Dolphins Announce Front Office Hires, Promotions
WIth new leadership taking over in Miami, there have been several changes in the Dolphins front office. The team officially announced its new hires and promotions this week, and though several have been covered on the site already, we’ll go over the new information.
Starting with one of the previously reported new additions to the Dolphins staff, we knew back in January that former Green Bay staffer Venzell Boulware was expected to follow new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan to Miami, but we didn’t know in what capacity. Boulware has been named the Dolphins’ new director of pro scouting. Boulware first got his start with the Packers as a training camp intern following a semester at Georgia Tech as a player personnel assistant. After a year as a scouting assistant in Green Bay, Boulware spent the last three years as a pro scout and will be returning to South Florida where he spent his final year as a college athlete as a guard for the Hurricanes.
Another new hire is Shaun Herock, who has been named the team’s new senior personnel executive. The veteran front office staffer is heading into his 38th year of NFL experience. Starting with the Falcons in 1989, Herock joined the Packers in 1994 and worked his way from college scout to director of college scouting in his 19-year stint in Green Bay.
Herock then spent seven years as director of college scouting for the Raiders, serving as interim general manager before heading to Cleveland to work as a scout and national scout over three years. He’s served as an advisor for his old teams in recent years, working as a senior personnel advisor in Vegas from 2022-24 and a senior college scouting advisor in Cleveland last year.
To kick off the promotions in Miami, Matt Winston has been elevated from director of college scouting to director of player personnel. Formerly a college scout covering the Midwest region, Grant Wallace will fill the vacated director of college scouting role. Scouting assistants Owen Hartman and Dylan Mabin have been elevated to college scouts, and the last new hire is Jack Schneider, who joins the team as a pro scout.
Winston joined the Dolphins in 2009 after a college scouting internship with the Dolphins and a year as the director of football operations at FIU. Over 17 years with the team, Winston has progressed from player personnel assistant to college scout for the southwest region to national scout to assistant director of college scouting before reaching his most recent position in 2022.
Wallace joined the team as a scouting intern in 2015, following the conclusion of his playing career as a wide receiver at Yale. He earned promotions to player personnel assistant and player personnel scout over the next two years before working the past eight seasons as a college scout focusing on the midwest area.
Mabin, a former NFL cornerback with stints in Las Vegas, Minnesota, New Orleans, and Atlanta, turned to the scouting career track two years ago when he joined the Dolphins as a scouting assistant. Hartman joined the year after, following his tenure as the director of football operations at Marist University. Schneider joins the team after spending four years as a recruiting assistant at Boise State.
In operations, the Dolphins have promoted Brandon Shore from senior vice president of football and business administration to executive vice president of football operations and Max Napolitano from senior director of football administration and strategy to vice president of the division. Shore started with the team as a football administration assistant in 2010 and has spent the past 16 years working his way through responsibilities in human resources, finances, and legal affairs. Shore is a respected member of the front office who was included in the team’s efforts to find a new general manager.
Napolitano started as a business analyst with the team in 2014, working his way through the business analytics office over the past 12 years. He works closely with Shore in matters related to the team’s salary cap and plays a key role in player contract negotiations and compliance with the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Ladell Betts, Tyke Tolbert Among Those Joining Dolphins’ Staff
A former NFL running back, Ladell Betts made his debut coaching in the league last season. The Giants employed the former Washington cog as its RBs coach in 2025, but he is heading to Florida.
The Dolphins will hire Betts for the same role, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. Betts is among Jeff Hafley‘s new hires. Veteran wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert will be Miami’s new wideouts coach, per NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe. Zach Yenser is coming over from the Texans to be the Dolphins’ new offensive line coach, per the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson linked Yenser to Miami previously, and he adds the team is hiring Ryan Downard from the Packers as DBs coach.
Prior to Betts’ New York arrival, he coached RBs at his alma mater — Iowa — for four seasons. Betts, 46, spent the previous seven seasons coaching at the high school level. Betts was Clinton Portis‘ top backup for much of his Washington tenure, which lasted from 2002-09. He finished his career with the Saints in 2010.
Tolbert, 58, has been coaching wideouts in the NFL since 2003. He comes over after a two-year stint as Titans WRs coach. This will be Tolbert’s eighth gig coaching wideouts in the pros. Prior to the Titans, Tolbert coached Cardinals, Bills, Panthers, Broncos, Giants and Bears receivers from 2003-23. He has not previously worked with either Hafley or OC Bobby Slowik. Tolbert earned a Super Bowl ring while in Denver.
Hafley will bring Downard with him from Green Bay. Downard, 37, has ties to both Hafley and GM Jon-Eric Sullivan. The Packers had kept Downard on their staff through the Mike Pettine, Joe Barry and Hafley DC tenures. He oversaw Xavier McKinney‘s first-team All-Pro season in Hafley’s debut and helped Evan Williams prosper early as a fourth-round pick. Downard will also serve as Dolphins defensive pass-game coordinator, per ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky.
Yenser worked under Slowik in Houston, and he spent the past two seasons as the Texans’ assistant O-line coach. He had served as Kentucky’s O-line coach under Liam Coen in 2023. This will mark Yenser’s first shot at being an NFL O-line coach. Yenser also worked with Slowik in San Francsico.
Additionally, Wilson notes Sullivan is expected to bring at least one Packers scout with him immediately. The Dolphins are expected to hire Green Bay staffer Venzell Boulware. The former college lineman spent his final collegiate season (2018) at the University of Miami.
