Tua Tagovailoa calls out Brian Flores for tough coaching on Dan LeBatard Show
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Brian Flores is entering his second season as the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, but on Monday was blasted by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Flores was the head coach of the Dolphins in Tagovailoa’s first two seasons, and he didn’t put up the best numbers. In two seasons under Mike McDaniel, Tagovailoa has thrown for more than 8,100 yards, 54 touchdowns and just 22 interceptions. He signed a four-year, $212 million extension in Miami before this season.
Tagovailoa was asked about Flories on the nationally-syndicated Dan LeBatard Show on Monday. He said Flores told him he sucked at what he did, and didn’t belong in the NFL. McDaniel has said the exact opposite.
"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 in the interview. "How would it make you feel listening to one or the other, you see what I'm saying?
Did Tua call Flores a terrible person?
Tagovailoa then adds, "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," Tagovailoa said. "And so that's what sort of ended up happening. It was, it's basically been what two years of training that out of not just me but a couple of guys as well that have been here my rookie year all the way until now."
Flores moves on
The Dolphins fired Flores after the 2021 season. Kevin O’Connell hired him in 2023 to replace Ed Donatell, and the Vikings vastly improved from having one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2022. The Vikings have since done everything they could to bring in defensive talent with ties to Flores.
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell responds
O'Connell responded to the comments before the Vikings practiced on Monday at TCO Performance Center.
"I don’t particularly have a comment on something that took place with another team. I don’t like to comment on comments of other players. But I can just tell you the players Flo works with, he’s got great relationships here. I know you guys 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," O'Connell said. "That’s all I can really comment on and I’d just like to leave it at that."
By the numbers
In Tagovailoa’s first season with McDaniel, he threw for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. That’s despite missing four games with concussions. Last year, he was one of the best passers in the NFL with 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns.
The two have met only once since their split, when Flores was the linebackers’ coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. They didn’t speak after the game.
It’s clear that Flores has an aggressive, tough guy coaching style that clearly didn’t mesh with Tagovailoa, physically or mentally.