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 thirteen head coaches for the Dolphins franchise. The team's first head coach was George Wilson, who coached for four complete seasons. 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 the United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year twice during his tenure with the Dolphins. Mike McDaniel is the current head coach of the Dolphins since his hiring on February 6, 2022.[3]
| Number of coaches[4] | ||
| 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 | |
| ‡ | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player--> | |
| Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Dolphins |
Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2023 NFL season.
| Image | Name | Term[5] | Regular season | Playoffs | Accomplishments | Ref. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yrs | First | Last | GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | |||||
| 1 | 4 | 1969 | 56 | 15 | 39 | 2 | .286 | — | [6] | ||||||
| 2 | † | 26 | 1995 | 392 | 257 | 133 | 2 | .658 | 31 | 17 | 14 | Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (1997) 2 Super Bowl championships (VII, VIII) 5 AFC championships (1971, 1972, 1973, 1982, 1984) 11 AFC East Division Champion (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991, 1994) 19 Playoff Berths 2 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1970, 1972) | [7] [8] | ||
| 3 | † | 4 | 1999 | 64 | 36 | 28 | 0 | .563 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame (2020) 3 Playoff Berths | [9] | ||
| 4 | 5 | 2004 | 73 | 42 | 31 | 0 | .575 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 AFC East Division Champion (2000) 2 Playoff Berths | [10] | |||
| 5 | 1 | 2004 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | — | [11] | ||||||
| 6 | 2 | 2006 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | .469 | — | [12] | ||||||
| 7 | 1 | 2007 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | — | [13] | ||||||
| 8 | 4 | 2011 | 61 | 29 | 32 | 0 | .475 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 AFC East Division Champion (2008) 1 Playoff Berth | [14] | |||
| 9 | 1 | 2011 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | — | [15] | ||||||
| 10 | 4 | 2015 | 52 | 24 | 28 | 0 | .462 | — | [16] | ||||||
| 11 | 1 | 2015 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | — | [17] | ||||||
| 12 | 3 | 2018 | 48 | 23 | 25 | 0 | .479 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 Playoff Berth | [18] | |||
| 13 | 3 | 2021 | 49 | 24 | 25 | 0 | .490 | — | [19] | ||||||
| 14 | 2 | 2022–present | 34 | 20 | 14 | 0 | .588 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 Playoff Berths | [20] | |||