The relationship between Tua Tagovailoa and Brian Flores has taken center stage in recent days after the Dolphins quarterback unleashed a scathing review of his former coach. Tagovailoa characterized Flores as a "terrible person" and ripped him for his critical coaching methods. As for Flores, he has since responded to those comments saying that it "hit me in a way that wasn't positive for me" and noted that he's looking to grow from the situation.
While these comments have certainly sparked the conversation back into the forefront, this is a feud that has been festering for years. How did we get here? Let's take a look back at the relationship between Flores and Tagovailoa up to this recent exchange.
2020: Dolphins draft Tagovailoa No. 5 overall
Miami deployed its fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to select the Alabama product. Even dating before this selection was made, there were questions about Flores' affinity for the quarterback, reportedly being more enamored with then-Oregon signal-caller Justin Herbert. However, GM Chris Grier opted for Tagovailoa, and Herbert came off the board a pick later to the Los Angeles Chargers.
2020: Tagovailoa begins season behind Ryan Fitzpatrick
Despite being medically cleared for the season opener following a collegiate hip injury, Flores named veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick as the team's starting quarterback. Tagovailoa would make a quick debut in Week 6 when he came into Miami's matchup against the New York Jets in the fourth quarter.
2020: Tagovailoa named QB1, but subbed out for Fitz
After the Dolphins' bye week, they officially gave the keys to the offense to Tagovailoa, naming him the starter for their Week 8 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. While this did mark a leap for Tagovailoa on the depth chart, Flores did jockey his quarterbacks around in the coming weeks. Flores put Fitzpatrick back in at quarterback during the fourth quarter of a Week 11 matchup against the Denver Broncos. Flores made a similar move again in Week 16 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
"My thoughts were, whatever was going to be best for the team," Tagovailoa said at the time following the Broncos fourth-quarter benching. "When I was in, we couldn't really get things going and Coach felt like it was the best decision to put 'Fitz' in to give us a spark. When I heard that -- it's really what's best for the team."
2021: The Deshaun Watson pursuit
After just one season together, Flores and the Dolphins seemed ready to pull the plug on Tagovailoa, given their reported interest in trading for then-Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Flores reportedly endorsed Tagovailoa when addressing the team at the time, but the pursuit of Watson certainly did help what was already a splintering relationship.
2022: Dolphins fire Brian Flores
In early January 2022 following the 2021 campaign, the Dolphins made the rather shocking decision to fire Flores after a 9-8 year. That ended a three-year stint with Miami where the coach went 24-25 overall but was 19-14 since the drafting of Tagovailoa.
2022: McDaniel hired, calls Tua on flight to Miami
“My job is to coach you, to get all of that greatness out of you”
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) February 8, 2022
Coach McDaniel 🤝 @Tua pic.twitter.com/QP9QeNmYwk
The first sign that things were going to be different for Tagovailoa under Mike McDaniel was when the new coach called his quarterback from the plane heading down to Miami. In the FaceTime conversation, McDaniel expressed that it is his "job to coach you to get all that greatness out of you."
"We're gonna have an extensive professional relationship, my man," McDaniel told Tagovailoa. "One thing I know about you is, you have the ambition to be great. My job is to coach you to get all that greatness out of you. ... This is an awesome day for me, and I'm damn sure gonna make sure that when you look back on this day, you're gonna be like, 'Damn, that was one of the best days of my career, too.' But I'll earn that from you, you got me?"
As for Tagovailoa, he seemed fired up about the hire from the jump.
"He's telling me how excited he is and that there's no other coach he'd rather play for in the entire world, which I thought was nice since that's the first time I really talked to him," McDaniel said of his conversation with Tagovailoa. "I'm elated. ... It is an unbelievable opportunity for me that I do not plan on wasting in the slightest."
2022: Tua highlights 'good changes' post-Flores
In the months following Flores' firing, Tagovailoa noted the "good changes" Miami had gone through.
"I just feel like there are so many things that have happened. There are a lot of changes, and a lot of good changes, I guess, with the people that we've picked up and the guys that we've acquired as well," Tagovailoa said that April. "The locker room feels different."
One of those changes included the hiring of McDaniel, who he described as "very supportive."
"I think support for any of us as players means a lot," Tagovailoa said. "We understand that the NFL is a tough industry. It's tough to play because you're playing against the best every Sunday. But to be able to have support of the head coach, the head guy, that should tell you a lot."
2022-23: Career breakout under McDaniel
Under McDaniel, Tagovailoa enjoyed a career breakout in the seasons since the firing of Flores. He led the NFL in passer rating in 2022 before going down due to a concussion. Then, he bounced back again in 2023 by leading the league in passing yards with a career-high 4,624 yards through the air. That led to the first Pro Bowl nod of his career.
2024: Tagovailoa rips Flores in interview, coach responds
During a recent appearance on "The Dan LeBetard Show with Stugotz," Tagovailoa ripped his former coach with the headliner being the quarterback characterizing Flores as a "terrible person" and was critical of his coaching methods, particularly in comparison to how he currently deals with McDaniel.
"To put it in the 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," Tagovailoa said, describing Flores' coaching style. "And then you have somebody else come in and tell you, 'Dude, you are the best fit for this. You're accurate. You're the best whatever, you're this, you're that.' How would it make you feel listening to one or the other?"
After those comments went viral, Flores, who is now the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, admits that he took the critiques to heart.
"Look, I'm human," Flores said specifically when asked about Tagovailoa's "terrible person" depiction. "So that hit me in a way that wasn't ... 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 how can I grow from that situation and create a world where that's not the case that anyone says that about Brian Flores?"
