Mike McDaniel's Relationship With Tua Tagovailoa Speaks to the Power of Positive Coaching

Hall of Fame defensive lineman Henry Jordan, who played for Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, was fond of saying of his head coach, "He treats us all the same — like dogs."

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Lombardi was known to be authoritarian in nature, but he was actually a master motivator who treated his players differently based on their personalities and personal needs. Bart Starr impressed Lombardi when the quarterback stood up to Lombardi following an incident in which Lombardi incorrectly blamed Starr for an interception in practice. Lombardi never ripped Starr again after Starr challenged him not to. Lombardi never yelled at defensive lineman Willie Davis because it would make Davis nervous. But he rode Jerry Kramer something fierce, because it was what Kramer needed to be his best.

The great coaches understand that their players are all different, and must be treated as individuals. Other coaches? Perhaps not so much.

During a recent appearance on the "Dan LeBatard Show", Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa got deep into his relationship with former head coach Brian Flores, who was Tagovailoa's head coach in Tagovailoa's first two NFL seasons — 2020 and 2021.

"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. "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 two years of training that out of not just me but a couple of guys as well that have been here [from] my rookie year all the way until now."

The two years since under head coach Mike McDaniel, who replaced Flores after Flores was fired following the 2021 season, have given Tagovailoa the belief in himself to succeed. In 2022, with McDaniel's brilliant offensive designs to help him, Tagovailoa led the league in yards per attempt (8.9), yards per completion (13.7), and passer rating (105.5) despite several concussions during the season. In 2023, Tagovailoa led the NFL with 4,624 passing yards and made his first Pro Bowl. In July, Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4-million contract extension with $167.171 million guaranteed that made him one of the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks.

"I am 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," McDaniel said Monday, when asked what he did to help Tagovailoa recover from what he went through earlier in his career. "I’m not spending much time patting myself on the back for much, and 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. 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. What does that mean? Today is awesome.”

But later in his press conference, McDaniel spoke to the power of positive coaching.

"I think there are countless [examples] of reporting by people that wouldn’t deserve the title of a reporter necessarily, because of the advent of social media, and there’s a lot of negative in in the world, and a lot of people telling you when you do stuff wrong,: McDaniel said of his own approach. "For me, I think to raise someone’s – to really maximize someone, I think it’s beneficial for someone to be showing them a vision of their greatest self. Quite honestly, it’s something that I’ve drawn [from] my life, and I know if my mother didn’t pitch to me that I was worth something, I don’t know where I’d be. For me, that’s the way that I approach it. I don’t think there’s any absolute way to do anything, but for me to reach players, it’s what’s made sense in my journey. I just stick to myself and what makes sense for me to do my job as I see it for them.”

ESPN's Jeff Darlington, who has been plugged into the Dolphins as a reporter for a long time, confirmed what Tagovailoa said, and that led to a fascinating discussion on ESPN's Tuesday edition of "Get Up."

As for Flores, who is now doing an outstanding job as the Minnesota Vikings' defensive coordinator? Kevin O'Connell, Flores' head coach, addressed the Tagovailoa comments when asked about them on Monday.

"I don't particularly have a comment on something that took place with another team, or I don't like to comment on comments of other players on other teams, but I can just tell you I know that the players Flo works with, he's got great relationships here," O'Connell said.

"He really has. I know [Minnesota reporters] have heard a lot of them talk about how much they enjoy playing for him, and how much I enjoy working with him every day. And that's all I can really comment on, and I'd just like to leave it at that."

An emotional Flores responded to Tagovailoa's comments on Tuesday.

"Specific to the comments that were made by Tua, I just want to say... look. I'm genuinely happy for the success that Tua's had, and I genuinely wish him nothing but the best. Player relationships are very important to me — I think that's the foundation of coaching. I got into coaching because I was impacted as a young guy by my high school and college coaches, going all the way [back] to Pop Warner. I got into coaching because I wanted to make that same kind of impact — to help them become the best versions of themselves. That's really my goal always in coaching.

"I wish nothing for the best for Tua, and really, I'm just focused on the Vikings, the 2024 Vikings, and the players we have."

Flores also said that what happened with Tagovailoa had him thinking about his own process... which is probably a good thing.

"I'm always going to have a high standard. And look... I've done a lot of reflecting on that situation. Reflecting on communication. I think there's things I could do better. For sure, and I've grown in that way. I've tried to do the things I can do better, and the things that I've learned over the last 2-3 years.

"But I would say that over the long haul, I've had a lot of great relationships over my 21-year career in the league. Players, coaches, personnel, equipment, people in the kitchen — really across the board, and I'm going to continue to do that. But I'm also always looking to get better and evolve. No different than as a coach, whether it's schematics or personnel or evaluations, I'm always looking to get better. I'm always looking for dialogue in meetings with coaches and with players. I don't care where a good idea comes from, you guys have heard me say that.

"I'm open to getting better, and that's always my mindset."

No matter the coach, no matter the player, there must be a holistic understanding of how the coach motivates and what the player needs. If there isn't, things will eventually fall apart. It was just as true in Vince Lombardi's day as it's true in Mike McDaniels'.

Related: Tua Tagovailoa is Worth His New Contract, Because Mike McDaniel Thinks He is