MIAMI — Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores acknowledged Tuesday he was stung by the sharp criticism of his coaching style from Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's recent public assessment of their time together with the Dolphins.
Responding to remarks Tagovailoa made in an interview that aired Monday, Flores wished his former player well and expressed his pleasure in the success the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft has had.
"I'm genuinely happy for the success that Tua has had, and I really wish him nothing but the best," Flores said. "I think player relationships are very important to me. I think that’s kind of the foundation of coaching. I got into coaching because I was impacted as a young guy by my high school coaches, my college coaches, even going all the way back to Pop Warner. I got into coaching because I want to make that same type of positive impact."
Flores said he has reflected on his time as head coach of the Dolphins from 2019-21 and believes he has learned ways to be better as a leader. But he also said he has long valued building relationships and is confident he's had many players and colleagues who trust and appreciate him.
"Part of coaching is correcting — I'm always going to correct. I'm always going to have a high standard," Flores said. "I've done a lot of reflecting on the situation and communication — I think there are things that I could do better, for sure, and I've grown in that way, and I've tried to apply the things I can do better and the things that I've learned."
Tagovailoa said on “The Dan LeBatard Show” that he has much preferred playing for current Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel because of how Flores treated him and how the experience eroded his self-esteem.
"I don’t care who you are. You can 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 ever hear, you’re going to start to believe that about yourself, and so that’s sort of like what ended up happening,” Tagovailoa said.
Tagovailoa, who signed a four-year contract extension last month to solidify himself as the face of the franchise for Miami for the foreseeable future, said he has taken two years to train the negative thoughts out of his head.
Before Flores addressed reporters at his regularly scheduled news conference, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and safety Josh Metellus briefly stood with him at the lectern in a show of solidarity.
“Just letting him know we're behind him,” Metellus said.
Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell touched on the issue during his press conference Monday, and while he said he didn't want to comment on situations with other teams, he spoke highly about the relationships Flores has had with his players since joining the team last offseason.
"The players (Flores) works with, he's got great relationships here. He really has," O'Connell said. "(You've) heard a lot of (the players) talk about how much they enjoy playing for him and how much I enjoy working with him every day, that's all I can really comment on."