A look at the connections between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.
NEW ENGLAND TIES
- Dolphins head coach Brian Flores attended Boston College and spent 15 seasons with the Patriots before moving on to Miami.
- Dolphins general manager Chris Grier is a native of Holliston, Mass., and attended the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he played football for two seasons.
- Dolphins offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo attended Boston University and was a graduate assistant at Boston College before returning to his alma mater as an offensive line/ assistant head coach from 1993-96.
- Head strength and conditioning coach Dave Puloka played for Holy Cross from 1997-2000.
- Miami assistant strength and conditioning coach Jim Arthur is from Cheshire, Conn. and was a coaching intern at Boston College in 2002. He also attended Springfield College and was a graduate assistant there from 2000-2001.
- Miami defensive backs coach Tony Oden worked as a graduate assistant at Boston College in 1997.
SOUTH FLORIDA TIES
- Patriots WR Antonio Brown hails from Miami, Florida.
- Patriots WR Phillip Dorsett and Patriots RB James White are from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and were teammates together at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Dorsett went on to attend the University of Miami from 2011-14, where he ended his career ranked eighth in school history in receptions (121), receiving yards (2,132) and touchdowns (17).
- In 2014, Patriots tight ends coach Nick Caley was the secondary coach at Florida Atlantic University, located in Boca Raton, Fla.
- Patriots RB Sony Michel is from Plantation, Fla. and was the USA Today Florida Football Player of the Year in 2013 after rushing for 1,833 yards and 24 touchdowns.
- Patriots DB J.C. Jackson hails from Immokalee, Fla. and totaled 3,109 yards and 31 touchdowns during his career at Immokalee High School.
- Patriots DL Byron Cowart is from Tampa, Fla., and attended Armwood High School where he led the Hawks to the state championship game as a junior and senior.
- Patriots OL Isaiah Wynn was raised in St. Petersburg, Fla., and went to Lakewood High School.
FORMER PATRIOTS
- Dolphins general manager Chris Grier began his NFL career as an intern for the Patriots in 1994. The following year, he became a regional scout for the team and served in that capacity until joining the Dolphins in 2000. His father, Bobby Grier, was the vice president of player personnel for the Patriots from 1995-1999.
- Dolphins head coach Brian Flores spent 15 years with the Patriots, serving many different roles within the organization. Most recently, Flores was the Patriots defensive play-caller and linebackers coach in 2018.
- Dolphins defensive coordinator Patrick Graham began his NFL coaching career in New England, spending 2009-15 with the Patriots as a defensive assistant and position coach.
- Dolphins offensive coordinator Chad O'Shea spent 2009-18 in New England as the Patriots wide receivers coach.
- Dolphins assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski spent the 2013-18 seasons with the Patriots in the same position.
- Dolphins defensive pass game coordinator/cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer coached for the Patriots as a defensive assistant and position coach from 2006-18.
- Dolphins offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo held the same position in New England from 2014-15.
- Dolphins quality control coach Mike Judge spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons with the Patriots as a coaching assistant.
- Dolphins CB Johnson Bademosi spent the 2017 season with the Patriots, appearing in all 16 regular season games and two postseason contests.
- Dolphins CB Eric Rowe spent three of his first four seasons with the Patriots before signing with Miami this past offseason.
- Dolphins DL Trent Harris spent 2018 and the 2019 preseason with the Patriots.
- Dolphins CB Ken Webster was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft (252nd overall) by New England and spent the 2019 preseason as a Patriot.
FORMER DOLPHINS
- Patriots RB Brandon Bolden played in Miami in 2018 after spending the previous six seasons of his career in New England.
FORMER NFL TEAMMATES
- Dolphins run game coordinator/running backs coach Eric Studesville coached the running backs at Denver in 2010 when Patriots offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels was the head coach.
- Patriots CB Stephon Gilmore played with Dolphins TE Nick O'Leary at Buffalo.
- Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has played with two Patriots defensive backs over the course of his NFL career. Fitzpatrick teamed up with DB Jason McCourty in Tennessee in 2013, and CB Stephon Gilmore in Buffalo during the 2012 season.
- Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears coached the wide receivers at Chicago while Dolphins run game coordinator/running backs coach Eric Studesville was the offensive quality control coach for the Bears from 1997-98.
- Patriots director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort worked in the scouting department in Houston while Dolphins safeties coach Tony Oden was a defensive assistant and assistant defensive backs coach for the Texans. Oden also coached the defensive backs and cornerbacks in Detroit when Patriots LB Kyle Van Noy played for the Lions.
- Dolphins QB Josh Rosen was protected by Patriots OL Korey Cunningham during their rookie seasons in Arizona in 2018.
- Dolphins OT J'Marcus Webb played in Oakland during the 2015 season, where he teamed up with Patriots DB Obi Melifonwu and LB Shilique Calhoun. Webb also played in Seattle in 2016, where he was teammates with Patriots DL Michael Bennett.
- Patriots DL Michael Bennett played alongside Dolphins DT John Jenkins for the Seahawks in 2016.
FORMER COLLEGE TEAMMATES
- Dolphins assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski attended John Carroll University in Unversity Heights, Ohio with several Patriots personnel. Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels and director of pro personnel Dave Ziegler all played together for the Blue Streaks in the late 1990's.
- Many Dolphins crossed paths with Patriots WR Phillip Dorsett II at Miami (Fla.). Dolphins WR Allen Hurns played opposite Dorsett, while G Danny Isidora spent time along the offensive line. Dolphins LB Trent Harris and RB Mark Walton also attended Miami.
- Patriots RB Damien Harris and Dolphins RB Kenyan Drake shared the backfield together at Alabama in 2015. Dolphins S Minkah Fitzpatrick also played with the two running backs for the Crimson Tide.
- Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham and Dolphins FB Chandler Cox teamed up at Auburn prior to their 2019 rookie campaigns.
- Patriots outside linebackers coach DeMarcus Covington was at Mississippi as a defensive graduate assistant with Dolphins CB Ken Webster in 2014.
- Dolphins TE Nick O'Leary played with a pair of Patriots at Florida State. O'Leary spent 2011-13 with Patriots DB Terrence Brooks and 2014 with TE Ryan Izzo.
- Patriots RB Sony Michel and OL Isaiah Wynn played with Dolphins rookie DE Jonathan Ledbetter at Georgia.
- Dolphins LB James Crawford spent two years at Illinois with Patriots TE Matt LaCosse and OL Ted Karras.
- Patriots LB Shilique Calhoun and Dolphin LS Taybor Pepper played at Michigan State from 2013-15.
