The Miami Dolphins announced their 2022 coaching staff on Friday, putting in place the assistant coaches that will be working on new head coach Mike McDaniel’s staff. While many of these were previously reported as coming over to the team, the Dolphins made if official with the announcement. And, if you have not noticed, there are several former Dolphins players who are headed back to the team as coaches.
Wes Welker, Sam Madison, and Patrick Surtain all re-join the Dolphins after playing for the club. All three players were with the team in 2004, and they will be the 12th, 13th, and 14th former Dolphins players to become coaches with the team.
On offense, the Dolphins will start with former Los Angeles Chargers run-game coordinator and offensive line coach Frank Smith at offensive coordinator. Smith has 18 years of coaching experience, 12 in the NFL, and has worked with the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, and Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, along with the Chargers.
He is joined by:
- Eric Studesville, associate head coach/running backs coach – Studesville returns to the Dolphins for his fifth season with the club. He served as the team’s co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2021 after serving as the running backs coach from 2019-2020 and as the running backs coach/run-game coordinator in 2018. He has 25 years of NFL coaching experience, primarily with the running backs, coaching with the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and Chicago Bears. He has also coached at Kent State, Wingate, North Carolina, and Arizona.
- Jon Embree, assistant head coach/tight ends coach – Embree spent the 2017-2021 seasons as the San Francisco 49ers’ tight ends coach, moving with McDaniel to Miami. He has 13 years of NFL coaching experience and 29 years of experience overall, primarily working as a tight ends coach. He has also worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, Washington Commanders, and Kansas City Chiefs. He was the head coach at the University of Colorado from 2011-2012. He was a sixth-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Rams, coming out of Colorado in 1987. He spent three years in the NFL, playing for the Rams and the Seattle Seahawks before a knee injury ended his career.
- Darrell Bevel, quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator – Bevel joins the Dolphins after working as the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator and interim head coach in 2021. He has also been an offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions (2019-2020, including interim head coach responsibilities in 2020), the Seattle Seahawks (2011-2017), and Minnesota Vikings (2006-2010). He has also worked in the Green Bay Packers staff as well as at Westmar, Iowa State, and Connecticut in his 26 years of coaching.
- Chandler Henley, assistant quarterbacks coach – Henley spent the 2021 season with the Atlanta Falcons as an assistant offensive line coach. Prior to that, he spent 2018-2020 with the Tennessee Titans as an quality control coach, working primarily along the offensive line. He has also coached at Vanderbilt and Yale.
- Wes Welker, wide receivers coach – Welker spent the last three seasons with the 49ers as their wide receivers coach, moving with McDaniel to Miami. He began his coaching career with the Houston Texans, working as an offensive assistant and special teams assistant from 2017-2018. Welker played 12 seasons in the NFL, including three years with the Dolphins. He began his NFL playing career as an undrafted free agent signing with the San Diego Chargers out of Texas Tech in 2004. He was cut by the Chargers after one game, joining the Dolphins for the remainder of the year and through the 2006 season. He caught 96 passes for 1,121 yards and one touchdown with the Dolphins, along with 127 punt returns for a 9.7 yards per return average and 166 kick returns for a 22.6 yards per return average with a touchdown. He was traded to the New England Patriots ahead of the 2007 season and also spent time with the Denver Broncos and St. Louis Rams before finishing his career in 2015. He was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time All-Pro selection.
- Matt Applebaum, offensive line coach – Applebaum joins the Dolphins after two seasons at Boston College as their offensive line coach. He has coaches with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Washington Commanders in previous NFL stops.
- Lemuel Jeanpierre, assistant offensive line coach – Jeanpierre returns to the Dolphins for this third season in Miami. He spent 2020 as the team’s assistant offensive line coach, then was the club’s offensive line coach last season. He has also coached with the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders. He was an undrafted free agent signing by the Seahawks in 2010 coming out of South Carolina. He played center for Seattle from 2010-2015, then spent time with the Detroit Lions in training camp in 2016.
- Mike Person, offensive assistant – Person is moving over to coaching after a nine-year career in the NFL. He was a 2011 seventh-round pick by the 49ers out of Montana State and played guard and center during his career. He spent time with the 49ers, Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons, and Kansa City Chiefs. He retired in 2020.
- Kolby Smith, offensive assistant – Smith returns to the Dolphins for his third season in Miami. He has previously worked as a quality control work for the team. He has coached running backs at Rutgers, Louisville, and Western Kentucky after a four-year NFL playing career. He was a fifth-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007 out of Louisville, spending three years there then having training camp stints with the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars in 2010.
- Josh Gizzard, quality control – Gizzard remains with the Dolphins having served as an offensive quality control coach from 2017-2018, then quality control coach in 2019, and wide receivers coach the last two years. Prior to joining the Dolphins he spent four seasons as a coach at Duke.
On defense, Josh Boyer remains the Dolphins defensive coordinator for his third season in the role. He spent the 2019 season as Miami’s defensive passing-game coordinator and cornerbacks coach. He had 13 years of NFL experience prior to moving to the Dolphins, all with the New England Patriots. He has also coached at South Dakota School of Mines, Bryant, Kent State, Dayton, and King’s College.
He is joined on the defensive staff by:
- Austin Clark, defensive line coach – Clark returns to the Dolphins for his third season with the team, having been the team’s defensive line coach in 2021 and the outside linebackers coach in 2020. He has also coached at Southern California and Illinois.
- Derrick LeBlanc, assistant defensive line coach – LeBlanc joins the Dolphins after 21 years of coaching in the college ranks, primarily working on the defensive line. He has worked at Arkansas, Kentucky, North Texas, South Mississippi, Wyoming, and LSU.
- Anthony Campanile, linebackers coach – Campanile returns to the Dolphins for this third season as the team’s linebackers coach. He previously has worked at Rutgers, Boston College, and Michigan.
- Ty McKenzie, outside linebacker coach – McKenzie joins the Dolphins after spending the 2021 season as a coaching fellow with the Indianapolis Colts. He has also worked with the Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, and Los Angeles Rams. He spent five years in the NFL as a player, beginning as a third-round pick of the New England Patriots out of South Florida in 2009. After an ACL tear and a practice squad stint, he moved to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2010 and the Minnesota Vikings in 2011.
- Steve Ferentz, assistant linebackers coach – Ferentz returns to the Dolphins for his third season. He was a coaching assistant for the 2020 and 2021 season before being promoted into the assistant linebacker coach role for this year. He played offensive line and tight end at Iowa from 2012-2016 and is the son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.
- Sam Madison, cornerbacks coach/passing-game specialist – Madison joins the Dolphins after three years as the defensive backs/cornerbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent 12 seasons as a cornerback in the NFL, nine of them with the Dolphins. He was a second-round pick of the Dolphins in 1997 out of Louisville. He recorded 366 tackles, a sack, 77 passes defensed, 31 interceptions with two touchdowns, nine forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries with a touchdowns in 138 games played. He signed with the New York Giants in 2006, playing three seasons there including winning Super Bowl XLII. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time All-Pro selection during his time with the Dolphins and led the league in interceptions in 1999.
- Steve Gregory, safeties coach – Gregory returns to the Dolphins for his second season after being a coaching assistant working with the defensive backs last year. He spent three seasons coaching with the Detroit Lions prior to moving to the Dolphins. He has also coached at Syracuse. He played eight years in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots, retiring in 2014 after a brief signing with the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Mathieu Araujo, assistant defensive backs coach – Araujo moves to the NFL after three seasons at Yale, where he was the defensive backs coach and added the co-defensive coordinator title last year. He was briefly named the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Maine before accepting the assistant defensive backs coach position with the Dolphins. He also has coached at Boston College.
- Ryan Slowik, senior defensive assistant – Slowik joins the Dolphins with 12 years of NFL experience. He has worked primarily on the defensive side of the ball, including working as the outside linebackers coach of the Cleveland Browns, the assistant defensive line coach of the New York Jets, and various roles with the Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos.
- Patrick Surtain, defensive assistant – Surtain joins the Dolphins after six years as the head coach at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida. Surtain spent 11 seasons in the NFL, seven of them with the Dolphins. He was a second-round pick of Miami in 1998 out of Southern Miss, joining Madison as the team’s starting cornerbacks. For the Dolphins, he recorded 353 tackles, 77 passes defensed, 29 interceptions with two touchdowns, four forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries. He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005, playing four season there before retiring. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro selection during his career with the Dolphins.
Danny Crossman will be the team’s special teams coordinator while Brendan Farrell will be the assistant special teams coach. Crossman has been the Dolphins’ special teams coordinator since 2019 and has also coached special teams with the Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, and Buffalo Bills. He also spent 10 years coaching in the college ranks. He played professionally with the Washington Commanders franchise in 1990 and with the Detroit Lions in 1991 and 1992, but was on injured reserve for much of his NFL career. He played for the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992, being named to the All-League team and the World Bowl MVP.
Farrell is also entering his fourth season with the Dolphins, all as the assistant special teams coach. He had 17 years of coaching experience before joining Miami, all at the collegiate level and primarily with the special teams.
Dave Puloka returns for his seventh season as the head strength and conditioning coach and 15th overall season with the Dolphins. He worked as the team’s assistant strength and conditioning coach from 2008-2015 before being promoted into his current role. He worked as the Atlanta Falcons strength and conditioning coach in 2007.