Vikings coach thrown under giant bus by Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa

Before he was hired to be the new Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator during the 2023 offseason, Brian Flores spent three years as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021. Flores was fired by the Dolphins following the 2021 season, and after his departure, rumors about him having a poor relationship with Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa began to spread.

Plenty of time has passed since then, but in a recent interview with Meadowlark Media's Dan Le Batard, Tagovailoa compared his time with Flores to his relationship with current Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.

"To put it in simplist terms. If you woke up every morning and I told you, 'You suck at what you did. You don't belong doing what you do. You shouldn't be here. This guy should be here. 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, you are the best whatever, you are this, you are that.' How would it make you feel listening to one or the other?

...I don't care who you are. You could 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 be hearing; you're going to start to believe that about yourself. So that's sort of what ended up happening."

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has a different view of his past relationship with Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa

Tagovailoa certainly didn't hold back about Flores in his recent conversation with Le Batard. Some might have avoided dwelling on events that potentially took place more than two years ago, but the Miami quarterback still clearly has a problem with the way in which he believes he was treated by Flores.

Of course, there are always two sides to a story, and back during an interview with the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast in 2022, Minnesota's defensive coordinator talked about the relationship he had with Tagovailoa from his point of view.

"This is an interesting topic because [the relationship] wasn't strained. We had a good relationship. It was a player/coach relationship, and I think in a relationship like that, the coach challenges the player, and oftentimes the player challenges the coach.

I think there was a great deal of respect between the two of us. So, you hear these crazy, kinda, this narrative that's out there, but this is a young man who works, who developed and got better over two years, and I think he's got a bright future. I wish him all the best."

People can believe whoever they want to believe, but there is clear evidence to support both sides of the argument.

During Flores' tenure with the Dolphins, the team had a 24-25 record, which included a 10-win season in 2020 when Miami fell just short of earning a spot in the playoffs.

In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Dolphins selected Tagovailoa with the fifth overall pick, and during his two years with Flores as his head coach, the young quarterback went 13-8 as a starter.

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