Brian Daboll knows all about the AFC East.
He was raised in the Southtowns of Buffalo, got his start in the NFL as a New England Patriots gopher and was New York Jets quarterbacks coach when Brett Favre was there.
And he'll be the Miami Dolphins' next offensive coordinator, multiple sources tell ESPN. Daboll was the Cleveland Browns' offensive coordinator the past two seasons under Eric Mangini, who was fired.
Daboll, 35, is a disciple of former Dolphins head coach Nick Saban and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. And like many of their protégés, Daboll's career is a story of perseverance from the ground floor.
He went from unpaid volunteer at a nonscholarship Division I-AA program to three Super Bowls rings as an assistant and now his second crack as an offensive coordinator.
Daboll graduated from St. Francis High in suburban Buffalo. He played safety at the University of Rochester, a Division III college.
His first coaching job was a volunteer assistant at William & Mary. Then he flooded Division I schools with his résumé. Saban, the head coach at Michigan State, took in Daboll as a graduate office assistant.
Saban's connection with Belichick led to a grunt assignment as a Patriots defensive aide in 2000. Daboll worked with Mangini, who was New England's defensive backs coach. Daboll's thankless duties included breaking down game film to record formations and personnel groupings.
Belichick was impressed enough with Daboll to make him wide receivers coach in 2002. He held the post until he went to the Jets as quarterbacks coach in 2007, working with Dolphins backup Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens the first season and Favre the next.
When the Jets fired Mangini after their collapse from 8-3 to not in the playoffs, Daboll migrated with him to Cleveland and was named offensive coordinator.
The Browns had quarterback problems throughout the past season because of injuries and inexperience. They ranked 31st in points per game, 29th in total offense, 20th in rushing offense and 29th in passing offense.
Cleveland fielded one of the few offenses worse than Miami's.
The Dolphins ranked 30th in scoring, 21st in total offense, 21st in rushing offense and 16th in passing offense. The campaign, which included a benching of supposed franchise quarterback Chad Henne, was brutal enough to convince Dan Henning to retire.