Tua Tagovailoa has established himself as a strong starting quarterback over the past two seasons.
It's not a coincidence that he began carving up defenses so effectively once Mike McDaniel took over as Miami's head coach. The two have built a relationship that's allowed the former Alabama standout to succeed on the gridiron.
As Tagovailoa enters his fifth NFL season, he discussed the differences between McDaniel and the Dolphins former head coach Brian Flores. The quarterback shared his thoughts in an interview with Dan Le Batard.
Safe to say, Tagovailoa is happy with the coaching change, shedding light on his relationship with Flores.
Here's what the Dolphins quarterback had to say.
NEW NFL RULE EXPLAINERS: Kickoffs | Guardian caps | No chain gang
Tua Tagovailoa-Brian Flores relationship, explained
Flores was the Dolphins head coach from 2019-2021, so he was with the organization for Tagovailoa's first two seasons in the NFL.
The Alabama product had an underwhelming first two seasons after Miami selected him with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Tagovailoa discussed those first two seasons and how difficult it was to play under Flores.
"If you woke up every morning and I told you [that] 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 [instead], that you haven't earned this right," Tagovailoa said.
"And then you have somebody else come in and tell you 'Dude, you are the best fit for this.' ... How would it make you feel listening to one or the other."
“If you woke up every morning and I told you that you suck at what you did, that you don’t belong, that you shouldn’t be here, that you haven’t earned this…
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) August 19, 2024
and then someone come and tells you, ‘You are the best fit for this…How you that make you feel?”
- @Tua describes the… pic.twitter.com/bBHI6IsVlj
Tagovailoa said the more he heard those comments, the more he started to believe it.
"You hear it more and more, you start to actually believe that," Tagovailoa said. "I don't care who you are. You can be the president of the United States. If you have a terrible person that's telling you things that you don't want to hear or that you probably shouldn't be hearing, you're going to start to believe that about yourself."
MORE: NFL Preseason injury tracker | RB depth charts
The Dolphins fired Flores after the 2021 season, but the organization didn't specify whether this was the reason for the change. Flores went 24-25 through three seasons, missing the playoffs in each run.
Flores responded to Tagovailoa's comments on Tuesday, taking the high road and saying he's "genuinely happy" about the Dolphins quarterback's success.
"Player relationships are very important to me. I think that's kind of the foundation of coaching," Flores added, though he didn't go into detail about his relationship with Tagovailoa.
Brian Flores on Tua Tagovailoa: pic.twitter.com/HBu7fxOvRt
— Jordan Dajani (@JordanDajani) August 20, 2024
Miami hired McDaniel ahead of the 2022 season, and it doesn't seem to be a coincidence that Tagovailoa's career began taking off then. The quarterback said it's taken two years to get those negative thoughts out of his system and replace them with McDaniel's positive affirmations.
He said it wasn't just him that had this issue. Other players from his rookie year also had to "train" those thoughts out.
Tua Tagovailoa stats
Tagovailoa has played four NFL seasons up to this point, starting in all but two of his 53 games.
| Year | Team | GP-GS | Comp | Comp% | Passing yards | Passing TDs | INTs |
| 2020 | Dolphins | 10-9 | 186 | 64.1% | 1,814 | 11 | 5 |
| 2021 | Dolphins | 13-12 | 263 | 67.8% | 2,653 | 16 | 10 |
| 2022 | Dolphins | 13-13 | 259 | 64.8% | 3,548 | 25 | 8 |
| 2023 | Dolphins | 17-17 | 388 | 69.3% | 4,624* | 29 | 14 |
*Led NFL