The PHIN Scan

I have been wanting to start these posts for a while now, and couldn't think of a better time to do so then now. Having majored in Psychology and currently pursuing my doctorate in Marital and Family therapy, I thought I would share my thoughts and opinions on what is going on inside the brains of the Dolphin's players and personnel. You might question why I would go out of my way to write something while there are already great contributors to this site who may already discuss the cognitive process behind this team. Having been consciously a fan since I was 7 (I'm now 22), I have always been analytical towards this team, focusing more on what is going on mentally rather than physically. I pay attention to the numbers, economics, politics, and drama just as much as the rest of you, yet I find myself more interested inn what the hell is going on in the heads of our favorite players and coaches throughout the year. Please note that my views are clear assumptions based off of my academic studies and personal opinion. I would appreciate any feedback on my posts and if you flat out disagree with my views, don't hold back from saying so. Part of my interest in writing this bi -weekly posts is to gain a better understanding of what my fellow Dolphin fans think is going on in the team's head. With that I will start my first assessment with none other than the hiring of Joe Philbin.

Joe Philbin was chosen for his potential to unite this team

I'm not going to go into any numbers or argue whether Philbin/Mccoy had the better/ worse players to work with. I'm not going to tell you why/ how Philbin has the better offensive mind or strategy, simply because I don't think you can determine that from two coaches who have yet to serve as the leader of a team. However, I will tell you why I feel Philbin has the best chance to unite the team and succeed. In my graduate studies, I'm focusing on grief and trauma, and while I have dealt with tough losses in my life, very few of us can honestly know the amount of grief Philbin is dealing with after his son's tragic and traumatic death. If you are aware with the 5 stages of the grieving process, you might agree with me that he is already at the last stage, "Acceptance". Many of you may be worried Philbin isn't emotionally stable to handle this job and I'm with you there. How can someone who just lost their son in a horrible way, change his job, residency, and most of all life, right after the death of his son? Surely this was in the minds of Ross and Ireland, and I have no doubt that it had to be assured from Philbin that he was emotionally stable to do the job. The billionaire Ross has surely dealt with employees who were grieving the loss of a loved one and he is too successful of a businessman to give a job to someone who isn't ready or capable of doing it. The players will immediately gain respect for Philbin and will most likely put in an extra effort to succeed and make their coach proud. Is this to say that other coaches don't have inspirational or emotional reasons for their players to do well? NO. But usually as a professional, you keep your stress, emotions and family problems to yourself and your players play for money, fame, or their own personal reasons. Yet Philbin's tragedy became public and the Dolphins organization will now do everything in their power to show that even people who have gone through tragic events like Philbin can come out of it victorious. Here is to a fresh start to this year, to us fans, and of course our new head coach Mr. Joe Philbin, who should have much success and happiness for years to come.