This past week, I asked a question about the new regime that is now running the Miami Dolphins:
What do you need to see from your Miami Dolphins during the 2026-2027 NFL season for the new head coach and general manager to either retain or earn your confidence and or support beyond this coming season? Is it the team’s record or something else that is not so easily defined as just wins and losses?
Below are some of your thoughts and answers-
DolfaninME is expecting more of the same.
I am expecting a bunch
of mistakes and learning opportunities over the next few years followed by the owner firing everyone and starting over again.
Phoenix6 is looking for things that you can’t determine via wins and losses.
Cohesiveness – Discipline – Mental fortitude
With a shared sense of camaraderie, pride, loyalty, & common devotion to playing hard & winning among team members.
Witnessing this will bring a ray of sunshine, like a spot light, on Coach Haf & GM Sully which will build confidence, & draw out support from me (all fans)… now, till the end.
Dave21 has a list of things that he would like to see, including the seemingly elusive health of the roster.
They don’t have to do much, at the end of the day I am a Phins fan , so I will be here no matter what.
I would like to see unity and these young boys grasping the concepts the FO is trying to install. I would like our OL to gel and become better than avg and the DL become better than avg. I would love to see Brooks and Rod gel and become a very good tandem. Lastly I would love to see an injury free year where each player gets better each week. Sorry I really really want to Willis to be what we want in a QB and not what we fear. Phins Up!!
Dolfanjoe would like to see them emulate what the Seahawks have done recently.
They have to recreate Seattle from years back on there rebuild. They did build a team thru the draft and it became a dominant team ! Slowly the team got picked apart but not until super bowl runs and many playoff games. There first draft ? Right, they haven’t played a down yet. And they are building a run team instead of a finesse passing game. 4 wins in 26 ? Sure it is a little disappointing but normal in a total rebuild. Would put us in an incredible draft position for 27 ! Malik Willis decision, did they find a cheap gem for a couple years ? So good that first or second pick in the 27 draft can be traded off for a fortune in draft return ? Did they keep the right people and trade off the right ones ? Yes only time will tell if the decisions made this year will coincide with going forward for the next two years. Stick to the plan and build a team that they want and it should be interesting if nothing else !
sdphinsfan says it’s simple!
Pretty simple for me. Just play good, clean football. Show up on Sunday and act like you want to be there. Get better every week…players, coaches, the entire operation.
Ksphinfan is looking for week-to-week growth as we go along.
Kim Bokamper talked about the teaching of fundamentals by Haf. I don’t think that was a strong suit of McD, but that matters. So far I like the twins.. both well spoken with a plan of attack. We will see this season how well they do. Seeing progress week to week would me monumental
Francesco ITA has already begun the evaluation.
my GM/overall evaluation board
POSITIVE POINTS (2 points)
– Started the rebuilding
– Cohesion of the coaching staff
– Free Agency
MEH POINTS (- 0,25 points). The meh points are awarded for little red flags.
– Interviews
– House cleaning day
– The HC, his resume, his attitude are right now “meh”
– The handling of Tua
– The draft
NEGATIVE POINTS (-2 points).
– Experience of the coaching staff as a whole in their positions
TOTAL +2.75 (at +10 i will believe in the new front office, at -10 i will rightfully bash the new regime
Oldarmyguy hopes we surprise a few teams. I hope we somehow surprise the entire league.
Effort, play to win every game & better each game. Surprise a few teams.
dedstrk wants to see the opposite of what we all just lived through.
Real football and improvement over the course of the season. Tackling, blocking, running the ball, stopping the run etc. Basically be the opposite of the Tua/MMD/Grier era.
OldFinFanDon wants to see them get back to the basics.
Been a Fins fan for a lonnnnggg time, since before the Super Bowl years, and seen rebuilds come and go. The new regime needs to get back to basics to succeed and build a team that other teams fear.
1. Fundamentals – Blocking, tackling, no stupid mental penalties, and just beat the man in front of you. Stay focused and keep getting better and better. Mental discipline!
2. Be in shape – There is no reason this team cannot be in shape (work hard in the Florida heat; hit the gym; Stretch often; End practice with lots of wind sprints) and dominate teams in the fourth quarter. And dominate teams late in the season. Better shape means less injuries.
3. Team mentality – Stop the silly self-celebrations drawing attention to yourself. Celebrate as a team. You make a great play, the other 10 celebrate with you. You win as a team and lose as a team.
I don’t expect Haf and JES to lead the team the playoffs this year, but they must leave an impression on every team they play. In 2027, the playoffs are a must, and in 2028 deep into the playoffs.
TheRoo1 is so over the bubblescreen.
Just let the first play from scrimmage in the regular season be anything but a bubblescreen, and they have my full support.
USMCFinzFreak is another who just wants to see the progress in the right direction as we go along.
Mistakes are a given with this team during 2026. In order to gain my confidence, I want to see improvement in both the coaches and players as the season progresses. So far, I like what I’m seeing.
PA phinphan says to just get better each week and not to beat yourself.
I would love 7+ wins. However, more realistically, I want to see a team that plays hard and tough, makes mistakes big instead of making big mistakes, swarms to the ball on defense, plays bullyball with a touch of flare on offense, gets better each week, and doesn’t get beat by themselves. To me, that would be a seriously successful season. You never know, if they do those things and stay healthy, they may just win more games than we expect.
UpInPensacola will be looking for six indicators.
Team support is unwavering for me. Fan since I was 8 or so (long, long ago). The Saints are my adopted team (since they are the “home” team of where I live), but the Dolphins are truly my team forever.
What do I want to see from the management and coaching staff:
1. An urgency (yet, not in a panic) in getting the Dolphins franchise into a playoff contending track over the next three seasons. (Fan patience and support is paramount in this.)
2. Coaches need to settle the players down with the after-the-play hype. This shows me a focus on the game and doing the game right and team play, and not on the “it’s all about me, look what I did” stuff. Okay, you made a good play. Every solid play does not have to end in a Mark Gastineau celebratory tirade or 73 yard run to the cameras in the end zone only 8 minutes into the first quarter. (The Covid empty stands cameras are so old school.) Save your energy for the next play.
3. Important: Giving ALL players a chance to play and engage, avoiding judging them excessively on college or high school play reels and stats, and caving to the talking heads in Connecticut and Manhattan. Let their maturity come through by playing them in the pre-season, on the field. And, let all of the final selected players play during the regular season (since it is a rebuilding year). Evaluate them by their live play and bench conversation and interaction. Coaches (and fans) should avoid creating a popularity contest or, when things don’t go well, a “ghost of Christmas’ past” haunting of players online or in the stands, especially in 2026! Everyone starts at baseline, then let them be the men they are destined to be. (Fans need to understand and be patient with this move for coaches AND players. This is not the season for boos.)
4. For Stephen Ross: You’ve got some expert advice, let go of some old standbys who became friends rather than doers, and made some decisions. If this doesn’t work, it’s time to pass the team to other family members or sell the franchise to someone who can run the Dolphins to be successful. You’ve thrown your last Hail Mary. Hope it catches on. Your legacy is now on the line. (Fans need to hold this owner accountable.)
5. All the stops need to be let loose, JES and Haf! I don’t want to see conservative, reserved football. It gripes me to high heaven when I see coaches call plays that are so measly, especially near the ends of games when a team has a lead and tries to protect the lead with clock burning run plays alone, forgetting about first downs and maybe even a surprise aggressive play. Especially in 2026, you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Playoffs may be a stretch wit this schedule and rebuilding. Don’t play foolishly, but don’t hold back. Other teams should be concerned at the very least when the Miami Dolphins come around on the schedule. I want to see a new reputation established.
6. Last, if I see a collapse in December again, I am going to puke. A lot of JES and Haf’s long-term reputation will be on how long the Dolphins avoid being eliminated from playoff contention. This year, they have a lot of rope, of course, and patience is called for. That rope will get tighter in the future. But if they are contenders in future seasons on November 30 and start having more freeze-downs in December, ending up as “has-beens” by New Year’s Eve, this whole new regime thing could collapse.
Long answer, but it was a deep discussion question.
Miami7 wants to see the team play hard throughout the inevitable ups and downs of this coming season.
Progression is almost hard to see/define in ways other than W/L & backbreaking penalties. There will be times we ‘can’ see things work progressively through the year & there will be frustrations. Just want hard fought, clean, disciplined ‘team’ football that ends the year knowing they’re better than they were at the start of the season & are hungry & eager to get back at it in 27′.
Well, that’s our selection of comments for this evening. If you missed the initial post and would like to catch up with the rest of the discussion, you can find it HERE. It seems like most of us just want to see this thing progress in a positive direction as the season goes along. As always, thank you to each one of you who took the time to answer our Phinsider Question Of The Day.
