What is this Alaskan doing in Miami? Trying to make Dolphins' roster as a defensive tackle

MIAMI GARDENS — Brandon Pili, an undrafted free agent trying to make the Dolphins as a defensive tackle, was 8 when his family moved to somewhere warmer.

Their new home: Anchorage, Alaska.

Until then, Pili and his family lived in Barrow, Alaska. You won’t find Barrow on a map anymore — it now goes by Utqiagvik — but if you start by snooping around the Arctic Circle while looking for America’s northernmost city, you’re on the right track. It’s the kind of place where sunset on Nov. 18 is a big deal to the 4,500 residents. They know there’s no point in getting up to catch another sunrise until Jan. 23.

If you’re already picturing a 180-degree difference between the world Brandon Pili comes from and the South Florida summer he’s living in, you’re right not just figuratively but almost literally. The mean annual temperature in Utqiagvik is 11.7 degrees, which doesn’t even take into account the wind chill. Couple that with 100-plus heat indexes in South Florida and it’s no wonder that his position coach, Austin Clark, tossed an alarming word of warning Pili’s way before he arrived.

“Come here and get in the incubator,” Clark said.

It was great advice. Or terrible advice. Depends on how you look at it.

“I thought I was gonna die,” Pili said.

The Dolphins visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars for the final preseason game Saturday night represents Pili’s last major chance to impress coaches before teams must meet the 53-man roster limit Tuesday. For any undrafted free agent, it’s a long shot, but Pili was signed as a priority free agent. He was given a three-year contract worth $2.7 million, including $100,000 guaranteed.

So while a roster spot isn’t guaranteed, it’s obvious the Dolphins wanted to take a close look. Pili has made plays throughout training camp that draw your eyes to the 6-foot-3, 319-pound man wearing No. 96.

“He’s getting better and better each and every day,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “I’ve been pleased with his progress and he’s definitely in the hunt.”

Pili wouldn’t be the first Dolphin from Alaska. They had an offensive tackle, Daryn Colledge, who took his turn in the media spotlight in December 2014 because he came from North Pole, Alaska. More famously, fullback Larry Csonka made Alaska his second home, allowing him to do popular outdoors TV shows.

Still, Alaskans are rare not only in the NFL but at a college such as USC, where teammates called Pili “Polar Bear.” If teammates want to learn about his unique culture, they need only stop by Pili’s locker.

In Barrow, daylight stretches for three months starting in mid-May, followed by two months of winter darkness beginning in November. Roads can’t take you to Barrow; you have to either fly there or go by boat, if the ice allows passage. When residents hunt caribou, they sometimes use snowmobiles — in summer.

“It used to get to negative-30s, negative-45 degrees, wind chill, so yeah, it was tough,” Pili said. “But you know, summers are nice.”

Barrow offers an expansive view of the Arctic Ocean, best viewed by the “Gateway to the Arctic,” the Whale Bone Arch, an archway constructed out of a bowhead whale’s jawbone. In all, the town is one of the oldest in the United States and might have beaten out Fairbanks for the title of coldest in the country by almanac.com if not for the website’s population cutoff.

Brandon Pili's sister, Alissa, played DL next to him

The Pili family’s move from Barrow to Anchorage meant leaving behind actual frozen tundra, but it opened the door to a city of almost 300,000. It meant access to Walmart. To McDonald’s. To things we take for granted.

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And the Pilis could play a range of sports. Most notably, football, although not for reasons you’d expect.

Pili played nose guard next to one of seven younger siblings — sister Alissa.

“She was a bully, man,” Brandon said. “She was playing bully-ball just like me. She was feared. She was feared because they thought she was just a boy with long hair. Yeah, she’s a beast. She’s strong. Her legs are almost as big as mine. She likes to argue that her calves are bigger than mine, but I don’t think so.”

Alissa’s best sport actually is basketball. Now playing at Utah, she’s the reigning Pac-12 player of the year. Yes, basketball has been good to Alissa, but the same could be said for Brandon. Without it, he might not have one foot in the door to the NFL.

Although Brandon thought he had college potential, he wasn’t getting even a sniff from scouts in Anchorage, so he and his family decided he would move to Oregon, stay with his aunt and uncle, and see if that would put him on a fast track to a scholarship. Then came the day someone shot video of Brandon dunking.

“You know, it’s not often you see somebody 315, 320 doing that,” Clark said. “That’s kind of what got him to USC.”

Clark was a graduate assistant at USC at the time. Although Clark downplays his role in bringing Pili to the Dolphins, Pili credits Clark with helping him launch his college career.

“He kind of was the one that helped me get the playbook down, stayed after hours with me to get the playbook, get the techniques, get my footwork right,” Pili said. “We had a really good relationship back at USC.”

Pili saw only spot duty early in his college career. Then came a shortened 2020 season because of COVID and an Achilles injury that cost him 2021. Last season, he had 25 tackles, 2½ for loss.

“He’s a smart kid,” Clark said. “He works his butt off. He needs to be pushed, for sure, and that’s what we’re doing now. And he’s done a great job integrating into the room. He’s matured a lot over the years, that’s for sure. We’re still on him every day. But excited about his progress.”

Pili made plays in first two preseason games

In the preseason opener against Atlanta, Pili tied for second on the team with four tackles. He had one tackle for loss and a quarterback hit. He added two more tackles against Houston.

Asked what stands out about Pili, coach Mike McDaniel said, “Growth. Learning how to play within the system using the power that’s in his body and applying it within the scheme. Being able to maintain your gap while displacing the line of scrimmage. It’s been really cool to watch. His teammates have noticed. The dude has gotten better.”

Coincidentally, Pili arrived in South Florida before he knew he’d be a Dolphin. He trained before the draft with Pete Bommarito in Davie, although springtime hardly braced him for this sizzling summer.

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“I like to think I adapt to my surroundings,” Pili said. “I tried to do as best as I could here. I know it’s hot. And every day, I tried to get out and get a little more sun to build my tolerance for it.”

Pili shares a Polynesian background with Tua Tagovailoa. His relatives were Tagovailoa fans before Brandon became Tagovailoa’s teammate.

It’s 4,227 miles from the former Barrow, Alaska, to Miami Gardens. It’s about as far as it gets within the continental United States, geographically and any other way you look at it.

“I mean, all I can say is I’m blessed, man,” Pili said. “The Lord’s blessed me with a great mind and great body to be able to do what I love. And I think he put me on a path to get where I am standing right now.”

Standing, right under the Florida sun.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at  hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.

Saturday's preseason game

Dolphins (1-1) at Jaguars (2-0)

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins rookie from Alaska is surviving temperature shock in Miami