NFL analyst suggests Nick Saban may have “altered his approach” with Tua Tagovailoa in wake of Brian Flores criticism
Nick Saban is known as the Bill Belichick of college football. While the New England Patriots head coach was piling up Lombardi Trophies, Saban was piling up college championship trophies. However, Nick Saban had to figure out how to make it work with numerous quarterbacks.
Many analysts assumed that Nick Saban received the best clay to mold in the first place, but one believes Saban may have needed to make a drastic alteration to his own personality to win with Tua Tagovailoa, who criticized his former coach, Brian Flores, this week.
On an August 20 edition of "Pro Football Talk," NFL analyst Mike Florio said that Saban may have altered his approach during his time with Tagovailoa at Crimson Tide to achieve results.
"He did survive Nick Saban at Alabama," Florio said. "So he has been with a coach who has a well-earned reputation for being hard on you, getting pissed, and telling it like it is, but even he knew."
"'How am I going to get the most out of this kid? How am I going to make it work with him?' And he presumably altered his approach because you're not talking about Nick Saban," he added. [00:00:29][28.9] PFT
Florio appeared to indicate that Saban may have softened his approach with Tagovailoa. However, one could also claim that he worked extra hard to mask Tagovailoa's deficiencies. Either way, the credit for Tagovailoa's success at Alabama leans harder on Saban based on Florio's understanding.
Tua Tagovailoa calls Brian Flores "a terrible person."
According to comments made on the "Dan LeBatard Show" on Monday, Tagovailoa went in on Brian Flores, calling him out for coaching him too hard.
Some coaches are more difficult than others, but rarely does a quarterback call their former coach a "terrible person." That is what Tua Tagovailoa called Miami Dolphins head coach Flores in the interview, per CNN.
“And then you hear it and hear it—regardless of what it is, the good or the bad—and you hear it more and more, you start to actually believe that. If you have a terrible person that’s telling you things that you don’t want to hear or probably shouldn’t be hearing, you’re going to start to believe that about yourself," he said.
Exploring Tua Tagovailoa's college decline under Nick Saban
With Tua Tagovailoa potentially hitting a plateau in the NFL, his accomplishments in college find themselves under a new spotlight. Working under Nick Saban, Tagovailoa arrived on the scene with gusto.
As a mere freshman, Tua Tagovailoa played some of his first snaps in a college football championship, replacing Jalen Hurts and winning the game.
Tagovailoa saw a steady decline from 2017 to 2019. After winning it all in 2017, Tagovailoa returned to the college championship but lost. Then, in 2019, he missed the championship altogether.
During the slump, his personal production took a hit as well. In 2019, his touchdown totals dropped from 43 to 33 and he played in six fewer games due to injury. Still, his body of work catapulted him into the NFL at the top of the NFL Draft.
Throughout college and for the first few years of his time with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa was seen as an impressive prospect with an unknown ceiling. However, in 2024, many fans are ready to call out his ceiling and look to other quarterbacks to challenge Patrick Mahomes in the AFC.
Will Tua Tagovailoa reverse the changing tides in public opinion?
If any of the above quotes are used, credit "Pro Football Talk" and H/T Sportskeeda.