The Miami Dolphins parted with special teams coordinator Danny Crossman after he spent six seasons in the role, first joining the team as part of Brian Flores’ staff.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Dolphins as No. 31 in special teams in 2024, a couple spots worse than their No. 29 finish in 2023. Among the mistakes made by Miami’s unit was the failure to stop a Houston Texans fake punt that both Crossman and Mike McDaniel said they knew was coming.
“That was frustrating,” McDaniel said after the game. “When you’re bringing awareness to a possibility, and you lose on that possibility.”
So who will the Dolphins turn to in hopes that they’ll right the ship? Here are five candidates who could fill Miami’s vacancy:
Ben Jacobs
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Jacobs is a former NFL linebacker, who played extensively on special teams before joining the coaching ranks as the assistant special teams coordinator of the Carolina Panthers. He later followed Ron Rivera to fill the same role in Washington. In 2024, Jacobs joined the Cincinnati Bengals and again served as assistant special teams coordinator.
The Bengals were PFF’s top ranked special teams unit, holding opponents to 24.5 yards per kickoff return.
Jeremy Springer
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Patriots hired Springer to be their special teams coordinator in 2024 after he spent two seasons as the assistant special teams coordinator with the Rams. In his first season in New England, the team excelled in that phase.
But after a 4-13 season, the Patriots fired Jerod Mayo and the team is now on the hunt for a new head coach. Springer may stick in New England under a new staff, but if he becomes available, the Dolphins could swipe a coach from an AFC East rival’s staff.
Tom Quinn
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Like Springer, Quinn joined Mayo’s staff in New England in 2024. But the Patriots’ assistant special teams coordinator has a lot more experience.
Quinn, 56, spent 15 seasons in the collegiate coaching ranks before spending 16 seasons coaching special teams with the New York Giants. That included an 11-year run as the team’s special teams coordinator from 2007 to 2017, which saw the Giants win Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.
Chris Banjo
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Banjo is not far removed from his time playing in the NFL, so he’d be a risky hire but an ambitious one. The special teams ace spent 10 years in the league with the Packers, Saints, and Cardinals before Sean Payton convinced him to hang up the cleats and enter the coaching ranks on his Broncos staff.
“He’s been a special teams demon in this league for a decade, so he’s another great resource to have,” Broncos fullback Michael Burton told the Denver Post in 2023. “Not only is he great as a coach and in coaching it, but he has that experience as a player. He’s been a really great resource.”
Heath Farwell
[Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
Farwell spent the last three seasons as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ special teams coordinator, and three years before that in the same position with the Buffalo Bills.
But after Doug Pederson was fired by the Jaguars earlier this month after three years, Farwell could be off to his next stop in the NFL.
