Boyer promoted to defensive coordinator
The Miami Dolphins will have a new offensive and defensive coordinator in 2020 because Patrick Graham is leaving the franchise to take an identical position with the New York Giants.
According to league sources, Graham, who struggled during the 2019 season as the Dolphins defensive coordinator and was allowed to interview with New York, decided to join new Giants coach Joe Judge’s staff.
Graham had previously worked with Judge during his tenure with the New England Patriots. Before joining coach Brian Flores’ staff, Graham coached the Giants defensive linemen from 2016-2017.
Graham will be replaced by Dolphins cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer. Boyer has worked with Flores since 2006 during their tenure with the Patriots, and served as the passing game coordinator for Miami’s defense last season.
Graham is the latest position coach to leave Flores’ staff this offseason.
One day after leading the Dolphins to a 5-11 record during the 2019 season, Flores fired offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea and hired longtime NFL assistant
Chan Gailey, who came out of retirement to become Miami’s new play-caller.
Flores also fired safety coach Tony Oden, and offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo decided to seek other opportunities, while he fired former offensive line coach Pat Flaherty and lost assistant Jim Caldwell due to medical reasons before his first season as the Dolphins head coach.
According to a league source, the Dolphins are also adding Roddy Brown from West Virginia University to coach the quarterbacks. Brown worked with Gailey as the offensive quality control coach while Gailey was the offensive coordinator with the New York Jets.
It is unclear if Caldwell, the team’s assistant head coach and quarterback coach, will return next season. Caldwell was on leave last season while he addressed an illness. The Dolphins have not clarified if he’ll be part of next year’s staff.
Along with Gailey, the Dolphins have hired former Illinois defensive line coach Austin Clark, who will coach the team’s outside linebackers, and Curt Kuntz, who spent the past seven years as head coach at Struthers High School in Ohio, to coach Miami’s defensive backs.
Much like the offense, the Dolphins defense could benefit from a makeover because that unit spent most of last season as a bottom-five team in several statistical categories. Miami finished 26th against the pass, 27th against the run, 30th overall in yards allowed per game, and last in the NFL for allowing 30.9 points per game.
It is unclear at this point how many more new assistants Flores will still need to hire because of Boyer’s promotion and Brown’s hire, but the Dolphins need to add an offensive line coach to their staff.