A few days into his tenure as the Dolphins’ head coach, Jeff Hafley has made the first addition to his staff. The Dolphins have hired Chris Tabor as their special teams coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
The 54-year-old Tabor is on his way to Miami after one season as AFC East rival Buffalo’s special teams coordinator. Tabor’s status with the Bills was uncertain after the club fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday, but he’ll now become an ST coordinator with a fifth NFL team.
A coach at various colleges from 1993-2007, Tabor jumped to the pros as the Bears’ assistant ST coordinator in 2008. Dave Toub was then in charge of the unit, one that also had future Hall of Fame return man Devin Hester in the fold.
After three years working under Toub, Tabor ran the Browns’ ST unit from 2011-17. He and Hafley overlapped in Cleveland from 2014-15, when the latter was the Browns’ defensive backs coach.
Tabor returned to Chicago to lead its ST group from 2018-21, which preceded a two-year run in Carolina in the same role. He ended 2023 as the Panthers’ interim head coach, replacing the fired Frank Reich, but managed just one win in six games. Tabor didn’t coach anywhere in 2024.
With Tabor leading the Bills’ special teams in 2025, running back Ray Davis earned first-team All-Pro honors as a kick returner. Pro Football Focus ranked the unit ninth overall this season, while the Dolphins checked in at 28th. Craig Aukerman is now out after just one season as Miami’s ST coordinator.
In addition to bringing in Tabor, the Dolphins made another notable hire on Friday. The team added Kyle Smith as its assistant general manager, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Smith, the son of former Chargers GM A.J. Smith, had been with the Falcons since 2021. The 41-year-old spent 2023-25 as the Falcons’ assistant GM under Terry Fontenot, whom they fired after the season. Smith will now team up with new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan.