Vikings DC Brian Flores responds to Tua Tagovailoa’s harsh criticism
Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has responded to Tua Tagovailoa‘s scathing criticism of his coaching style while he was head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Flores, who coached Tagovailoa in 2020-21, said he wishes “nothing but the best” for the Dolphins quarterback, emphasizing the importance of building relationships with his players.
“Specific to the comments that were made by Tua, I just wanna say look — I’m genuinely happy for the success that Tua has had. And I really wish him nothing but the best,” Flores said Tuesday, via Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports. “Player relationships are very important to me. I think that’s kind of the foundation to coaching. And I got into coaching because I was impacted as a young guy by my high school coaches. My college coaches, going all the way up to pop warner.
“I got into coaching because I want to make that same kind of impact, positive impact. Pour into young people, help them become as KO [Kevin O’Connell] says all the time, the best version of themselves. That’s really my goal always in coaching. So, I wish nothing but the best to Tua. Really more than anything, I’m just focused on the 2024 Vikings, the players we have.”
Tua Tagovailoa blasts Brian Flores in interview
In an interview with Dan Le Batard, Tagovailoa railed against Flores when asked for the difference between him and current head coach Mike McDaniel. Tagovailoa said he took issue with Flores constantly telling him, “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.”
“Well, 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 this. You are accurate, are the best whatever. You are this, you are that.’ Like, how would that make you feel listening to one or the other?” Tagovailoa said.
Tagovailoa went on to refer to Flores as a “terrible person.”
“You hear it, regardless of what it is, the good or the bad. And you hear it more and more and you start to actually believe that. I don’t care who you are. You could be the president of the United States,” Tagovailoa said. “If you have a terrible person who’s telling you things that you don’t want to hear. Or that you probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re going to start to believe that about yourself.”
Brian Flores, Tua Tagovailoa still going strong in NFL
The Dolphins went 24-25 under Flores, including back-to-back winning seasons in 2020 and ’21. Flores was unceremoniously fired after a 9-8 campaign in 2021, Tagovailoa’s second season in the league. He subsequently filed a lawsuit against the NFL, as well as the Dolphins and two other teams, alleging racial discrimination. He landed on his feet in Pittsburgh in 2022 as a senior defensive analyst before joining the Vikings ahead of last season.
Tagovailoa had the best year of his career in 2023 under McDaniel, leading the NFL in passing with 4,624 yards. He completed better than 69 percent of his passes last season, a career high, throwing for 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
He signed a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension with $167.1 million guaranteed earlier this offseason.