Miami Dolphins Dismiss Multiple Defensive Assistants

In addition to defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, the Miami Dolphins relieved safeties coach Steve Gregory, outside linebackers coach Ty McKenzie and assistant linebackers coach Steve Ferentz of their duties on Thursday.

These dismissals were first reported by the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins’ defense, which dealt with multiple season-ending injuries to key contributors such as defensive backs Brandon Jones and Nik Needham, regressed this past compared to the year prior. The unit ranked 18th in the NFL in yards allowed per game and 27th in passing yards allowed per game.

The defense also struggled to create momentum-changing plays. Miami ranked 29th in the NFL with 0.9 takeaways per game. The Dolphins ranked first and seventh in that category in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Gregory joined the Dolphins in 2021 as a defensive assistant after spending one season with the Detroit Lions as their defensive backs coach. Head coach Mike McDaniel retained Gregory before the start of this past season and promoted him to safeties coach.

In a continuation of the Detroit to Miami professional coaching pipeline, McKenzie was announced as the Dolphins’ outside linebackers coach before the 2022 season after his one-year tenure with the Lions, where he served as the team’s linebackers coach.

Ferentz was the longest-tenured Dolphins coach of the three. He was hired by Miami in 2020 and spent two years as a coaching assistant before his one season as the team’s assistant linebackers coach.

The Dolphins have not announced who will be replacing these vacant coaching positions.