Brian Flores' RESPONSE to Tua's Comments on his coaching style | NFL Reporter Reaction | CBS Sports

on September 8th. Do I suck? That's what Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was asking himself two years ago, when Brian Flores was his head coach, and the confidence was at an all time low. Our NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala, sharing that insight during the broadcast of the Dolphins game against the Texans back in 2022. But Tua himself has hinted at a contentious relationship with his former coach. Now we have a little bit more insight on how he felt going through that in an appearance on the Lebatard show. Tua was candid, saying, quote, 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. How would it make you feel listening to one or the other? Obviously. Tua still holding on to some emotions here as he works through with his new head coach, Mike McDaniel. But today it was Flo's turn to respond. Here's what Brian Flores had to say about it today after practice. You know, specific to, you know, the comments that were made by Tua. I just want to say, look, I'm I'm happy genuinely happy, genuinely, genuinely happy for the success that tool has had, and I really wish him nothing but the best. And, you know, I think, you know, player relationships are very important to me. They I think that's kind of the foundation of coaching. And I got into coaching because, you know, I was impacted as a, as a, as a young guy by my high school coaches, my college coaches, my going all the way 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, you know, as Kyle says all the time, the best versions of themselves, and, you know, that's really my goal always in coaching. So I wish nothing but the best to Tua, an, you know, really, more than anything, I'm just focused on the on the, on the Vikings in 2024 Vikings. The players we have, we saw a couple of guys up here, you know, just a couple minutes ago Mattel and HP. I think you know their leadership, their their friendship is important to me. And I'm just, you know, I'm excited about this group. You see, the relationship the way that he saw the relationship. Did it resonate at all with you? And you saw what he said? You know, I think. I think I think, you know, part of coaching is, is correcting. You know, I'm always going to correct, I'm always going to have a high standard. And I think, you know, look, I've done a lot of reflecting and, you know, on this situation and, you know. Reflecting on the situation, communication. You know, I think there's things that I could do better, for sure. And I've grown in that way, and I've tried to apply the things that I could do better and the things that I've learned, you know, over the last, you know, 2 or 3 years. But I would say over the long haul, I've had a lot of great relationships over my 21 year career here in, in the league, players, coaches, personnel, equipment, you know, people in the kitchen. I mean, really across the board. I've had a lot of great relationships. I'm going to continue to do that. But I'm also always looking to get better and involved. No different than as a coach. Whether it's schematics or personnel or evaluations. I'm always looking to get better. I'm always looking for dialog in meetings with coaches, with players. I don't care what a good idea comes from. You guys have heard me say that and, you know, I'm open to getting better. And that's always the, you know, always my mindset. So the word that he used, the words he used were terrible person. I'm just curious how that get you out. Look, I'm human, so, you know, that hit me in a way that wasn't. I wouldn't say it was, you know, positive for me, but at the same time, I, you know, I've got to use that and say, hey, how can I how can I grow from that? How can I be better, and that's really that's really where I'm at from from that standpoint, do I feel like, you know, that's me? No, but, you know, how can I grow from that situation and create a create a world where that's not, you know, the case that anyone says that about about Brian Flores. Do you feel compelled to try to get with him at some point, or have you tried? And this is going on two years, two and a half years, whatever, like to get this off the topic list? You know, that's something I thought about. And, you know, maybe when that at that time is, you know, arises or is available, I'm certainly open to that. But, you know, I got a lot of other things going on, too, as he does. And again, I'm just really focused on the guys here. And, you know, the work that we're putting in here. And, you know, one thing that you know, you know, as far as feelings and emotions, I think, you know, something like this takes away from the guys here and the work that they're doing. And you know, we've had two games and, you know, went to Cleveland. You know, we're talking about something else, and it's important, you know, but, you know, at the same time, you know, I'm always thinking about our guys and their improvement. And an opportunity for them to get better and for me to kind of shed light on some of the things that they're doing when I get up here and not really be talking about me or situation with me, that's, you know, for me, that's that's in a team sport. I just, you know, I'd rather I'd rather be talking about them than myself. Position gets coached the same or does a quarterback need to have a different. You need to have different relationship based on who that person is in the organization. You know, I think, you know, that's I understand the question. I understand the follow up, but you know, I'm at a point now where I'm really trying to move forward, I'm really trying to focus on the guys here, I'm always trying to learn and grow and evolve, really, in all areas of my life. You know, this is no different. So you know, I think at some point you got to turn the page and think, I'm going to do that. I'm going to do that now. Let's bring in our NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala to discuss. Didi I just want to take us right ther. We've now had a chance to hear from Brian Brian Flores on on his take on all of this. What did you make of his comments regarding Tua today? Well I'll say this. I thought Brian Flores handled that just about as well as he possibly could have. He said he's always looking to grow. He's always looking to be better than he was at something else. He didn't deny anything that Tua said. He didn't fight back. He didn't get defensive. All he just repeatedly said, and I wrote it down. So I don't want to get it wrong. He did say that he's genuinely happy for the success that Tua has had. He said that he wishes him nothing but the best, and he acknowledged that player relationships are absolutely the foundation of coaching, and so he has to feel that he is always analyzing that within himself, moving forward, within himself. The only thing that I thought he said that was maybe a little bit more specific, is that he said part of coaching is indeed correcting, and that he's always going to correct his players and that he's always going to have a high standard. But he's also said that he's done a lot of reflecting since he lost that job in Miami. And I can I can tell you this, and obviously, I feel very strongly about the other side to his side, you know, that I was the first one to sort of report all of that two years ago, after some tremendous conversations with Tua. But Brian Flores was in Pittsburgh for a year. I live in the city of Pittsburgh. Every player I spoke to with the Steelers at the time really enjoyed playing for him. I've been around plenty of players who have played for him. I will say defensive players who have played for him and speak highly of him, and you can see that when he came out for his remarks today, he had two Vikings players with him saying that they were there just to sort of offer support. So there's nothing I can say this there's nothing false in what Tua said. What Tua said happened is indeed what happened. These are things that Tua and head coach Mike McDaniel talked to me and my crew about. Two years ago, but I also think that most of us try to get better from where we once were. And it certainly sounded like that's what Brian Flores was saying right here. Yeah One of the things that I wrote down on my notes as well was him saying, you know, I'm human. And hearing those comments obviously didn't feel good to me. But all I can do to your point is continue to grow and move forward. So it's obviously still, you know, a very raw situation for the both of them. I want to take you back to those conversations that you had with Tua and with Mike McDaniel, because you, even us down here in South Florida, we've seen a change in how Tua approaches the game of football, how he approaches speaking to us in media situations. So take us back into that conversation. What do you remember about Tua in those moments when he was being so open and honest with you? Well, this was Mike McDaniel saying to us that he felt the single most important thing he could do when he first got his hands on Tua was to rebuild him, rebuild his sense of self, rebuild his self-esteem. And I put Haley. I pulled up my notes from two years ago and he said that when he met Tua, he felt, here's a really good player that's been bleeped on. And the stuff he was dealing with me was the stuff that he was dealing with was blowing me away. He said that he comes from a very tough background, and this is kind of what I got on got at with Tua is that he was raised in a very similar way to me, with very strict parents, where everything that you want to do is to please your elders and to feel that people in authority are happy with your effort and what you're doing. And in Brian Flores, he had someone who was very clearly not happy with how he was performing or what he was doing, and didn't unequivocally believe in him. And as you certainly recall, Tua had said to me two years ago that he actually looked himself in the mirror and asked himself, for the first time in his life, do I suck? He had legitimately had self doubt for the first time on the football field, and as I told the story before, Mike McDaniel felt that repairing to a sense of self was the most important thing. He put together a play, a cut up tape of 700 different plays from the previous season, when Tua ostensibly sucked that he felt were really elite throws that showed remarkable vision, and he started playing that tape for Tua and saying, this is great. This is great, this is great, this is great. And then it wasn't just that, it was that Mike McDaniel was telling people in the building how much he believed in Tua and the way he explained that to me two years ago was that it's one thing for me to say it to you, but for you to then know that I'm now tying myself to you, that I'm taking myself across this building and whatever you do, it will reflect on me because I'm saying I believe in you. That just took it to a completely different level. And there's another piece to this, too. When Mike McDaniel hired his quarterbacks coach, he picked a guy, Darrell Bevell, who is honestly one of the nicest humans in the NFL. He doesn't curse. He doesn't drink. He's very, very religious. Tua and Bevell have created this wonderful relationship where they go to each other's houses. Bevell and his daughters have been to Tua's house. They watch movies. Part of that was very strategic on Mike McDaniels part, because he felt that after Tua's experience with Brian Flores, he needed an encourager. He needed someone that was essentially going to be glass half full and build him back up. And Haley, everybody's motivated in different ways, right? I don't you and I have never had this conversation. I don't know if you're a funny person or a vinegar person. I'm a funny person. I like when people tell me I'm good. It makes me better. Tua is like that. Other people, you tell them they're bad and it drives them. Even further. That just wasn't the way to get to Tua, and that's where that relationship with Brian Flores deteriorated. I love that example because and it's important that we have this context in this conversation that, you know, Brian Flores isn't wrong, Tua isn't wrong, right? Wrong. And different. We're just explaining the two sides. So I love you. Then bringing in the honey versus vinegar you know aspect to it because some people are different. I also am a honey person. So I'm right there with you, if we push this, if we push this story forward here, obviously there is no Dolphins. Vikings on the schedule flow even mentioned that, you know, if there was a time for him and Tua to speak this out like he would be happy to, but right now his focus is on the Vikings. From your perspective here, now that everything is out in the open, we've all said what we needed to say here. What's next? What is the relationship look like for those two going forwar? I mean let's be pragmatic here. Does it really necessarily need to look like anything? It's not like Tua is playing for Brian Flores. It's not like this is a relationship that has to be repaired. I appreciate the fact that Brian Flores said he's open to that, but he also said, hey, Tua is really busy with his team right now. I'm really busy with my team right now. I don't know that Brian Flores is rushing to get on the phone with Tua right now because again, Haley, even though Tua did bring this up in an interview on Monday and it's getting a lot of attention. Tua and Mike McDaniel also said this two years ago. This was also part of why Brian Flores was let go in Miami because of the deterioration of the relationship between him and his quarterback, and the fact that he couldn't motivate his quarterback in a way that his quarterback needed to be motivated. So none of this is a news flash. It's just that Tua has gone and said this two years after having said it for the first time in a very big platform. It's gotten a lot of legs. But again, this didn't surprise Brian Flores in content. Maybe just the fact that it's come up now again. Yeah, it's all it's all news at this point. Let's wipe our hands clean of it and move forward. We've all got seasons to worry about. Did we so appreciate you know what Haley? It is it is really interesting because when we assess coaches and we talk about coaches, the best coaches figure out how to motivate different people. Not everybody is motivated. Exactly. The same way. And if you can have a locker room full of 53 guys and find a way to reach each one, then you are truly one of the exceptional coaches in this league. You just got to ask him if there honey or vinegar. That's it. That's the key to all of this. Our Didi Kinkhabwala hopping on HQ with us to break all this down. And Didi, we certainly appreciate it. Well look no Vikings Dolphins this year but we do get Dolphins Jags in week one right here oCBS. Our season begins