For those wondering how tough things were for Tua Tagovailoa while working with former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, well, you certainly don't have to wonder any more.
The Dolphins' 212.4-million-dollar man joined the Dan LeBatard Show on Monday morning, and he was asked about the difference in having a coach who believes in him in Mike McDaniel versus a coach like Flores.
"To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you you sucked at what you did, 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, you see what I'm saying? 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.
"I don't care who you are. You could bet the president of the United States. 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. So that's sort of like what ended up happening. It's basically been, what, two years of training that out of not just me, but a couple of the guys that have been here since my rookie year all the way until now."
Wow. That's called taking the gloves off.
Tagovailoa made his feelings about his former head coach aware last year, when Austin Jackson signed his contract extension. Jackson, who was also drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft with Tagovailoa, was someone else that Tagovailoa hinted at was dealing with Flores' allegedly acrimonious coaching style .
If what Tagovailoa is saying is true - and there's no reason to think it isn't - that's pretty much the worst approach a coach could take with a player, especially a young one. There's tough love, and then there's being a jerk just to be one. Telling a player they suck and that they don't belong doing what they do is certainly old school. That's something you might expect to see from Bill Parcells.
Except Bill Parcells has rings he can flash in your face as a Super Bowl-winning head coach. Flores, despite coaching under Bill Belichick for a decade, never personally had that same basis to be able to come at players like that.
Whatever the case may be, Tagovailoa clearly has flourished under McDaniel. Both his offensive system and the way he's treated by his coach.
And no, in case you're wondering, the Vikings, for whom Flores is defensive coordinator, are not on the Dolphins' schedule for 2024. That grudge match won't take place until 2026 in Minneapolis.
Might as well bring out the steel cage for that one, because it's clearly going to be personal for at least one of those two men.
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