"I'm genuinely happy for the success Tua has had" Vikings DC Brian Flores speaks on controversial comments

When you are a coach, you make a massive impression on every player that comes under your tutelage. Whether good or bad, players will develop an opinion of you. It can also happen in an extreme way and that's what happened with Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores with his former quarterback in Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa.

His words about Flores rang harsh, even going as far as to call him a terrible person .

"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."

Brian Flores addresses Tua Tagovailoa's comments

Ahead of his press conference on Tuesday, Flores came up to the podium with safety Josh Metellus and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips stood behind him and the former had an important statement.

"Just wanted to let y'all know we're behind him," said Metellus.

That kind of message is important, as it can divide a locker room quickly. Flores was asked a lot of in-depth questions about the situation and he took both the high road and also addressed his own shortcomings.

"So I'll address those too specific to the comments that were made by Tua, I just want to say, look, I'm happy, genuinely happy, genuinely, genuinely happy for the success that toast had. And I really wish him nothing but the best.

"And, you know, I think the player relationships are very important to me. I think that's kind of the foundation from coaching. I got into coaching because I was impacted as a young guy, my high school coach, my college coach, my grown away and Pop Warner, I got into coaching because I want to make that same kind of impact, positive impact, pouring into young people help them become, KO (Kevin O'Connell) says all the time, the best versions of themselves.

"That's really my goal, always in coaching. So I wish nothing but the best to Tua and you know, really, more than anything, I'm just focused on the Vikings. 2024 Vikings, the players we have, saw a couple of guys up here just a couple minutes ago to tell us, HP, I think their leadership, their friendship, supporting me and I'm Just, I'm excited about this group."

The comments were well thought-out by Flores and he was complimentary of Tagovailoa. The beat writers pushed him on it and asked him about how he felt about being called a bad person. That answer stood out in a major way.

"I'm human. So, you know, that hit me in a way that wasn't, I wouldn't say was positive for me, but at the same time, I've got to use that and say, 'Hey, how can I how can I grow from that? How can I be better?' And that's really, that's really where I'm at from. From that standpoint, do I feel like that's me, you know, but how can I grow from that situation and create a real world where that's not the case?"

Flores was also asked about if he would be willing to meet with Tagovailoa and clear the air.

"Something I've thought about. And you know, maybe when that, at that time was, you know, arises or is available, I'm certainly open to that. But, you know, I got a lot of other things going on too, as he does, and just really focus on the guys here, and, you know, the work that we're putting in here."

You can't change what's happened in the past, but it sure feels like Flores is trying to learn from his mistakes and be better moving forward. One thing is for certain though. The players have Flores' back.

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