A Look Ahead at the Miami Dolphins in 2025

April 5, 2025 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

The Miami Dolphins haven't won a Super Bowl since claiming the 1972 and 1973 seasons over the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings, respectively. The 1972 (VII) team went 17-0 while the 1973 (VIII) squad was 15-2. Since then, the Dolphins have only returned twice with losses to the Redskins in the 1982 (XVII) strike-shortened season, and then falling to the Forty-niners in the 1984 (XIX) season-ending game.

The Dolphins last made it past the Wild Card playoffs in the 2000 season when they defeated the Colts in overtime before getting skunked 27-0 at the Oakland Raiders. The most recent playoff appearances ended quickly with a 30-12 loss at the Steelers (2016), a 34-31 loss at the Buffalo Bills (2022) and a 26-7 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs (2023).

Last year, the Dolphins recovered from a 2-6 start to finish 8-9.

Here is a look at the 2025 Dolphins as they turn their attention to the future, beginning with the NFL draft later this month.

Miami Dolphins

2024 Record: 8-9 (3-3 AFC East, 2nd place)
Odds to reach 2025 Super Bowl: +5000, 19th-best
General Manager: Chris Grier (2016)
Head Coach: Mike McDaniel (2022)
Offensive Coordinator: Frank Smith (2022)
Defensive Coordinator: Anthony Weaver (2024)

The Dolphins currently have an over-under total of 8.5, indicating that more bettors expect to see Miami take a mild step back in 2025, rather than improve. Their odds of winning the division are still the second-best at +500 while Buffalo sits at -230. The Patriots (+600) and New York Jets (+1600) trail.

Miami has the 8th-best odds of winning the AFC at +2600 while the Super Bowl odds are 19th-best at +5000.

Chris Grier has been the GM when he took over the duties after the firing of Dennis Hickey who only managed to keep his GM job in Miami for two seasons. Grier has managed to survive in the face of disenchantment from the fan base, but the Dolphins have made three playoff appearances on his watch after making zero playoff appearances in the seven years prior to his promotion. He has been on Miami's payroll since 2000 when he was hired as a scout. He played college ball at UMass, but an injury led him to turn his attention to the coaching and administration side of things.

Mike McDaniel is the third head coach under Grier. He was hired to replace Brian Flores (2019-2021) who replaced Adam Gase (2016-2018). Miami is his first head coaching gig after serving as the offensive coordinator of the Forty-niners in 2021 and that team's run game coordinator from (2017-2020). He started as an intern with the Denver Broncos in 2006 after playing receiver at Yale. McDaniel is 28-23 in the regular season, but 0-2 in the playoffs.

Frank Smith's OC job at Miami is his first in that capacity since his Butler University days (2006-2009). He jumped straight from Butler to the NFL with the New Orleans Saints and has also had stints with the Raiders and Chargers. The offense took a giant step backward in 2024 after making significant gains in 2023.

The official 2025 NFL schedule will be released in May, but we know that Miami will of course have home-and-away games against division foes Buffalo, New England, the Jets, and Baltimore. We also know they will have dates with Cincinnati, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, he LA Chargers, and Washington. Their other away games will be Atlanta, Carolina, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis.

NOTE: All material in this article was personally gathered by CollegeFootballPoll.com and is not rewritten from other sources. Additionally, we never use Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs for ANY of our articles.