Minkah Fitzpatrick, shortly after meeting Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin prior to the 2018 NFL draft, told his mother that he would love to play for Pittsburgh's head coach at some point during his NFL career. 

Fitzpatrick got his wish. 

After 18 games in Miami, Fitzpatrick, a versatile defensive back and the 11th overall pick in last year's draft, was traded to the Steelers on Monday. He will start at free safety in Pittsburgh's upcoming game, a road game against the 2-0 San Francisco 49ers. 

Fitzpatrick, during a one-on-one interview with Steelers.com's Missi Matthews, discussed an array of topics that included how he found out that he was traded to Pittsburgh. 

"Late [Monday] night, I got a phone call from Chris Grier, the GM over at Dolphins," Fitzpatrick said. "We had a little conversation, and at the end of it, he told me they made the deal and that I was going be headed to Pittsburgh."

How did he take the news? 

"I was excited, honestly," Fitzpatrick said. "Pittsburgh is an historic program, always been known for [having] a great defense. Coach Tomlin is a great coach. Spoke to him a couple of times before the draft last year. Just felt really good feeling about him as a coach and as a man. I told my mom after I met him, I said, 'He's a coach I'd definitely like to play for one day,' so I'm excited about it."

What did he like about Tomlin upon meeting him? 

"Just the way he carries himself," Fitzpatrick said. "Obviously I've seen him coach before on the field, then I got to meet him in person as a man. It just affirmed everything everyone said about him. He's a players' coach. He's easy to talk to. He wasn't trying to be too cool or too mean or anything like that. He was just being himself, and was something that I said that I'd love to play for someday." 

Fitzgerald, who played multiple positions in Miami, talked about what he likes about the safety position. 

"I like that you can move around and do a bunch of different things," he said. "If you play certain positions, you just do the same thing every snap or you don't get to move around. With safety, just defensive back in general, there's a lot of flexibility. You can do a lot of different things. You can blitz, you can cover, you can cover half [the field], you can cover the whole field. I definitely like that aspect of it."

Would he agree that his versatility is among his greatest attributes as a player?

"Yeah, I would agree," he said. "Last year, my rookie year, I played all over the field, played at a high level wherever they put me at. Obviously there are things I can improve on, but I think I did a pretty good job, and that's why I'm here, to keep growing, keep improving and work on my strengths and my weaknesses and just keep going."

Fitzpatrick is looking forward to playing alongside Terrell Edmunds, Pittsburgh's starting strong safety who was selected 17 spots after Fitzpatrick in the '18 draft. 

"I know him a good bit," Fitzpatrick said of Edmunds, who last season won the Joe Greene Great Performance Award given annually to the team's top rookie. "We trained together a little bit down in Florida before the combine for a couple weeks. He's a competitor. Every single drill, we're competing. In workouts, we're out there competing. I'm excited to work with him. He's a professional. He carries himself the right way on and off the field. I'm excited to be working with him."

Fitzpatrick said that learning the playbook and the terminology of Pittsburgh's defensive scheme will be his biggest challenge as he prepares for Sunday's game against the 49ers. While he has a lot of work to do between now and Sunday, Fitzpatrick said that he is excited about getting what he considers a fresh start in Pittsburgh. 

"That's exactly what it is. It's a fresh start, a clean slate," he said. "It's another opportunity just to prove myself and what I can do to add to this team." 

A New Jersey native, Fitzpatrick shared what he learned after Hurricane Irene destroyed his family's home back in 2011. Fitzpatrick, who was 14 at the time, said that the experience taught him the value of hard word while also appreciating what he has. 

"During that time, I definitely learned a lot about myself, about my family, as does anybody that goes through anything, you always learn a lot about yourself," he said. "It definitely taught you to appreciate the little things, because after that, I didn't have any clothes, any shoes or anything like that. I had to go to other people for that. 

"[It] taught me to appreciate little things in life, to appreciate my family, and it just taught me how to work hard because, after that, me and my family pretty much rebuilt our house on our own. I had to shift my focus from school to work to football. It just taught me how to manage my time and honestly have a professional mindset at a young age and grow up faster than most people."