Brian Flores has provided his side of the story after his former player, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa , described him as a “ terrible person .”
Upon taking the podium at Minnesota Vikings’ training camp on Tuesday, the defensive coordinator was accompanied by defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and safety Josh Metellus, who informed those in attendance: "Just wanted to let y'all know we're behind him." Addressing the scathing comments made against him by Tagovailoa, Flores asserted that he has no ill-feelings towards the signal-caller.
"I just want to say I'm genuinely happy for the success that Tua's had and I really wish him nothing but the best," he said. "Player relationships are very important to me. That's kind of the foundation of coaching. I was impacted as a young guy by my high school coach, my college coach. I got into coaching because I want to make that same kind of impact, pour into young people."
On Monday, Tagovailoa sent shockwaves across the NFL after divulging the harsh treatment he received while playing under Flores - who served as Dolphins head coach for three years - during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. “To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you, you sucked 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, you haven’t earned this right,” he said on ‘The Dan LeBatard Show.’
“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 can be the president of the United States, you have a terrible person that’s telling you things you don’t want to hear or things you shouldn’t be hearing, you are going to start to believe that about yourself.”
Rather than clapping back at Tagovailoa’s claims, Flores owned up to his past mistakes, adding that he’s continually working on improving as a coach. “I think, you know, part of coaching is correcting, you know, I’m always gonna correct,” he said. “I’m always gonna have a high standard.
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“I think there’s things that I could do better, for sure. And I’ve grown in that way. And I’ve tried to apply the things that I can do better and the things that I’ve learned over the last 2-3 years.”
Flores conceded that Tagovailoa’s characterization of him as a “terrible person” hurt, but insisted he’d use his comments as a growing experience.
“Look, I’m human,” Flores said. “So, you know, that hit me in a way that wasn’t - I wouldn’t say it was positive for me. But at the same time, I’ve got to use that and say, ‘Hey, how can I grow from that? How can I be better?’ And that’s really where I’m at from that standpoint.
“Do I feel like that’s me? No. But, you know, how can I grow from that situation and create a world where that’s not, you know, the case that anyone says that about Brian Flores.”
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