In the wake of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa candidly speaking about his teammates not taking team meetings seriously, there has been pushback. Tagaovailoa’s former coach, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, is among those weighing in.
Saban spoke about the incident on the Pat McAfee Show on Friday, saying that he was “proud” of Tagovailoa for owning up to his mistakes but said that he was disappointed that he made those comments in the first place. Tagovailoa apologized for speaking about his teammates three days after the postgame comments.
“I was really shocked that Tua did what he did when he threw some guys under the bus,” Saban said. “And maybe they’re not playing the way they should play … but you don’t say that about your teammate. But I really was proud of the way he came back and sort of took accountability for making a mistake.”
On Wednesday, Tagovailoa apologized in an open statement to the media, saying that he had “made a mistake” and that he’d spoken to the team.
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“What happens in-house should be protected. None of that should have gotten out. So I want to publicly apologize about that. I want to move forward,” Tagovailoa said.
Saban isn’t quite ready to do that, though. On Friday, the head coach noted his history as Tagovailoa’s former coach with the Crimson Tide and his own team policy when speaking about the issue. Saban, a seven-time college football national champion, coached Alabama from 2007-2023, and has spent time coaching in the NFL as well.
“One of the things that I always try to tell our players is you never criticize another player,” Saban said. “In my entire coaching career, you never ever saw me criticize one of our players. I think everybody’s gotta take responsibility for what they can control. And if you start worrying about things that you can’t control, that’s gonna start affecting things that you can control.”
It’s notable that most of Saban’s players have been college students, rather than professionals. But the point holds true regardless, as Tagovailoa’s comments put some of Miami’s biggest issues into the open, as the Dolphins struggle with another slow start to the season.
Tagovailoa’s callout came on Sunday, after the Dolphins dropped to 1-5 after a two-point loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The quarterback spoke about the “little things,” implying that some of his teammates (though unnamed) weren’t taking aspects of the team seriously.
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“I think it starts with the leadership in helping articulate that for the guys and then what we’re expecting out of the guys,” Tagovailoa said. “We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late, guys not showing up to player-only meetings. There’s a lot that goes into that.”
Tagovailoa’s teammates and Miami head coach Mike McDaniel did not appreciate their quarterback airing things out publicly. McDaniel told reporters on Monday that Tagovailoa should not have spoken on the issue in front of the media: “That’s not the forum to displace that,” he said.
This isn’t the first time this year that Miami’s interpersonal issues have made their way into the public eye. Tyreek Hill (whose numerous off-field problems were slightly curbed by a gruesome, season-ending knee injury last month) has had to reconnect with the team after publicly expressing his frustrations at the end of last season.
Team culture was reportedly made a priority for the Dolphins this season after last year’s struggles, especially with tardiness. But so far, it does seem like Miami is dealing with many of the same issues — even if some think Tagovailoa should have kept it private.