McDaniel Turns to Familiar Face for New O-line Coach

Former San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Butch Barry will be joining the Miami Dolphins staff

Alain Poupart | Feb 8, 2023

McDaniel Turns to Familiar Face for New O-line Coach /

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Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins' search for a new offensive line coach has ended with head coach Mike McDaniel turning to a former colleague.

Butch Barry, who was part of the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff with McDaniel in 2021, was pegged to replace Matt Applebaum as offensive line coach one week after Applebaum was fired.

The news was reported first by The Miami Herald's Barry Jackson and confirmed by a league source.

Butch Barry was assistant offensive line coach with the 49ers during McDaniel's one season as the team's offensive coordinator.

In 2022, Barry served as Denver Broncos offensive line coach after new head coach Nathaniel Hackett decided to replace highly regarded OL coach Mike Munchak, but his tenure didn't go particularly well.

When Hackett was fired with two games left in his first regular season with the Broncos, Barry also was let go. At the time, the Broncos had allowed a league-high 57 sacks and ranked 23rd in the NFL in rushing.

Prior to his time with the 49ers, Barry spent one as a senior analyst with the Green Bay Packers (2020), one year as offensive line coach with the University of Miami (2019), and four years as assistant offensive line coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2015-18).

Having coached with the 49ers, Barry obviously is very familiar with the type of offense the Dolphins are running and there's clearly a comfort zone with McDaniel.

As we pointed out at the time of Applebaum's firing, offensive coordinator Frank Smith also had a hands-on role with the offensive line last season, which makes sense given his background as an offensive line coach.

REMAINING COACHING STAFF OPENINGS

Barry becomes the second new assistant coach identified, following Vic Fangio, who reportedly will be announced as the new defensive coordinator after the Super Bowl.

The Dolphins still have openings for a safeties coach, outside linebackers coach and assistant linebackers coach after Steve Gregory, Ty McKenzie and Steve Ferentz were fired last month along with defensive coordinator Josh Boyer.

Defensive assistant Patrick Surtain also left the Dolphins in the offseason to become defensive backs coach at Florida State.

Published Feb 8, 2023

ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.