Pro Bowl QB exposes Vikings DC Brian Flores’ true colors

When the Minnesota Vikings hired Brian Flores as their defensive coordinator ahead of the 2023 season, it felt like they hit the jackpot. He came in and fixed the defense quickly. After being an abject disaster under Ed Donatell in 2022, Flores led them to the 13th-best total defense and 17th-best scoring defense.

Flores has been incredible for the Vikings in seemingly every way, but his past with the Miami Dolphins continues to haunt him. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa spoke with Dan LeBatard on "The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz" and did not have nice things to say about his time under Flores.

"To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you, you suck at what you did, that you don't belong, that you shouldn't be here, that this guy should be here, that you haven't earned this right, and that you have somebody else come in and tell you, dude, you are the best fit for this. Like, you are accurate. You are the best. Whatever you are this, you are that. Like, how would it make you feel listening to one or the other, you see what I'm saying, and then you hear it. You hear it regardless of what it is, the good or the bad. And you hear it more and more. You start to actually believe that.

"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 that you don't want to hear that, that you probably shouldn't be hearing. You're going to start to believe that about yourself. And so that's sort of like, what, what ended up happening. And it was, I mean, it's been two years of training that out of not just me, but you know, a couple of the guys as well that have you're here since my rookie year, all the way come out."

Tagovailoa's words are harsh toward Flores. While it's very possible they could be 100% true, it's important to note that we only heard one side of the story. Flores comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree where they use a tough, old school approach. That can work for some players but others don't respond well to it.

While a tough approach can work, saying things like "you suck" or "you shouldn't be here" feels like a bridge too far. Now, watching the film and saying "your performance on this play sucks" is a different story.

Flores' time in Miami is marred with a lot of controversy and led to him filing a lawsuit against the Dolphins and the National Football League. Will we see Flores respond? Hard to say, but these comments from Tagovailoa sting.

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