What will Destiny Decide for Miami Dolphins 2025 Season?

As a Greek-American, of Spartan descent no less, I have a special affinity for tales of heroes born, adversities overcome, and glory achieved. But these kinds of tales don’t just happen overnight, they can take years to unfold. As for me, I can sense a very special story of converging destinies on the brink of exploding into just such a tale, all revolving around the 2025 Miami Dolphins.

All the ingredients are on hand, and now it’s time to throw them all in the pot, apply heat, and wait for a delectable treat to emerge.

But to tell the story, you have to know the path these colliding destinies took to arrive at this precise opportunity, an opportunity which will align their destinies, for better, or for worse.

So let’s first take a look at three of the unfolding destinies squarely in the national spotlight in 2025 due to their uniqueness and the twisted road each this point.

Tua Tagovailoa

First, we have our Samoan quarterback – Tua Tagovailoa. He was born right-handed only to be painstakingly coached by his father as a child to throw with his left for countless hours on the sandy beaches of Hawaii. Not only did he learn to throw with his left, but led the NFL in accuracy last year, and in yards the year before – who does that with their non-dominant hand?

Then we have a tribal elder, Tua’s grandfather, who had a prophetic vision which saw his young grandson achieve football greatness and have their family name known around the world (I think he’s already made good headway on that front). We have an off-the-bench come-from-behind National Championship victory with the Alabama Crimson Tide, with Tua delivering on a 2nd and 29 game-clinching overtime play which has already become one of the greatest and most memorable moments in college football history.  And not to go unmeasured by the destiny gauge, the night before that game, even though he was going to be backing up Jalen Hurts going into the game, he told his family their lives were going to change the next day … and they did.

On his journey, there were vicious injuries to overcome, from his brutal hip explosion to a shocking primetime concussion against the Cincinnati Bengals which left everyone who saw it confused, shocked and concerned, dumbfoundedly watching him lay on the turf with his fingers contorted in a surreal and unnatural way after being ferociously spun into the ground headfirst. He survived a coach, Brian Flores, who constantly belittled him and tried to replace him on more than one occasion. And as recently as last season, he endured another concussion and another season ending hip injury. But once again, he is rising up from the ashes to pursue his incomplete quest for glory.

But which way will his destiny bend?

Mike McDaniel

Then we have Coach Mike McDaniel, a man who looks or sounds nothing like the huff and gruff fire-breathing coaches we have come to know throughout the long history of the NFL.

He’s a Yale grad, so intellect and problem solving are his wheelhouse. But he also has a backstory which seems divinely suited for greatness.

As a kid he was a rabid football and Broncos fan, riding his bike to training camp in his hometown of Greeley Colorado every day to collect autographs. It was there he lost his hat, an innocuous event that would be the catalyst to shape his family and professional life from that moment on. You see, the man who noticed him crushed about losing his hat worked for the Broncos, and the next day, brought him a brand-new hat to replace the one he lost.

That man would eventually become his stepfather, and the one who unlocked the very first door to the world of working in the NFL. Mike would become a ballboy for two Broncos Super Bowl runs in ’97 and ‘98 before he left for Yale. It’s also how he got his first introduction to Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan, burning “sweat equity” to go above and beyond, even as a ballboy.

At Yale, he became an actual football player. He was a wide receiver but was simply too physically limited to see the field much. But in his helmet he wrote that he will, “be” in the NFL, already self-aware enough to know his physical stature would probably not allow him to “play” in the NFL.  

After Yale, he sent an application for an unpaid internship to Head Coach Mike Shanahan done in Excel (how Yale) in which he said his career objective was “to be a Hall of Fame NFL head coach and use all of his ability in the direction of winning world championships for a franchise.” He was only 22 years old at the time.

From there his football coaching journey wound through Houston and landed with the Washington Redskins. This is where he worked with a ridiculously stacked staff featuring Head Coach Mike Shanahan and three other head-coaches-to-be in Mike Shanahan’s son Kyle, Sean McVay, and Matt Lafluer.  Almost sounds like another moment of converging destinies, doesn’t it?

But in every epic tale, adversity will hit. In McDaniel’s case, it came in Atlanta after a short stint in Cleveland ended unceremoniously.

An alcohol addiction had taken root and it affected his work. It did not go unnoticed. In an act which fell somewhere between an intervention and tough love, the Atlanta Falcons sent him to three weeks of therapy (he’s been sober since), but they let him go.  

This launched an excruciating 865 day hiatus from his passion, his love … NFL football. He keeps a Post-It note in his office to this day with the number 865 on it as a reminder of what life was like without NFL football so he would never squander his chance again. And so far, he hasn’t.

He finally landed on his feet with the San Francisco 49ers under now Head Coach Kyle Shanahan, he started first as a run game coordinator and was then named as the offensive coordinator after four years.

Then destiny rang again, he got an opportunity to interview for the job he waited his whole life for, being an NFL head coach. He got a total of one interview, with the Miami Dolphins, and obviously he nailed it.

After the aforementioned coach who wanted to get rid of Tua was let go, Mike McDaniel was named Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins, and he has embraced the opportunity to his core. The kid who swore up and down John Elway was the greatest of all time was now team Marino in that debate.

With that, his journey with the Miami Dolphins had begun.  

In his first year he went to the playoffs but had lost his starting quarterback and lost that game. 

The next year he led the league’s most high-powered offense with two receivers who got almost 3000 yards between them and again made the playoffs. But fate weighed in again and set the stage for that playoff game in one of the loudest and most hostile environments the NFL has to offer, Arrowhead Stadium. To add insult to injury, throw in a -27 degree wind chill factor and 25 mph winds – the result was as ugly as you’d imagine.

Year three saw Tua go down early for a month with another concussion. The backups did not fare well – they lost three of those four games without QB1. When Tua returned, they finally got on a mini hot streak and pulled themselves back into the playoff race after a horrendous 2-6 start. But Tua was destined to go down again, this time with another hip injury. He would not return for the rest of the season. They missed the playoffs for the first time under McDaniel.

But another opportunity is now afoot. The question again is, which way will his destiny bend?

Jaelen Phillips

If you wanted to sculpt a Greek god, you could use Jaelen Phillips as the model, he looks like a warrior. But if you want to talk about a snake-bit start to a football career, well, he could be your model for that too.

It was a dream start as a five-star recruit coming out of high school and he decided to stay on the west coast. He chose home-state UCLA as the launch point of his football destiny. His first year, he started four of seven games he played in and recorded 3.5 sacks and seven TFLs (tackles for loss), but it didn’t go smoothly. In the third game he injured his ankle, and after he returned, he suffered another ankle injury – and a concussion. 

Then in January of 2018, while out riding his moped, he was struck by a car and severely injured his wrist, to the point they actually had to remove three bones, in three different surgeries. But as we have seen over the last two years, this man rehabs like a man possessed. Even though the wrist still had pain, he got himself battle-ready and played the first four games of the next season, until, you guessed it, another concussion!

UCLA had seen enough and made a decision. With their doctors’ advice, they medically retired him from their football program.

Jaelen spun off into a very bad head space by his own admission. His confidence was shot and his identity rattled. He decided to go to work in his father’s law firm and study music at Los Angeles City College, his second passion. His parents met playing in an orchestra and his grandfather was a conductor, so music was in his blood too.

But he couldn’t get over the fact that the year prior he was sacking quarterbacks in nationally televised games in front of packed stadiums, and now he was picking up trash at the firm. In his depression, he quit caring about his body and dwindled down to a spindly 215 lbs.

Things looked bleak. This was not the dream he had been chasing his whole life.

But then destiny tugged at him again, this time in the form of finding out that UCLA can retire him from their football program, but not from every football program. So he came up with a plan and went about deftly executing it. He transferred to the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami with their football program squarely in his sights. Then-head-coach Manny Diaz obviously thought it was a good idea, and he joined the U. He had to sit out for a year because of NCAA eligibility hurdles due to the time he missed at UCLA, but he needed that redshirt year, he had to rebuild his confidence and psyche, and he had to transform back into the hulking quarterback hunter we see today. With 50 lbs of solid muscle added back to his frame, it looked like destiny was shining in his favor once again.

He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins under then-head-coach Brian Flores. However, Flores, much like with Tua, was no ally in building his confidence, Phillips had said later when admitting he needed a confidence coach at the end of the season to help get his mind right again. But he did show flashes in his rookie season, especially at the end of the season.

Enter Mike McDaniel and his arc of destiny, now known to be a confidence builder extraordinaire as a result of his apparent success with Tua. Jaelen flourished in his new environment, getting in great shape, happy, and raring to go. He got seven sacks, but always seemed to be right there, causing havoc for QBs and finding his whole game. He played all 17 games, and it looked like his needle was pointing way up.

In 2023, it really looked like greatness was just over the horizon. He was playing like his hair was on fire, always hustling and tallying 6.5 sacks in just eight games. But then, fate decided to wreak havoc once again, taking the form of the turf-monster known to live at MetLife Stadium. Pushing off like lightning to cause terror in the backfield, his body betrayed him with a popping sound, The realization was immediate, his achilles tendon had torn. And as the great Achilles himself showed us, that little tendon can take down even the mightiest of warriors. He was done for the year.

Again he rehabbed like a beast, exceeding all timelines and expectations to return for the beginning of the season. Again, he was on fire. And again, the dark side of fate stepped in. This time he would go down to friendly fire in the form of safety Jordan Poyer, the ex-Bill. I guess the darker side of fate has a macabre sense of humor. Once more his year was done thanks to a torn ACL.

Now he is in his contract year, and he is surpassing all timelines and expectations once again thanks to his relentless will and work(out) ethic. All signs point to him being ready to start the season. Which way will destiny bend for him this year?

There’s Plenty More to the 2025 Miami Dolphins Story

While these three twisting destinies caught my attention the most, they are by no means the only ones to keep an eye on.

There is the ascension of Chop Robinson, a Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist last year looking to take another big step toward greatness and glory. Will destiny agree?

Next up, we have Bradley Chubb, a redemption story much like that of Jaelen Phillips, snake bit and injury plagued (he missed all of last year with basically everything holding his knee together shredded in the waning moments of a December blowout game in 2023), but a stellar chaos creator when he is on the field. Can he set his destiny back on an upward bend?

Of course there is fan favorite Zach Sieler, the alligator hunter who lived in his RV near the stadium when he was claimed off waivers after being released by the Ravens. He worked his way up to a now recognized defensive line stalwart in the NFL, captain, and team MVP last year. He also happens to be the only interior defensive lineman with 10+ sacks in each of the last two seasons. His destiny has been bending in the right direction for years now, and it has been a joy to watch. Will it continue?

The Rookies

We also have a crew of behemoth rookies, gargantuan men who defy the laws of physics with the way they can move at their massive sizes in Kenneth Grant from Michigan, an eye-popping 340+ pounds of relentless fleet-footed power.

How about Jonah Savaiinaea, a Samoan mauler who claimed on draft day, after noting he has never blocked for anyone but Polynesian quarterbacks in his life, that, “God doesn’t make mistakes, I’m supposed to block for my people.”

We have Jordan Phillips, a 6’2” 320 ball of muscle and clay who can power lift 365 lbs and who also has a wrestling background which helps him master the art of control and leverage.

And finally, the last big boy of the bunch with the best football name of them all, Zeek Biggers, a 6’6” 320lb colossus with the widest wingspan at the 2025 Combine, a mind-boggling 85.5 inches. He could become an immovable nose tackle, but If nothing else, he could be a nightmare for opponents on special teams, he blocked four field goals in college. Something like that can turn any game on its head at any time.

Any and/or all of these guys could make their marks in the NFL record books before long.

Lastly, we have Ollie Gordon II, a Doak Walker Award winner in 2023 who proved to be as a big bruising back who rushed for over 1700 yards that year. 2024 was not kind as Oklahoma State blew up the staff and his offensive line. Will he regain his form and solve Miami’s short yardage woes?

There are plenty more to things to keep an eye on as well, like a slew of cornerbacks and safeties ready to fight for starting spots like piranha in a small and shrinking body of water, all while knowing an older, experienced piranha may get thrown into their pool any day now. There are even two punters trying to kick each other to the curb.

And let’s not forget another oddity which seems to have a whiff destiny to it – why do the 8-9 Miami Dolphins inexplicably have 6 primetime and standalone games this year, is the world supposed to bear witness to something extraordinary?

The time for the Miami Dolphins is now

You know when a saga is about to turn, it happens when even the most ardent and faithful supporters have stopped believing in their heroes, and from observing the Dolphin fanbase since the end of last season, many of you have surrendered your hope and belief in our quarterback, our coach, our general manager and our team as a whole. For you the sky is falling. For me, a wonderous story is yearning to be told.

Time will be the ultimate judge

The fact is, destiny is a neutral word, it can bend to greatness or disaster. Either way, my gut is telling me this is a season to pay attention to like no other this century, and I will try my best to chronicle it by telling the tale as it unfolds.

The Mad Greek

When it comes to being mad, it’s a uniquely versatile word. Mad can mean angry (even furious once in a while), and it can mean crazy (aren’t we all at times?), but it is also often applied to people with widely unaccepted views or ideas who go on to be proven prescient with the passage of time. You get to decide which I am initially, but only the history of the future will have the final say.

---

To help control bots and spam, you have to become a subscriber to comment on PhinSpin. Read the PhinSpin Rules of the Road at the top of the page and subscribe HERE to post.

---