South Florida Sport’s Dynasties
South Florida has enjoyed championship runs with their Dolphins, Heat, and Panthers over the past 55 years. This is the story of the similarities between these three dynasties.
As a lifelong Miami sports fan, I have been fortunate enough to witness several different sports dynasties in my lifetime. While not every sports fan will ever agree on what constitutes a “dynasty”, three championship appearances within a five-year period is often considered dynastic at some level by most people who follow sports. Of what are considered the four big leagues in the United States: NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, South Florida has enjoyed witnessing the rise of a sports dynasty on three different occasions over the past fifty-five years.
This is the story of the construction and run of the Miami Dolphins of the early 1970s, the Miami Heat from 2010 through 2014, and the current stretch of the Florida Panthers from 2022 through 2025. Although the championship periods are spread over more than five decades, there are common patterns that characterize the dynastic era for each franchise.
Hiring of the Right Architect
Even before Miami was awarded the Dolphins on August 16, 1965, managing partner Joe Robbie had his sights set on Joe Thomas, the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings. A former Minnesota attorney, Robbie, was impressed by how quickly Thomas built a competitive roster for the expansion franchise, which joined the NFL in 1960. He contacted the Vikings to request permission to interview Joe Thomas for the same general manager role in Miami. Surprisingly, Minnesota agreed, and the meeting between the two Joes led to Thomas becoming one of Robbie’s first two hires for the Dolphins organization.
Joe Thomas used every tool available in the 1960s to build a championship-caliber Dolphins roster. By his third draft, he was consistently landing future starters and supplementing the lineup with bold trades and savvy waiver-wire pickups. When Thomas left the organization after the 1971 season, which ended with a Super Bowl loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the team he assembled would go on to reach two more Super Bowls, capping a perfect season in 1972 and claiming back-to-back titles in 1973 and 1974. Many consider the ’73 team even stronger than the undefeated squad the year before.
While the Dolphins began their dynastic run within their first decade, the Florida Panthers’ ascent can be traced to the hiring of general manager Bill Zito in 2020. The team had experienced early success with a surprising and memorable run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996 during their first-ever playoff appearance. However, they were swept in that series and failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals again until after Zito took the helm.
While Joe Thomas built the Dolphins roster from the ground up, Bill Zito inherited the foundation of a potential championship team when he replaced Dale Tallon as Panthers general manager on September 2, 2020. The roster already featured a strong core: two-way center Aleksander Barkov, elite defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and high-scoring winger Jonathan Huberdeau, who would later be traded to strengthen the team’s title prospects. Zito also inherited veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, signed as a free agent in July 2019.
Despite having key players in place, the Panthers found themselves at a crossroads following their 2021–22 season, in which they won the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best regular-season record. Though they advanced to the quarterfinals, they were eliminated by the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. In response, Bill Zito made a bold trade that sparked a remarkable three-season run. Even after capturing the Stanley Cup in 2023–24, Zito remained aggressive, using trades and free-agent signings to strengthen the roster and guide the Panthers to a second straight championship in 2024–25.
Acquisition of Head Coach
A common thread among South Florida’s three dynasties is the hiring of a transformative leader. As Joe Thomas assembled a championship-caliber roster through the draft, Dolphins owner Joe Robbie realized his head coach wasn’t the right fit to take the franchise to the next level. When rumors emerged of a rift between Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom and head coach Don Shula, Robbie reached out to Rosenbloom’s son to request permission to speak with Shula.
In the end, Joe Robbie reached an agreement with Don Shula to become the Dolphins’ head coach, with the hiring officially announced on February 18, 1970. The move angered Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom, who filed a complaint with the NFL, arguing that only he had the authority to grant permission for contact with his head coach. The league ruled in Rosenbloom’s favor, penalizing the Dolphins a first-round draft pick for tampering—a steep price, but one most long-time fans would say was well worth it.
Don Shula brought a much-needed sense of discipline and attention to detail to the young Dolphins roster. In his first season as head coach, the team reached the playoffs, then followed with a surprising run to Super Bowl VI in 1971. Shula would go on to lead the Dolphins to back-to-back championships, beginning with the NFL’s only perfect season in 1972. Over his first 15 seasons in Miami, from 1970 to 1985, Shula guided the team to five Super Bowl appearances, cementing his legacy as one of the game’s greatest coaches.
The Miami Heat made a similar bold move when they lured Pat Riley away from the New York Knicks in 1995. Like the Dolphins, the Heat had to forfeit a first-round pick to acquire Riley, but Heat fans feel the same way about losing that first-round pick as Dolphin fans did in losing their pick in 1970. Riley had the final say on personnel moves and was as involved in general management duties as he was in coaching.
Like Shula, Pat Riley was a proven difference-maker, with a winning track record both as a player and as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, followed by sustained success with the New York Knicks. Although Riley quickly transformed the Miami Heat into contenders, it wasn’t until the 2003 draft, when the franchise selected Dwyane Wade that the team captured its first championship under his leadership.
Riley coached Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal to the franchise’s first championship in the 2005–06 season—coincidentally, my first year as a season ticket holder—before stepping away from coaching to become president of basketball operations. His leadership and mentorship of his chosen successor, Eric Spoelstra, would prove instrumental in guiding the Heat through their dynasty years from 2011 to 2014.
When the Florida Panthers began their 2021 – 22 season 7-0, head coach Joel Quenneville was the toast of the town. However, given a scandal during his time with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, Quenneville abruptly resigned as the coach of the Panthers on October 28, 2021. He was replaced by assistant coach Andrew Brunette who led the Panthers to the best record in the NHL, but came up short in the playoffs against Tampa.
In the following offseason, on June 22, 2022, Bill Zito hired Paul Maurice, a seasoned NHL head coach with a wealth of wins but no Stanley Cup title. Maurice came closest in 2002, when his Carolina Hurricanes fell to the Detroit Red Wings in five games during the Stanley Cup Finals.
When he got the call from Zito about the head coaching job in Florida, Paul Maurice thought of himself as retired. He coached the Winnipeg Jets from 2014 to 2021 and figured that that would be his last coaching opportunity. Like Shula and Riley, Maurice was the right guy for the right group at the right time.
The team desperately needed a change in posture and culture to be able to weather the physical nature of the NHL playoffs. The 2021-22 team could score enough goals and win plenty of games during the regular season, but needed toughness and grit that was provided by Maurice’s leadership once he took over as head coach.
Foundation of Team Built Through the Draft
Following the 1971 season, Joe Thomas resigned from his position as director of player personnel due to a contract dispute with Joe Robbie. Prior to his leaving, he oversaw six drafts which largely built the foundation for the Miami Dolphin’s championship era.
In his first draft in 1966, he selected wide receiver Howard Twilley from Tulsa. The next year, in 1967, he found the Dolphin’s franchise signal caller when he selected Bob Griese, quarterback out of Purdue, with the fourth pick in the first round. In 1968, he landed several key starters for the Dolphins during their championship run beginning with his first-round selection of fullback Larry Csonka out of Syracuse. He also added offensive tackle Doug Crusan, safety Dick Anderson, and running back Jim Kiick in that draft.
In 1969, he strengthened the defense by adding defensive end Bill Stanfill, defensive tackle Bob Heinz, and defensive back Lloyd Mumphord, while also selecting running back Mercury Morris in the third round. The following year, 1970, saw him draft tight end Jim Mandich, safeties Tim Foley and Jake Scott, cornerback Curtis Johnson, and linebacker Mike Kolen.
In his final draft as pro personnel director in 1971, Thomas lacked a first-round pick due to a previous trade but still managed to add defensive lineman Vern Den Herder in a later round. Overall, Joe Thomas had enough hits in the draft to allow the team to round out their foundational core with talent acquired through trades and waiver wire acquisitions. The Dolphin’s success from 1971 through 1974 was largely due to the strong roster constructed through successful selections in the NFL draft.
While the Pat Riley managed Miami Heat generally used draft picks to facilitate trades, no one could argue that one of the most impactful players during the team’s dynasty era was acquired through the NBA Draft. In 2003, with the fifth overall pick, the Heat selected a shooting guard out of Marquette named Dwyane Wade, a decision that would set the franchise in motion to win not one, not two, but three Larry O’Brien trophies, along with two other NBA Final’s appearances.
Like the Dolphins, the Florida Panthers constructed the foundation of their championship roster through the draft. Prior to Bill Zito’s arrival, Dale Tallon drafted Center Aleksander Barkov and Defenseman Aaron Ekblad, and selected Jonathan Huberdeau who was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Mattew Tkachuk to the Panthers.
One of Bill Zito’s first personnel decisions was selecting center Anton Lundell with the 12th overall pick in the NHL Draft, held just a month after his hiring. Much like Pat Riley, Zito strategically leveraged both drafted players and future draft picks as trade assets in the years that followed, resulting in several timely and impactful acquisitions that proved critical during the Panthers’ championship runs.
While the draft laid a strong foundation, it was through strategic trades that each general manager completed their team’s championship roster. Across all three South Florida dynasties, impactful trades played a pivotal role in elevating their teams to sustained championship contention.
Impactful Trades
In addition to his success in the draft, Joe Thomas significantly strengthened the Dolphins’ roster through key trades. On March 24, 1969, he acquired middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti from the Boston Patriots. Just a few months later, on July 2, 1969, he traded defensive back Mack Lamb to the San Diego Chargers for offensive lineman Larry Little, a move made at the urging of star fullback Larry Csonka. Both acquisitions would prove instrumental in the team’s rise to prominence.
However, Thomas’s most significant trade came on January 26, 1970, just a month before Don Shula’s hiring, when he dealt the third overall pick in the first round to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for star wide receiver Paul Warfield. The bold move completed the core of the Dolphins’ roster and helped set the stage for three consecutive Super Bowl appearances and back-to-back championships.
Following a similar approach to Joe Thomas, Bill Zito executed several impactful trades during the Florida Panthers' championship pursuit. Before Zito assumed the role, GM Dale Tallon acquired Eetu Luostarinen from the Carolina Hurricanes on February 24, 2020. After taking over personnel decisions, Zito continued to methodically shape the roster, making key additions that helped propel the Panthers to their first championship appearance.
In April 2021, Florida’s general manager traded for Bandon Montour from the Buffalo Sabers, and Sam Bennett from the Calgary Flames. In July 2021, Zito conducted business with Buffalo once more when he traded for Sam Reinhart, who became Florida’s leading goal scorer in both championship seasons.
However, the most impactful trade came following the disappointing 2021 – 22 season when Bill Zito traded the team’s top goal scorer, Jonathan Huberdeau, to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk on July 22, 2022. This trade not only provided a change in style for the Panthers, but also a change of culture. The team went from being an offensive juggernaut to a more physical defensive minded team with grit and perseverance. The addition of Tkachuk had a lot to do with the change in style of play and culture.
Under Bill Zito, the Panthers were very active at the trade deadline in both of the last two seasons (2024 – 2025). During their first championship run, he added Vladimir Tarasenko on March 6, 2024, who played a pivotal role in the team’s first Stanley Cup victory. The following season, he acquired Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks on March 1, 2025, and perhaps one of the biggest surprises in 2025, Zito acquired Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand for a first round pick. All of these trade deadline moves were critical for the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup in both 2024 and 2025.
Although the Miami Heat technically acquired two thirds of their dynastic core through sign and trade deals from their previous teams, the acquisition of Lebron James and Chris Bosh were free agents that were persuaded to team up with Dwyane Wade to make an historic NBA run. In addition to the use of trades to build their championship rosters, all three teams made great moves through free agent acquisitions and waiver wire claims.
Free Agents & Waiver Claims
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the NFL lacked the modern free agency system seen today. At the time, teams acquired players outside of the draft and trade transactions primarily through the waiver wire, typically athletes who had been released by other teams, or by signing undrafted prospects. Joe Thomas excelled in this area, demonstrating a keen eye for overlooked talent and building depth through shrewd acquisitions of undrafted players and waiver-wire pickups.
Following the NFL draft in 1968, Manny Fernandez went undrafted out of Utah and signed a free agent contract with the Dolphins. A couple of years later in 1970, Miami added center Jim Langer, who was cut by the Cleveland Browns, place kicker Garo Yepremian, who was cut by the Detroit Lions, offensive tackle Wayne Moore, who was claimed off of waivers from the San Francisco 49ers, and offensive guard Bob Kuechenberg, who was playing for the Chicago Owls in the Continental Football League when he tried out for the Dolphins. Each of these acquisitions played pivotal roles during the Miami Dolphin’s dynasty years.
During the offseason in 2010, some of the top players in the NBA were free agents and had big decisions to make. Dwyane Wade from the Miami Heat was one of those players, and rather than seeking an opportunity to win elsewhere, he helped recruit two of the other big name free agents, Chris Bosh and Lebron James, who was considered the best player in the game at the time. The media hype that surrounded this free agency period was nothing like the NBA had ever seen before or since.
Pat Riley, who was known for conveying gravitas during his sales pitch to free agents considering joining the Heat, put not only all his cards, but also his championship rings, on the table, to close Bosh and James to join the Heat. In a press conference broadcast on ESPN, which aired on July 8, 2010, entitled ‘The Decision’, Lebron James declared that “he will be taking his talents to South Beach” confirming that he was going to join the Miami Heat in what would be labeled the beginning of the ‘Big Three’ era. James reference to downtown Miami as South Beach was quickly forgotten as excitement bubbled over for Miami Heat fans in anticipation of the possibility of an NBA dynasty forming in Miami.
The art of completing a championship roster through free agency was not lost on Bill Zito. In 2020, leading up to the first NHL season during his tenure as general manager, he added Carter Verhaeghe, who had played for the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning the year before, Radko Gudas, Ryan Lomberg, and Anthony Duclair to provide depth and to begin rounding out the team’s third and fourth lines.
During the 2022 offseason, he continued to build the roster through free agency with the acquisitions of Nick Cousins and the Stahl brothers. During the next offseason, he added Dimitry Kulikov, Niko Mikkola, Evan Rodrigues, and Jonah Gadjovich.
Following their 2024 Stanley Cup victory, the Panthers saw the departure of several key free agents, including Brandon Montour, Radko Gudas, Ryan Lomberg, Anthony Duclair, and the Staal brothers. In response, Bill Zito moved quickly in July 2024 to replenish the roster, signing Jesper Boqvist, A.J. Greer, Tomáš Nosek, and Nate Schmidt. These additions reinforced the team’s depth, particularly on the third and fourth lines—widely viewed as a decisive advantage over the talented Edmonton Oilers squad they defeated in consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in 2024 and 2025.
Once the rosters were built, all three of South Florida’s sports dynasties followed a familiar pattern during their championship era. Each of the three squads experienced disappointment before reaching the pinnacle of their sport.
Championship Pattern
When the Miami Dolphins reached Super Bowl VI in January 1972, it was clear to many fans that the team had arrived ahead of schedule. The milestone came in just Don Shula’s second season as head coach and followed a remarkable playoff run. The Dolphins first outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs in what remains the longest game in NFL history, then went on to defeat the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts in the AFC Championship Game.
Many Dolphins players later admitted that simply reaching the championship game felt like an accomplishment in itself and they underestimated what it truly took to win it. In Super Bowl VI, the team was decisively defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, leaving players, coaches, ownership, and fans deeply disappointed. That loss, however, became a powerful source of motivation, fueling a historic run the following season, one that has never been duplicated.
The 1972 season marked a historic achievement for the Miami Dolphins, as they completed a perfect regular season en route to Super Bowl VII. Despite facing challenges along the way, the team secured its first championship with a 14–7 victory over the Washington Redskins. Although the Dolphins lost two regular season games in 1973, many players and head coach Don Shula later asserted that the 1973 squad was better and more dominant than the undefeated team. In total, the Dolphins reached three consecutive Super Bowls, winning two and solidifying their place in NFL history.
The Miami Heat’s “Big Three” era, featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, found immediate success upon its debut in the 2010–11 season. That year, the team advanced to the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, taking a 2–1 lead in the series. However, Dallas responded by winning the next three games, ultimately clinching the championship on Miami’s home court.
That defeat became a turning point for the Heat. Fueled by disappointment, they returned to the Finals in each of the next three seasons, capturing back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013. They defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in 2012, followed by a dramatic seven-game victory over the San Antonio Spurs in 2013. Much like the early 1970s Dolphins, it was the sting of an initial championship loss that propelled the Heat to their subsequent triumphs.
The Florida Panthers followed a similar trajectory when they made an unexpected run to their second Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history. During the 2022–23 season, the team needed a win in their final regular-season game to clinch the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. In the first round, they faced the top-seeded Boston Bruins, who had set an NHL record for the most points in a single season. Boston quickly took a commanding 3–1 series lead and appeared poised to eliminate the Panthers. However, the series dramatically shifted as Florida won the next three games, two of them in overtime, launching their remarkable run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Florida went on to upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference semifinals, followed by a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals. In a stunning turnaround, the Panthers transformed from a team on the brink of missing the playoffs to one making a magical run to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they faced the Vegas Golden Knights.
As with the other South Florida dynasties, the Florida Panthers’ first shot at a championship ended in disappointment. The Vegas Golden Knights captured the 2023 Stanley Cup in five games, leaving the Panthers with a sense of unfinished business, much like the Dolphins in January 1972 and the Heat in June 2011. While the team took pride in reaching the Final, it became clear they were not yet prepared for the moment. That would change the next season.
Falling short of hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2023 served as powerful motivation for Florida’s hockey club, which returned to the Finals in each of the next two seasons, emerging as back-to-back champions in 2024 and 2025. On both occasions, they faced the Edmonton Oilers and entered each series as underdogs. However, the Panthers’ depth across all four lines and their relentless physical style of play proved decisive against a team widely regarded by analysts as the more talented squad.
In each case, the Dolphins, Heat, and Panthers endured early heartbreak, using the sting of defeat as motivation for their dynastic runs to multiple championships. While the story of the Florida Panthers continues to unfold, the dynasties of the Dolphins and Heat ultimately came to an end when external factors dismantled the carefully constructed rosters built for sustained success.
How It Ended
Following the Miami Dolphin’s second Super Bowl victory in 1973, a new upstart football league called the World Football League had their eyes set on several of Miami’s best players. John Bassett, the owner of the Toronto Northmen, reached out to Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Paul Warfield and offered them much more than they were making with the Dolphins to sign with the new league.
The World Football League lacked the tradition and stability of the NFL, but it lured three key Dolphins players with lucrative contracts and substantial signing bonuses. Ultimately, all three accepted their respective offers. However, since the new league was not set to begin play until the 1975 season, each remained with the Dolphins for one final year before departing.
Going into the 1974 season, the Dolphins were hoping to have one more magical run before losing three of their best players. The team finished in first place in the AFC East with an 11-3 record, which was the second-best record in the NFL that season. Their first-round playoff matchup was against the Oakland Raiders, and it was a game for ages. The matchup was a back-and-forth affair and just when the Dolphins thought they scored the final touchdown and won the game, the Raiders pulled off an unforgettable comeback and won in the final seconds in a game remembered as the ‘Sea of Hands’ based on how tightly contested the final touchdown catch was for the Raiders. As the final seconds ticked away, so too did the Dolphins’ dynasty era.
Following their back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013, the Miami Heat reached the NBA Finals for a fourth consecutive year in 2014. For the second straight season, they faced the San Antonio Spurs. Motivated by the previous year’s loss, the Spurs were more focused and the better team throughout the series, winning the title in five games. The Heat, a veteran squad, appeared fatigued after four straight Finals appearances.
At the conclusion of the season, LeBron James opted out of his contract and returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a decision that effectively marked the end of the Heat’s dynasty era. While Miami would return to the NBA Finals in both 2020 and 2023, they fell short in their pursuit of another championship.
As the Florida Panthers celebrate their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship in late June 2025, the challenges of free agency loom large and could significantly impact the team’s roster moving forward. Key players Sam Bennett, the 2025 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, along with Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad are all set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1. With a complex salary cap situation, General Manager Bill Zito faces a difficult task in maintaining the team’s core. Whether the Panthers can extend their championship run or fall victim to roster attrition remains to be seen. South Florida sports fans are hopeful the team can regroup and make at least one more title push.