Tua Tagovailoa didn’t hold back when asked to describe the difference between having a coach who believes in him compared with one who didn’t.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback has flourished in two seasons under Mike McDaniel, so much so that Tagovailoa was rewarded this offseason with a four-year, $212.4 million extension. He had a far different experience under Brian Flores, his coach for the first two seasons of his career.
In an interview with “The Dan LeBatard Show” that aired Monday, Tagovailoa said that he began to believe he didn’t belong as an NFL quarterback under Flores and that McDaniel has had to train that out of him the past two seasons.
“To put it in simplest terms, 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, 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,'” he said in the interview. “How would it make you feel listening to one or the other, you see what I’m saying?
“And then you hear it, no matter what it is, the good or the bad, you hear it more and more, you start to believe that. I don’t care who you are. You could be the president of the United States, you have a terrible person telling you things that you don’t want to hear or probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re going to start believing that about yourself. And so that’s what sort of ended up happening. It was, it’s basically been what two years of training that out of not just me but a couple of guys as well that have been here my rookie year all the way until now.”
During his rookie season in 2020, Tagovailoa was replaced twice in the fourth quarter of games by veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. Then, in 2021, there was speculation the Dolphins were interested in trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
The Dolphins fired Flores after the 2021 season, replacing him with McDaniel in 2022.
In his first season under McDaniel, Tagovailoa threw for 3,548 yards and 25 touchdowns despite missing four games due to multiple concussions. Last season, he led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards, threw for a career-best 29 touchdowns and earned his first Pro Bowl selection.
“I think for me, especially right now, I’m so laser focused into what this locker room needs and this particular set of circumstances that it’s hard for me to kind of really appropriately assess that it feels like, I think it almost — I’m not spending much time patting myself on the back for much,” McDaniel said Monday.
“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, and the inherent growth that they’ve already had. I’m just really focused on pushing guys to be their best selves or the best version of themselves and reach new heights, and that’s got me plenty occupied. I don’t really have time to reflect like that. So, what does that mean? Today’s awesome.”
Tagovailoa has largely declined to comment on the nature of his relationship with Flores since the former head coach was fired in January 2022. Three months after Flores was fired, the quarterback was asked specifically what he would consider their relationship to be.
“You could be the president of the United States, you have a terrible person telling you things that you don’t want to hear or probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re going to start believing that about yourself. And so that’s what sort of ended up happening.”
Tua Tagovailoa, on his experience with Brian Flores
“That’s a big question,” Tagovailoa said. “Well, I’ll tell you this. I’m very thankful that he drafted me to come here to play for the Miami Dolphins. That’s what I’d say.”
The Dolphins have faced Flores only once since his departure — a 16-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022 when Flores was the Steelers’ linebackers coach.
After that game, Tagovailoa was asked whether he spoke to Flores; his answer was terse.
“Nope,” he responded.
When McDaniel was hired in March 2022, he showed Tagovailoa a 700-play highlight reel of what he believed the quarterback did well. McDaniel’s insistence that he could succeed with Tagovailoa was also an integral part of his hiring process.
While Tagovailoa’s first three years in the league were marred by roster and staff turnover, the past three have been rooted in continuity. Since McDaniel’s hiring, the Dolphins have employed the same head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach — marking the only time Tagovailoa has played consecutive years in the same system at any point of his professional or collegiate career.
Flores is entering his second season as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator.
ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this report.
