Troy Aikman says he’ll continue working with Miami Dolphins in some capacity

Troy Aikman isn’t done with the Miami Dolphins.

Appearing on the Rodeo Time podcast, the ESPN Monday Night Football analyst said he plans to continue working with the organization in some capacity after consulting on both their GM and head coaching searches this offseason. The experience, he said, scratched an itch he’d been carrying for a long time.

Aikman said the idea of working in an NFL front office had always been his assumed next step after playing, more appealing to him than coaching, which he ruled out early because of the hours. Coaches grind through 16, 17, and 18-hour days during the season and barely see their families, and when he retired, he had just gotten married and was starting to have daughters.

“I just felt that it would be really selfish on my part because I didn’t have to do it,” Aikman said.

A front office role felt more compatible with the life he wanted. But then came a divorce when his daughters were still young, and he found himself a single father. Pursuing a front office position would have meant pulling away from them at exactly the wrong time. By the time his youngest graduated from high school in 2021, the window had theoretically reopened, but by then, Aikman was just getting settled at ESPN after leaving Fox and enjoying his work in a way that made the front office feel less necessary.

“I liked my life,” he said.

Then the Dolphins called. As we covered in January, Miami brought Aikman on as a consultant for its GM search after firing Chris Grier, who had been with the organization since 2000. Aikman said on the podcast that it caught him off guard, but that he dove in and found himself thoroughly engaged. He was involved enough that when the Dolphins hired Jon-Eric Sullivan from the Green Bay Packers as their new GM, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported Aikman was Sullivan’s “biggest supporter entering this process.” He then stayed on to help with the head coaching search as well, with ESPN’s Jeff Darlington noting he was “incredibly involved, incredibly thoughtful, and completely committed.”

ESPN was quick to address the arrangement when it first came to light, saying Aikman’s advisory role with the Dolphins would not interfere with his day job as a broadcaster. That assurance didn’t entirely quiet concerns about a potential conflict of interest, particularly given that Aikman had been openly critical of Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins earlier in the season, and was now personally invested in the direction of the franchise he’d just helped reshape.

Aikman said the experience satisfied whatever front office curiosity had been sitting with him for decades, but he was clear that broadcasting remains his focus. He and Joe Buck are heading into their 25th year together next season, a run that culminates with the Super Bowl in Los Angeles next February. That said, he plans to keep working with Miami in some capacity — what exactly that looks like remains to be seen — but as of now, he’s happy where he is.