Dolphins’ Tua doesn’t hold back in calling out ex-coach Brian Flores’ demeanor
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and former coach Brian Flores didn’t have the most amicable relationship in their two years together.
Tagovailoa again let it be known he didn’t appreciate Flores’ coaching style about as bluntly as he could in an interview with the Dan Le Batard Show released Monday morning.
“To put it in simplest terms,” Tagovailoa started, detailing the difference in demeanor between Flores and current Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, “if you woke up every morning, and I told you, you suck at what you did, that you don’t belong doing what you do, that you shouldn’t be here, that this guy should be here, that you haven’t earned this right.
“And then you have somebody else come in and tell you, ‘Dude, you are the best fit for this. You are accurate. You are the best whatever. You are this. You are that.’ How would it make you feel listening to one or the other?”
Flores’ tough — possibly excessively tough — coaching style left a lasting impact on Tagovailoa that the quarterback said had to be worked out of his mentality in order to find confidence in himself and succeed at the NFL level.
“And then you hear it — regardless of what it is — the good or the bad. You hear it more and more, you start to actually believe that,” Tagovailoa continued. “I don’t care who you are. You can be the president of the United States. You have a terrible person that’s telling you things you don’t want to hear or that you probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re going to start to believe that about yourself.
“It’s basically been two years of training that out of — not just me — but a couple of the guys, as well, that have been there from my rookie year all the way to now.”
After struggling some in his first two professional seasons, the 2022 and 2023 campaigns under McDaniel have seen stark improvement for Tagovailoa.
In 2022, his third season, Tagovailoa led the NFL in passer rating (105.5) and yards per attempt (8.9). Last season, his first full season healthy, the Dolphins quarterback led the league in passing yards (4,624).
McDaniel was asked Monday about his role in eliminating self-doubt for his players.
“I’m not spending much time patting myself on the back for much,” he said, “and I think there’s a lot of players that have grown since I’ve been here and that growth is all that I care about. The inherent growth that they’ve already had, I’m just really focused on pushing guys to be their best selves.”
