Tua Tagovailoa Blasts Ex-Patriots Assistant For Coaching Methods

Tua Tagovailoa’s career trajectory took off in his third season, and the Miami Dolphins quarterback attributed that to the head-coaching change.

In fairness to the Pro Bowl QB, NFL fans are very high on Mike McDaniel, especially as a play-caller and leader of his team’s video-game offense. The Dolphins head coach largely has been credited for revitalizing Tagovailoa’s career that didn’t get off to the best start when Brian Flores was on the sideline. It was a time Tagovailoa doesn’t look back fondly on, to say the least.

“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. You are accurate, you are the best whatever, you are this, you are that,'” Tagovailoa said on the “Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” per NFL.com. “How would that make you feel, listening to one or the other? You see what I’m saying?

“And then you hear it and 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 could be the President of the United States. (If) you have a terrible person that’s telling (you) things that you don’t want to hear or probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re gonna start to believe that about yourself. That’s sort of what ended up happening. It’s basically been two years of training that out of, not just me, but a couple of the guys as well that have been here since my rookie year all the way ’til now.”

Tagovailoa’s candid comments about Flores shocked NFL fans and highlighted the differences in styles between the former New England Patriots assistant and McDaniel. There certainly wasn’t any love lost for Flores from Dolphins fans given his uneven record throughout his three-year tenure.