'Forget everybody else': Miami Dolphins pounce on hiring Chris Tabor

MIAMI GARDENS — Chris Tabor arrives with the Miami Dolphins only a few years removed from ranking second in a poll of NFL players ranking the best special teams coordinators.

“I paid a lot of money on that,” Tabor joked.

He paid a lot of dues.

Tabor, 54, has 16 years of coaching experience in the NFL. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said he originally made a list of special teams candidates before he learned that Tabor had become available when the Bills fired Sean McDermott.

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“I was like, well, forget everybody else I had on my list,” Hafley said. “This is the guy. He’s one of the best in all of the business and he’s one of the most respected.”

Tabor’s past includes coaching Hall of Fame return ace Devin Hester in Chicago, but his big break goes back further than that.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Tabor said. “So I got into coaching because my dad, God rest his soul, was a longtime high school football coach in the state of Missouri and was in the Missouri High School Hall of Fame.

“ … One of the things I learned what when I was a little kid, his former players would come over to the house. I’d be outside playing in the front yard and they’d say, ‘Hey, where’s coach Tabor at? At that moment, I realized, man, my dad, he’s a pretty cool guy and obviously made an impact in people’s lives. And I think that’s really why you get into coaching.”

If Tabor lives up to his reputation, he won’t be hard to pick out during Dolphins practices. He has been called the loudest guy on the practice field, exerting the kind of intensity he demands of players.

He’s a special teams guy through and through. Ask him about the ever-increasing accuracy and distance of today’s kickers and he’ll come to their collective defense.

“It’s probably the one position that’s probably penalized for getting better,” he said. “For example, obviously way back when the goalposts were wider, right? And then the extra points just became automatic, so we started moving those back. And now, I mean, it’s a 33-yard field goal. And when a guy misses it, what does everybody say? How could he miss an extra point? Well, it’s a 33-yard field goal. When he misses a 35-yard field goal, it’s a ‘missed field goal.’ There’s only 2 more yards.”

Tabor takes over a unit that enjoyed a strong year with punter Jake Bailey, fill-in kicker Riley Patterson and return man Malik Washington, who averaged 13.0 yards on punt returns, including a 74-yarder for a touchdown.

“I think that he has game-breaking, game-changing ability,” Tabor said. “I think that he’s a really good player. … I’m really excited to have the opportunity to meet him and be on his side as opposed to being in the meeting room and talking about how we’re going to try to stop him.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Why Miami Dolphins’ Jeff Hafley jumped at hiring assistant Chris Tabor