Dolphins hiring former draft pick as assistant coach

The Miami Dolphins are hiring a member of their 1993 draft class to their 2024 coaching staff.

Ronnie Bradford, who was a fourth-round selection of the Dolphins 31 years ago, is being hired as a senior special teams assistant, according to a league source.

Bradford was just Montana defensive coordinator last season and has coached in the college ranks since 2010, with California, Louisiana Tech and USC before Montana.

He started his coaching career in the NFL, holding different roles with the Broncos from 2003 to 2008, including special teams coordinator for three seasons. His final year in Denver, he was their defensive backs coach, before heading over to the Kansas City Chiefs as a defensive assistant.

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel’s first job out of college, as an unpaid intern with his hometown Broncos in 2005, saw Bradford on board with that staff as special teams coordinator.

While Bradford was drafted by Miami, he never played a regular-season game for the franchise. He played from 1993 through 2002, with the Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings — 133 games, 100 starts, 13 interceptions, two sacks and one touchdown.

Early in the offseason, the Dolphins parted ways with assistant special teams coach Brendan Farrell, creating an opening under special teams coordinator Danny Crossman, who has held that role since 2019.

Crossman appears to be retained for a second straight offseason under McDaniel after questions over whether he’d keep the job. Dolphins special teams allowed a long kick return in the Dec. 31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens and a pivotal punt return touchdown in the regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills. That said, the coverage units were better for a decent chunk of the season, and Miami had kicker Jason Sanders improve in 2023, along with a sound season in the return game from Braxton Berrios.