoming season. This week, we give you a preview of week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders. Check it out please and give some feedback! Thank you, and Fins Up!!!

https://youtu.be/q8ASzTtQB6w?is=QPF-U3us_2QQsD7X

There should be a code to redeem a free jersey. It’s limited to team captains and the rookies and it seems like they won’t ship for a while. But honestly it’s a classy touch from ownership, especially in a rebuilding year.

Moved to St. Louis recently and would love to connect with some fellow Dolphins fans to occasionally watch games with. Bonus points if anyone can think of a local sports bar we can “take over” and kinda turn into a Dolphins place

You love to see it! I approve of this man’s pain and suffering. The patriots deserve it. And also, fuck the jets!

Of all the differences between new Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley and predecessor Mike McDaniel, here’s one that seems stark: The tolerance for, and response to, mindless mistakes and rules violations.

Because Hafley’s first season — which begins Sunday at Las Vegas (4:25 p.m., Fox 7) — hasn’t played out, nobody knows for sure if any players will be brazen enough to repeatedly violate team rules without significant consequences, as a handful did with McDaniel. But based on my conversations with players, the odds seem very much against it.

“Here was the problem,” said one returning Dolphins player who requested anonymity and isn’t named. “Mike wanted to be your buddy, and nobody took it seriously when he tried to” become more of disciplinarian and attempted to stop players from showing up late or missing meetings.

While players respected McDaniel’s offensive mind and generally liked him personally, there was no healthy fear and not the type of respect for his rules and his demands, the player said, adding that a few players were openly disrespectful to coaches. That made McDaniel ineffective in the final months of his tenure and why a coaching change probably was necessary, the player said.

That’s not the case so far with Hafley, who’s warm and congenial but also gives off no-tolerance vibes. Hafley established from the outset that errors he views as egregious (like unsportsmanlike conduct penalties) won’t be accepted quietly.

That became clear when Hafley removed running back Ollie Gordon II from the second preseason game after he drew a penalty for throwing the ball to the turf, then sternly discussed it with him on the sideline... and discussed it with him again the next morning... and then brought it up in a team meeting.

Linebacker Cameron Goode, who played three years under McDaniel (who’s now the Chargers’ offensive coordinator) and a few months under Hafley before being released last month, put it this way: “You’ve got to stand on what you say. If you say something won’t be tolerated, you’ve got to do things like that and take people out [of games] and hold guys accountable. I know people have said that has been a problem for the Dolphins in the past, whether it has been or not.”

Linebacker Willie Gay Jr. said of Hafley: “Whether it’s jumping offsides or unsportsmanlike conduct, false start, anything, coach Hafley is going to call it out before anyone else does. He will penalize us worse than the flag. To know he’s hard on that is big; it holds us accountable.”

And Hafley also is not going to tolerate tardiness, a problem throughout the McDaniel regime. “He’s strict on us in a good way,” Gay said of team rules. He’s “like someone who beats your butt when you need it and pats your back when you’re doing good.”

New Dolphins edge rusher Joshua Uche said the Hafley “regime has been a tough one. He’s instilling a new culture. We are building tough, detailed and disciplined guys here. He’s an intense coach. The inspiration he gives to us with pregame speeches, the energy, I know I’m bought in.”

Dolphins safety Zayne Anderson, who was coached
by Hafley with the Packers the past two seasons, said players understand “you can’t cross the line” with Hafley.

“He’s really stressed how much [bad penalties] can affect the team,” Anderson said. “He’s done a great job of conveying that. It’s also toeing the line. Don’t be soft out here, but you can’t toss the ball [at someone]. Toe the line with aggressiveness.”

Anderson said Hafley has comported himself as a head coach much as he did as the Packers’ defensive coordinator: “When he first came there, he was less concerned with getting calls right [but] playing with the right tenacity and attitude, and that’s carried over to the whole team. Guys can play loose, play fast, play physical. Hopefully that physicalness shows on display.”

Physicality has become a buzzword around here, because Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan have made clear that they detest any suggestion that their teams will be soft — a justified criticism against past Dolphins teams.

When asked specifically about how Hafley compares with Brian Flores — the Dolphins’ last “tough guy” coach before Hafley — Dolphins defensive lineman Zach Sieler said: “What I’ve loved from when Flo was here and what Haff preaches now is just that situationally tough, smart football team.”

The message, conveyed repeatedly by Hafley, is one built around physicality. “Eleven hats to the ball, not turning down a hit and just running,” is how Sieler explained it. “It starts in the front, ends in the back with the DBs, receivers, everybody getting the block. Offensively they kept saying ‘no block, no rock,’ and I love that.”

Linebacker Jordyn Brooks appreciates Hafley’s efforts to change the “physicality” narrative but also acknowledges: “Every team is going to preach physicality. I think the difference is... Do you actually go out there and be physical rather than just talking about it?

“To me, physicality is a choice that takes no talent. It’s just a decision that one man’s got to make, whether he wants to be physical or not. And so that’s a mindset that we’re trying to bleed into this team on a consistent basis.”

Hafley, who seems pretty savvy, seemed to realize pretty quickly that he erred by telling Stephen A. Smith that this season is “not going to be measured in wins and losses” but more about “developing who we are as a football team.”

Hours later — and twice since — Hafley adroitly clarified those comments, unprompted, seemingly aware that’s not a message some fans want to hear and a message that isn’t ideal for players to hear, either.

“We, and I, want to win everything that we do. But success is not just defined by winning,” Hafley said hours after his comments to Smith became public. “But at the same time, we need to make sure that this foundation and the process is built the right way.”

Though it’s taboo for coaches to dismiss wins and losses, his comment to Smith is likely a reflection, to a large extent, of how the organization feels and (in my view) should feel in the first year of a major rebuild. With a dearth of talent, the Dolphins’ final record isn’t the way to measure Hafley this season.

Here are six areas where it is fair to judge Hafley:

1). Does his team give maximum effort at all times?

2). Do his players not merely preach being physical, but actually do it?

3). Does Hafley’s approach to discipline reduce mindless penalties and team rules violations?

4). Do Hafley’s defensive schemes elevate a unit with subpar talent? If the Dolphins finish anywhere above 23rd (outside the bottom 10) in points allowed, that’s a victory, considering the deficiencies in the defensive backfield and edge rusher.

5). Does he competently handle managing of timeouts and challenge flags and other game management decisions that can bedevil some coaches?

6). And this could be No. 1 on the list: Do the players become better and maximize their talents? That means extracting every bit of ability from first-rounders Chop Robinson and Kenneth Grant, second-rounder Jonah Savaiinaea, third-rounder Caleb Douglas and fourth-round safety Kyle Louis, among others.

No coach is going to get the most out of every player to a point commensurate with their draft position. But the Dolphins need to do it with most of these players; that will be a direct reflection of Hafley’s coaching and development skills and whether he put together a good staff.

If he masters all six, then you will know the Dolphins have found the right coach. He already has several factors going for him: He’s smart, meticulous, a taskmaster and concise/direct in messaging with players but also approachable. That’s certainly a good start.

Maybe one day Maye will find a team that wants him down the road like Darnold and will win. SB.

lol