When watching film of offensive players in the next NFL Draft, Miami Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, understandably, asks his defensive-minded head coach, Jeff Hafley, for thoughts.
“I’ll ask him or sometimes he just offers it up like, ‘Hey, this guy wouldn’t scare me,” Sullivan said before the NFL Draft. “If I’m game-planning against guy, I’m not worried about taking him out. And that’s valuable for me to hear.”
Sullivan and Hafley, who come to Miami from Green Bay, arrive on the same timeline. This, and the fact that they work well together, should be an advantage for the Dolphins.
While they’re not best of friends, constantly hanging out together at Joe’s Stone Crab and Top Golf (as some might guess), they really seem like-minded in approach.
“The relationship hasn’t changed,” Sullivan said. “I mean, we’re tight as ever, thick as thieves. We’re in lockstep.”
Sullivan and Hafley may have dreamed of this moment on one snowy day in Wisconsin last season. It’s Sullivan’s first draft as an NFL GM and Hafley’s first as a head coach.
And they’re doing this together.
“I’ve woken up in the middle of the night, literally, with my hand, like dreaming that I’m taking a tag off the board,” Sullivan said.
Miami Dolphins future riding on Jon-Eric Sullivan’s picks
And yet Sullivan knows not every player he picks is going to be the favorite of Hafley or perhaps a coordinator or position coach.
“The coaches are incredibly important to what we do,” Sullivan said. “Make no mistake about it, and they put a ton of work into it. I think anytime they have a vision for a player, it gives me clarity, sometimes more so than others. I appreciate their feedback. I appreciate their vision. And it’s important to me, but by the same token, I have a responsibility to do what I feel is best for the Miami Dolphins.
“And I’m not going to ever go out of my way to shove a player down the throat of a coach that he doesn’t want. But there will be times when maybe we see things differently. Ultimately, the final decision comes down to me, and I’m going to do what’s best for this place.”
There’s some nice clarity with Sullivan clearly taking ultimate responsibility for any and every draft pick the Dolphins make. Those picks haven’t been good enough over the last 26 years, resulting in no playoff wins.
Sullivan wants to focus on hitting a series of run-scoring “doubles” in the NFL Draft, not always aiming for the “home run.”
Sullivan wants to avoid red flags if he can, hit on positions of need if he can (there are many) and to add as many of the guy who he views as “wired right” as possible.
Sullivan and Hafley seem on the exact same change about adding players with the mental and physical mindset, aggressiveness and commitment that will be needed to turn around a struggling franchise.
“There’s great collaboration,” Hafley, the coach, said. “You take the best players. the best players, the toughest players, the guys with the highest character. I think those are all the things that aren’t going to change. We want guys that love football. We want guys that play football the right way. And we want to draft really good players, too.”
Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: The Dolphins have a GM and a head coach in ‘lockstep’ as draft nears
Reporting by Joe Schad, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
