Tua Tagovailoa feeling a new level of support from Mike McDaniel and Dolphins’ staff

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Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa says the support he’s getting this offseason from head coach Mike McDaniel and the rest of the coaching staff is unlike what he has experienced before.

Tagovailoa hosted a Luau to raise money for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Miami, and he praised McDaniel, offensive coordinator Frank Smith and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell for all showing up to something they knew was important to him personally. Tagovailoa added that he hadn’t witnessed such support before.

“To be able to have our OC, my quarterbacks coach, our head coach here in support of this, I’ve never witnessed that,” Tagovailoa told CBS Miami.

In the two years since Tagovailoa was drafted, there have been questions about whether the team was really behind him. He spent much of his rookie season on the bench behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, and much of his second season hearing reports that the Dolphins wanted to trade for Deshaun Watson.

This year, Tagovailoa sounds convinced he has coaches who are on his side.

33 responses to “Tua Tagovailoa feeling a new level of support from Mike McDaniel and Dolphins’ staff

  1. Be careful, Tua. Any more comments like that and Brian Flores lawyers will be in touch.

  2. This is the second high profile minority Dolphjn’s player to come out and speak to the improvement in coaching and culture this off-season.

    It is almost as if Brian Flores just wasn’t that good of a head coach and not simply the victim of discrimination.

  3. I know these guys are relatively young, but this is their job and they are being paid millions. Why the heck do they need to be treated so preciously like children? Tua is going to be a mediocre QB

  4. I’m case anyone was wondering, that was also a clear cut frozen rope right at Flores.

  5. Seems like he’s a needy guy that worries way too much about things not related to his play on the field . Being a QB in the NFL isn’t easy and comes with plenty of second guessing and Tua doesn’t appear to have the thick skin needed to succeed .

  6. Never a good look when a QB starts blaming the coach. Great QB’s win regardless of the coach.

  7. So the guy is needy and blaming his old coach because the new crew showed up to his event, and he appreciated that? Lol. Sounds rather, human, to me.

  8. drgfri says:
    April 12, 2022 at 6:35 am
    I know these guys are relatively young, but this is their job and they are being paid millions. Why the heck do they need to be treated so preciously like children? Tua is going to be a mediocre QB

    shurmanblog says:
    April 12, 2022 at 8:12 am
    Seems like he’s a needy guy that worries way too much about things not related to his play on the field . Being a QB in the NFL isn’t easy and comes with plenty of second guessing and Tua doesn’t appear to have the thick skin needed to succeed .
    ——————————————————-

    There are a lot of tough-guy commenters here who, 1. must be fun at parties, and 2. I seriously hope don’t have kids, let alone a partner who has to put up with this kind of retrograde, adolescent, faux-macho thinking.

    Regardless of how much Tua or any other player gets paid, don’t you think treating them well will improve their performance? Why wouldn’t a team want to support their own players? Appreciating support from the new staff somehow means he’s thin-skinned?

    None of this makes any sense.

    How about accepting that players are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect? Why would it ever be OK to treat them like crap just because they earn a lot of money?

  9. But he has an owner that already tried to get rid of him and replace him with Deshaun Watson and Tom Brady. If Brady doesnt sign an extension with the Bucs, then Ross will try to do exactly what he almost did with Brady in February. If Tua plays well it only increases what the Dolphins will get in return when they trade him in the offseason.

  10. Don’t get too comfortable. If Tom Brady and the owner have any say, TB will be the QB for the Dolphins next year.

  11. And a dolphin beat writer said that McDaniel couldn’t be a good coach cause he wasn’t a leader amongst men. Obviously people don’t understand that this goes a longer way in earning respect than not being approachable, being angry all the time and alienating half the players and half the coaching staff.

  12. Lets see how McDaniel handles Tua’s work from home and emotional support animal requests. Honeymoon may be over quickly…

  13. Flores said, “So the world can think what it wants to think. I think — ask Tua, you know? I’m here to say what I gotta say, and you can ask him. So, I think he’d say the same thing.” (about the relationship being strained)

    Well Brian, they asked him. He didn’t say the same thing.

  14. Did they even have this the past 2 years due to covid? That may be important to the story.

  15. The coaches are certainly behind Tua at this time; Prior to any regular season games being played. Lol It would seem that Tua is blaming Brian Flores for not supporting him more. Tua really needs to look at who was blocking for him. They were offensive linemen recruited by GM Chris Grier. Blaming a good coach like Brian Flores is wrong. Brian got the most out of the Miami personnel!

  16. In reality, if Tua doesn’t perform at a high level this year the coaches as well as the big brothers and big sisters of Miami will all bail on him. at least everyone’s emotional connections are getting stronger going into the pre-season.

  17. promickey says:
    April 12, 2022 at 10:32 am
    The coaches are certainly behind Tua at this time; Prior to any regular season games being played. Lol It would seem that Tua is blaming Brian Flores for not supporting him more. Tua really needs to look at who was blocking for him. They were offensive linemen recruited by GM Chris Grier. Blaming a good coach like Brian Flores is wrong. Brian got the most out of the Miami personnel!
    —————————————————————————————————————-
    Takes over a 7-9 football team that has five first round picks across the next three seasons. The 2021 season, had it ended after game 16, they would’ve been 8-8. Great turn around from a great coach! Right?

  18. PartyonWayne says:
    April 12, 2022 at 8:34 am
    So the guy is needy and blaming his old coach because the new crew showed up to his event, and he appreciated that? Lol. Sounds rather, human, to me.
    ——————————————————————————————–
    The reason is simple , this is just another in a ever growing list of talking about fit , feel and relationships with coaches . Which to me is the very definition of needy .

  19. Well Flores is a defensive coach, I wouldn’t expect him to develop a QB. That’s what a QB coach is for. The new coaching staff should help Tua.

  20. Miami fans claimed after the season that Flores should be coach of the year because of the 7 game win streak. That seems so long ago now.

  21. Now that everyone is on the leadership bandwagon. Just exactly where has that leadership been from the QB?

  22. Idk if anyone has seen tua play in the NFL, but he’s pretty close to being the worst starting NFL QB. Ppls jobs are on the line, he needs to perform up to par, or sit and watch. Plain and simple.

  23. No doubt Flores lawyers will be trying to exclude Tua’s comments from any court hearings!

  24. Pretty telling how many Dolphins players have said how much energy and excitement McDaniel is bringing to the Fins. It’s almost like the last coach rubbed some people wrong during his time there. It’s almost like the Dolphins did make the correct football move by moving on from their former coach. It’s almost like the Dolphins aren’t a racist organization.

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