Tua Tagovailoa made it clear that he enjoys playing for Mike McDaniel much more than he did for Brian Flores.
After recently signing a four-year contract extension, Tagovailoa said he values McDaniel’s positive coaching approach, especially after experiencing Flores’ negativity during his first two NFL seasons.
“To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you 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 us, you are accurate, you are the best.’
How would it make you feel listening to one or the other?” Tagovailoa said in an interview that aired Monday on “The Dan LeBatard Show”.
Tagovailoa mentioned that the criticism made him feel so bad that he began to believe it. Even though he was the No. 5 draft pick in 2020 and won the starting job, he was taken out twice in the fourth quarter of games for Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The next season, there was speculation that Tagovailoa’s future with the Dolphins was uncertain, with rumors that they were looking to trade for Deshaun Watson.
“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 that you don’t want to hear or that you probably shouldn’t ever hear, you’re going to start to believe that about yourself. And so that’s sort of like what ended up happening,” Tagovailoa said.
The Dolphins fired Flores and brought in McDaniel for the 2022 season. Tagovailoa said it has taken two years to get rid of the negative thoughts. With McDaniel creating strategies to fit Tagovailoa’s abilities, the Dolphins led the NFL with 401 yards per game last season. Tagovailoa threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-high 4,624 yards.
