Chandler Henley

AFC Staff Updates: Dolphins, Chargers, Chiefs

The Dolphins made a move on their offensive staff this week, promoting senior offensive assistant Chandler Henley to run game specialist, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.

A Yale graduate like his head coach, Henley initially worked in sales for IBM and Google. On the side, though, he worked as a part-time researcher for NBC’s Football Night in America. He first got into coaching at Vanderbilt, stating as an offensive/recruiting graduate assistant before getting promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach. He left for the tight ends coaching job at his alma mater, leaving again three years later for an opportunity in the NFL.

Henley joined the Titans in 2018 as a quality control coach working primarily with the offensive line. In 2021, he was hired as assistant offensive line coach of the Falcons, before joining the Dolphins the following year as assistant quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to his most recent position just last year and will serve under his third title in Miami for the 2025 season.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the AFC:

  • ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported yesterday that the Chargers have hired Chuka Ndulue as their new assistant defensive line coach. Ndulue spent the 2024 season as assistant coach and defensive line coach at Colorado State. A standout defensive lineman at Oklahoma, Ndulue signed as an undrafted free agent with the Broncos in 2015. His two years in the NFL as a player also saw him with the Chargers, but he never saw game time with either team. He returned to his alma mater in 2017 to volunteer as an assistant for the defensive line. The next year, he joined Nebraska as a graduate assistant for the defensive line and got his first full defensive line coaching job with FCS Southern Illinois in 2019. After three years with the Salukis, Ndulue coached the same position group at New Mexico State for two years before landing in Fort Collins. Now, he’ll head to Los Angeles to once again make the jump from collegiate football to the NFL, this time as a coach.
  • Finally, shifting from coaching staffs to front office, the Chiefs announced some new hires as the head into camp. In analytics, Sarah Pollack was named as a football data science fellow. In the scounting department, Curtis McGhee, Brayden Nagy, and Ryan O’Connor were named player personnel interns. Nagy is the son of the team’s offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy.

Dolphins Complete Coaching Staff

Mike McDaniel has completed his staff in Miami. The Dolphins announced their full coaching staff this week, and there were a handful of hires that weren’t previously reported.

Specifically, we learned that the organization hired:

  • Steve Gregory as safeties coach
  • Chandler Henley as assistant quarterbacks coach
  • Derrick LeBlanc as assistant defensive line coach
  • Steve Ferentz as assistant linebackers coach
  • Mathieu Araujo as assistant defensive backs coach
  • Kolby Smith as offensive assistant
  • Ryan Slowik as senior defensive assistant
  • Patrick Surtain as defensive assistant

Surtain is one of the most familiar names on the list. The former cornerback earned All-Pro honors in both 2002 and 2003, and he earned three Pro Bowl nods throughout his career. The 45-year-old served as a high school head coach for the past six years. His son, Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II, was the ninth-overall pick in last year’s draft. Gregory had an eight-year playing career, appearing in 111 games (54 starts) in stints with the Chargers and Patriots. Since his career ended in 2014, Gregory has been in the coaching ranks. He spent the 2021 season on the Dolphins staff, serving as a defensive assistant.

Frank Smith will guide the offense as the offensive coordinator, while Josh Boyer is serving as defensive coordinator.