Saratoga’s Anthony Weaver Begins Challenging Season with Miami Dolphins

The team fell in lopsided fashion to the Indianapolis Colts, 33 to 8, in week one. For Miami’s Head Coach Mike McDaniel, it was an especially brutal result. TV talking heads piled one criticism after another onto McDaniel, with one ESPN analyst mockingly calling him “McGenius guy” and “nerd boy.” If you believe the commentators (who, it should be pointed out, are often wrong), McDaniel’s days as coach of the Dolphins could be coming to an end.

Despite the turmoil, Saratoga Springs native and Miami Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver has largely escaped blame, for good reason. His efforts last season resulted in a top-10 defensive performance by the Dolphins, with the team ranked fourth in the league with 314.3 yards allowed per game. 

Weaver’s biggest problem this season is a good one to have: Miami is overloaded with talented edge rushers, and the task has fallen upon Weaver to divide up their snaps.

“In a perfect world to me, if there was a 70-snap game, somebody leaves with 30-40, another person leaves with 30,” Weaver told reporters last week. “However that shakes out amongst the four, we’ll see.

“But my goal for that room is that whoever is on the field, that they’re playing full speed with no governor for every snap there on the field, and we should be able to attack offenses in waves.”

Weaver wants to bolster his team’s pass rush, which managed only 2.1 sacks per game last season after averaging 3.1 in 2023 and 2.6 in 2022. Luckily, Miami’s front office has seemed committed to spending what it needs to spend to boost those numbers.

“I think you can see by what these edge defenders are being paid nowadays; they’ve got to be disruptors and we’re looking for four quarters of disruptive football from that room,” said Weaver.

In the opening contest against the Colts, Miami managed just one sack and struggled to keep the Indianapolis offense at bay, allowing 418 total yards.

Commentators (be they on TV, the internet, or elsewhere) tend to overreact to small data samples. One game is not nearly enough for Weaver to prove he’s able to limit opponents’ yardage and orchestrate a more aggressive pass rush. But he’ll have his work cut out for him, especially during a season that could be filled with coaching upheaval. 

The experience should be an interesting test for Weaver, who has been a head coaching candidate himself. Prior to being hired by Miami in 2024, he interviewed for vacant coaching positions with both the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears. Some of those who know Weaver best, such as his Saratoga Springs High School football coach Blaise Juliano, believe Weaver is not only destined to become a head coach one day, but would make a great one at that.

But no matter how high up the NFL ladder Weaver has climbed (or may still climb), he often makes time for his fellow Saratogians.

“When he comes back to Saratoga, he’ll go and visit his elementary teacher and see all of his friends,” Juliano told Saratoga TODAY last year.

“When I received the head football coach position at Saratoga, he was the first to text me and congratulate me,” current Saratoga varsity football coach Eric Hayden said. “Anthony is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. His athletic achievements are amazing, but his personality is what separates him.”

Perhaps one day it’ll be Hayden congratulating Weaver on a new coaching position. But until then, Weaver’s talents will be challenged by a whirlwind season in Miami.