‘First time I heard Tua’s Hawaiian accent.’ Behind the halftime speech that led to Fins’ 20-17 win

The Miami Dolphins didn’t get off to the ideal start.

Down 17-7 to the Jacksonville Jaguars at halftime, the team looked sluggish. The fast starts that the Dolphins are used to – they pride themselves on being the speediest team in football, after all — just wasn’t there. Somebody needed to step up. Address the team. Call out the lack of effort.

Enter Tua Tagovailoa.

“The thing that really motivated me the most was when we came in during halftime and this was the first time I heard Tua’s Hawaiian accent,” Tyreek Hill said after Sunday’s 20-17 win. “Like it was crazy. He like was turned up and animated in the locker room. I’m like ‘OK I’m liking this.’ He was going and I was like ‘Yeah, let’s go man!’ He called me out. [Jaylen Waddle]. [Terron Armstead]. I’m like ‘Yo, I’m loving this!’”

Added Hill: “I love accountability.”

For weeks, the Dolphins’ offensive players have raved about how Tagovailoa has become more vocal in 2024. That was clearly on full display as the Dolphins found themselves down 10 at halftime. And while the contents of the speech are unknown, it definitely had an effect on the team as the Dolphins would go on to score 13 unanswered points to win the game.

“It was cool moment because it was genuine and not anything but constructive,” coach Mike McDaniel said. He explained that most of what Tagovailoa addressed had to do with the “just executing the nuances” of the offense and that he was happy to see his quarterback “constructively lead.” “It was let’s adhere to our standard which is what a captain and a franchise quarterback have to be that voice.”

Tagovailoa, however, downplayed his involvement, simply saying that he addressed adjustments “to the entire offense with the coaches included.”

“There was just a lot of minutia for a lot of us because there’s a lot of personnel that guys got to hear, who’s who, who’s what, who’s where,” said Tagovailoa who completed roughly 62 percent of his passes for 338 yards and a touchdown. “It’s just calling it fast and then they got to go out and lineup and we only have 10 seconds to do all these motions.”

Sunday’s halftime speech was just the latest example of Tagovailoa’s newfound confidence in 2024. Fresh from signing a $212 million contract extension early in training camp, the fifth-year quarterback has certainly taken ownership of the offense. Throw in the presence of McDaniel, who has been Tagovailoa’s biggest supporter since day one, and the quarterback’s growing leadership ability make sense.

“He has a vision for this offense, he has a vision for himself, and to have the confidence to go out and say that and speak it and have great conversations, great communication — it’s not just the huddle,” Alec Ingold said Monday. “It’s the locker room. It’s the training room. It’s the weight room.”

Hill even joked that he’d wish Tagovailoa would “shut up now.”

“He’s more vocal in the huddle, he’s more vocal in the locker room, he’s vocal everywhere,” Hill said Monday.

Tagovailoa explained the change earlier in the week.

“A lot of the guys know who I am off the field,” Tagovailoa said Wednesday afternoon, later adding that he is now “feeling more comfortable bringing my personality onto the playing field.”

“You know when a team believes in their quarterback,” McDaniel said that same day. He later added that Tagovailoa’s teammates “can feel his confidence level.” “It’s just real.”

The result was that Tagovailoa accomplished something that he has never done before: beat Trevor Lawrence , who bested him in the 2019 College Football Playoff Championship and during a 2021 regular season game when the two faced off as pros for the first time. And while Tagovailoa didn’t want to make Sunday’s game about him and Lawrence (“I’m not playing him,” the Dolphins quarterback said Wednesday. “He doesn’t play defense.”), to the start the season with a win, especially when they played the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, has to feel good.

“I think it’s a morale booster for the team because it’s a new team,” Tagovailoa said Sunday. “There’s a lot of new guys, a lot of new fits with what we’ve got guys doing on the defense. We’re in our third year in this offense. We’re trying to see what else or what better we can do with this offense and whatnot. I would definitely say it’s a big morale booster.”