Dave Hyde: Can Sullivan and Hafley build the Dolphins a winner?

So, the Miami Dolphins’ Green Bay-based general manager hired the Green-Bay-based coach. It’s as simple as that. Maybe it’s as inspired as that, too.

Maybe general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan hired Jeff Hafley as coach because he saw a rare talent sharing a similar vision for winning football who is ready to be a NFL head coach.

Or maybe Sullivan hired the guy down the hall because that’s all he knew.

You never know. Let’s start there. You only know the Dolphins aren’t going to win the headlines on this hire, because Hafley isn’t a name like John Harbaugh or Sean McDermott or some other known candidate they didn’t seriously consider.

Should they have interviewed McDermott, who was fired Monday from the Buffalo Bills? Sure, why not, considering he beat the stuffing out of the Dolphins for the past decade? It would’ve been good to hear an uncensored take from the other sideline.

But is McDermott a good head coach?

Beats me. All you know is Buffalo had Josh Allen at quarterback and not enough talent to win around him. That gets to the Dolphins’ hiring of Hafley. It won’t matter unless Sullivan matters more. The talent evaluator matters most of all.

The big news here for the Dolphins is this was Sullivan’s hire to make. He’s point man of this organization now, right down to a coach pick that made him comfortable.

That part makes sense. Sullivan, as talent evaluator, has to see football through the same lens as the coach. This is the first time the Dolphins have gotten these two hires on that same, level perspective since Steve Ross became owner.

Did he learn something? Did son-in-law Daniel Sillman bring something? Or did Sullivan make this a requisite for the job?

Most Dolphins fans upset with the Hafley hire point to him being a first-time head coach in an organization that’s suffered with first-time head coaches. It never works here, right? Ross tries it every time and has missed on first-timers Joe Philbin, Adam Gase, Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel.

Shouldn’t they have just drawn a recycled name out of a hat, if necessary?

Reality says something else. It says of the eight teams in this past weekend’s playoffs — the real contending teams, folks — six were led by first-time coaches.

Go ahead. List the names, if you’re keeping score at home: Seattle’s Mike McDonald, Los Angeles Rams’ Sean McVay, Houston’s Demeco Ryans, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan, Chicago’s Ben Johnson and Buffalo’s McDermott.

The hope is all this losing has taught Ross what to look for in an organization. Cleaning the slate to start the GM and coach at the same time is a proper first for him. Giving the GM control make sense considering the work ahead. Here are the five non-negotiable traits the Dolphins’ coach must have.

— Leadership. Can he command a room? If not, move on. Don’t laugh at something so basic. Most of Ross’s football hires haven’t been natural-born leaders. His first coaching hire, Philbin, impressed in the interview with an organized power point presentation, as Ross said. McDaniel was walked over by players for three years and had to expensively clean out the locker room for his fourth year.

— Culture. It’s an overused term for the daily workplace and organizational philosophy. Pat Riley saidHeat Culture starts with two ideas: No complaining and no gossiping. Then you get into hard work and standards. McDaniel’s culture centered on empowering the players. That works if you have the right players — look at the two-time-champion Florida Panthers, whose strong coach, Paul Maurice, says his Hall of Fame-caliber players drive the bus. But go back four years, and Maurice taught them how to drive. How will Hafley work it?

— Developing players. Hafley has to be a teacher, because the Dolphins are back to building a roster through the draft. That means developing rookies into NFL players with the first, second and three, third-round picks this spring. The Dolphins haven’t been able to build like this since … well, do you want to go back to Jimmy Johnson? They played a lot of rookies last season. Some look capable, none looked like a star in the making. Drafting and developing haven’t gone hand-in-hand for years with this franchise. It’s a central idea again now.

— Ability to hire/retain a staff. McDaniel went through three defensive coordinators his first three seasons. Flores fired his offensive line coach four days into training camp. Change happens in the NFL. But the way to win in the league is have a good system, get players that fit that system and have coaches who teach it well year after year. Having the GM and coach on the same page is a start toward all that.

— Understand the job. Bill Parcells said five things came across his desk every day that had nothing to do with football. As for football, McDaniel thought being a head coach was just an extension of an assistant coach. It took him into his fourth year and being walked over by players to understand the severe difference. The time to be tough is the first season when you’re setting your standards with not just players by staff.

Hafley isn’t a big name like Harbaugh or McDermott. That shouldn’t matter. McVay and McDonald weren’t big names when they were hired into great organizations. They’re in the NFC Championship Game this weekend.

The Dolphins haven’t been a great organization for decades. But these hires are where it starts if it ever does.

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