Tua Talks Saban; Berrios Hat-Tips Belichick

The Dolphins have several players with connections with two coaching giants who left their post this week

There's been shocking coaching news all over the place this week, included two giants of the profession under whom some Miami Dolphins players learned and grew.

One is Nick Saban, who will be retiring after 17 seasons at the University of Alabama (following a two-year stint as Dolphins head coach). The other is Bill Belichick, who parted ways with the New England Patriots after 24 years and six Super Bowl titles.

TUA TALKS SABAN

When it comes to Saban, he coached five current Dolphins players — Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, Raekwon Davis, Da'Shawn Hand and Lester Cotton.

Tua served as a spokesman of sorts for Dolphins players with an impromptu mini-media session inside the Dolphins locker room after practice Thursday.

"Very, very, very, very grateful to have been able to play under Nick Saban. Obviously, I don't know how he was able to find someone like me all the way in Hawaii, then all the way out there in Alabama. So for me to have gotten that opportunity, I wouldn't be here if I hadn't had that opportunity. Obviously, we know how that journey went. But there's a lot of things that he's helped me with, and I'm very grateful on and off the field. And he will be missed. I know a lot of people are feeling him retiring and whatnot. But until next year, it'll be well we'll we'll have to see what that looks like and Roll Tide."

Tua then was asked what was the biggest lesson he learned from Saban.

"I don't know, there's many lessons with Coach Saban," he said. "He has really good perspective on coach-to-player relationships. And then really, he just had a knack for trying to allow players or put the players in the best position that they could be to be successful to go out there and hopefully build a resume strong enough so that they could have a good future."

BERRIOS A BIG BELICHICK FAN

The Dolphins also have a few players who played for the Patriots under Belichick: punter Jake Bailey, cornerback Justin Bethel, linebacker Calvin Munson and wide receiver Braxton Berrios.

A former University of Miami player, Berrios was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL draft, but he spent his rookie season on injured reserve while New England was winning its sixth and last Super Bowl title under Belichick.

After being waived after the 2019 preseason, Berrios then joined the New York Jets and eventually the Dolphins, where he faced Belichick twice every year — until now.

"Yeah, it's gonna be really weird," Berrios said. "Obviously, you know, they're kind of synonymous (Belichick and New England). And, yeah, I honestly haven't put much thought into it, but it's gonna look weird.

"Football knowledge wise. I mean, just talking (he) can go on a rant about the history of the NFL and the lineage of coaches and GMs. And I mean, just football knowledge wise was truly incredible. Like being in that room, hear what he had to say and learning from him, and the way that he prepared every week was incredible. And it was truly a really cool experience. And I learned so much about the game of football and the way it should be played when I was there."

The Dolphins Versus Bill Belichick