Image courtesy of BC Athletics
FOXBOROUGH – If you watched BC football from 2020-2023, you know Jeff Hafley well.
Hafley’s teams qualified for bowl games in three of the four years he was at BC, but the program only went to one of them due to ongoing issues with Covid.
Fast forward to this weekend, where BC fans will see Hafley on the sidelines in Miami as the head coach of the Dolphins when the Patriots visit for an AFC East matchup.
Hafley just earned his first win last week in his home state of New Jersey against the Jets. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel knows Hafley pretty well after his son Tyler played for him at BC.
Earlier in the week, I asked Vrabel about getting to know him at all during that time.
“I know Jeff. He’s a very good football coach. I know Tyler enjoyed the time that he had there with him,” he said. “Jeff’s coached in the NFL, coached at Ohio State. He’s an excellent football coach. He understands defense and certainly has a vision that he wants to head with. He was able to get his first win the other day. I’m sure that’ll be something that he’ll never forget, having been in that position.”
On Wednesday, Vrabel was asked again, but this time a little differently, with a reporter asking what he liked about what BC’s program looked like under Hafley.
Vrabel was much more Vrabel-esque with this answer.
“I mean, I had a job, too. I was coaching the Titans, so it wasn’t like I was there every day watching practice and saying, “Come on, Tyler [Vrabel], let’s go,” he said, drawing quite a laugh from the assembled media.
A follow up was then asked of Vrabel, seeing if he had talked to Tyler about the program.
Again, it was Vrabel being Vrabel before giving Hafley plenty of credit.
“I mean, no, I didn’t tell him what to do for BC. We’d try to talk football and just support him like I would a parent. Again, Jeff is a very good football coach,” Vrabel added. “He has coached at the highest level, whether that be at the NFL as an assistant, at Ohio State as an assistant. To be able to come to BC and do a really good job there. He’s an excellent coordinator. I think he has sound fundamental beliefs. They pressure, but it’s not unsound. It’s not like it’s a scheme that you really could just exploit. There’s not guys that are uncovered. They play split safety, they play post safety, they play multiple coverages. He’s got obviously the secondary background. And again, he mixes the blitz in, but it’s not just, “Hey, we’re going to blitz every single play.”
“So, he’s a good football coach. He’s a good teacher. I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Experience wise, Vrabel has an edge on Hafley this Sunday, but he knows Miami will be ready to go under the former BC guy.