Tua Tagovailoa (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
It's safe to say that Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's development as a top quarterback is in large part due to the coaching of Mike McDaniel.
It's no secret that Tagovailoa has developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the league under McDaniels' lead. Following McDaniels' hiring prior to the 2022 season, Tagovailoa has led the NFL in passer rating during the 2022 season and passing yards during the 2023 season — culminating in the 26-year-old's first Pro Bowl selection last season.
After averaging just 13.5 touchdowns and 2,234 passing yards per year during his first two seasons with Brian Flores as head coach, Tagovailoa has averaged 27 touchdowns and 4,086 passing yards over the past two years with McDaniels as his head coach. Those monumental leaps led to the Dolphins clinching back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 2001 and Tagovailoa signing a massive four-year, $212.4 million contract extension.
The fifth-year quarterback acknowledges how "key" McDaniels has been in his development as not only a quarterback, but as a person.
"He's been really key," says Tagovailoa of McDaniels' in a one-on-one interview with RG on behalf of his partnership with Perry Ellis. "It's no secret for anyone, you can go three years back when Mike first got here. Just the relationship that I've been able to build with him and a lot of conversations that we've had. Not even just talking about football, starting my life and just being able to roll with each other, I think that's what's helped me grow as a person and then obviously having kids will do that to you. I would say he's definitely been key — for sure — to my growth."
Tagovailoa has been vocal about his criticism of former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores in his coaching style. While the pair enjoyed success together — Tagovailoa went 13-8 during his first two seasons — the veteran quarterback mentioned the negative criticism he received from Flores in comparison to McDaniels' more positive coaching style.
The Pro Bowl quarterback details what makes McDaniels such a good coach and person, mentioning how he empowers the players as the head coach.
"He understands the emotional intelligence aspect of not just the game or life, but just people," says Tagovailoa. "Sort of similar to the saying, 'Treat people how you want to be treated.' Instead, he gets it more to the level of, 'OK, before I react to this, let me try to assume how this guy feels about this and then let me try to take on a whole different mindset of what coaching is. It's OK if I tell this person what to do, but he doesn't feel comfortable. Where do we go from there?' Normally, the coach always has precedent, so we're going to still do it if they're not feeling that. We're not going to do it. If he feels it's the worst play, but the players feel it's the best play, we're going to run it, because he knows the players are going to make it work."
It's clear that Tagovailoa has grown monumentally as a player on and off the field. When asked about the biggest thing he worked on in the offseason, Tagovailoa's answer didn't involve the on-field aspect — he mentioned working on himself mentally.
"I would say I worked on a lot of the mental aspects of things," says Tagovailoa. "Not just the game of football, but the game of life. Everything translates — what goes on at home translates to the field and vice versa. On the field translates at home. And that was one of the biggest things for me. Some other things that we've talked about, me and Mike [McDaniels] and my quarterback's coach, Bev [Darrell Bevell], and what we've wanted to do, come out this season and accomplish what we said we want to accomplish, which is obviously winning a Super Bowl."
Tagovailoa mentions how the Dolphins obviously have to get over the hump of winning a playoff game as they embark on their objective of winning a Super Bowl. Miami currently has the longest winless drought in the playoffs, having not won a playoff game since the 2000 season. One of the players that figures to play a key role in helping them get over the hump is Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Although the veteran receiver has been sidelined and will miss the first four games due to an undisclosed injury, he figures to play the No. 3 receiver role behind star wideouts, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. On paper, the Dolphins have arguably the most accomplished receiving trio in the NFL, with Hill being named the top player in the NFL and Waddle coming off of three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.
"It's very much insane," says Tagovailoa, about how stacked the Dolphins' receiving core is. "Then you start to think about the speed, like OBJ is fast. But then you think of Tyreek and Waddle, they can book it."
Tagovailoa mentions how much of an impact Beckham will have once he's healthy and able to catch passes from the Dolphins' franchise quarterback.
Tagovailoa explains that the biggest difference between the Tua of his rookie season in 2020 and the veteran QB entering his fifth season is his development as a human being, once again preaching the mental aspect.
"He was wife-less and didn't have two kids," says Tagovailoa. "It's one of those things where I wish I knew what I know now. You need to go through all these in order to see the end of it or see whatever is on the other side. You have to go through everything in between. You're continuing to grow every time, whether that's good or whether that's bad— you're continuing to do that. For me, that's my development and my continued development as a human being — as a player, as a father, as a husband, absolutely keep evolving as a person and as a player."
DJ Siddiqi is a sports reporter who focuses on football, basketball and pro wrestling. He has covered some of the biggest sporting events, including the NBA Finals and Wrestlemania and often interviews high-profile athletes on a weekly basis. Siddiqi has interviewed the likes of Dan Marino, Emmitt Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, Tony Hawk and Giannis Antetokounmpo. His previous experience includes working as a lead NBA writer at CBS Sports and 247 Sports in addition to working as a beat reporter covering the NFL and the Denver Broncos at Bleacher Report. Follow Siddiqi for exclusive one-on-one interviews and analysis on key topics in sports
