How QB Tua Tagovailoa became leader Miami Dolphins need

FOR TWO QUARTERS, the Miami Dolphins’ offense looked nothing like itself on Sunday.

Trailing the Jacksonville Jaguars 17-7 heading into the break, the unit — which finished No. 1 in total offense and No. 2 in scoring last season — had managed seven points and 160 yards in a sluggish performance marred by empty drives and boos from the Hard Rock Stadium crowd.

Something needed to change at halftime; quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made sure of it.

Addressing his teammates in the home locker room, the once-quiet, fifth-year quarterback tore into the offense — calling out veterans Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Terron Armstead among others — and demanded that they play to the high standards the unit had set the previous season.

“For my quarterback to call me out in front of the whole offense like that, I had to step up,” said Hill, who caught an 80-yard touchdown in the second half, after the game. “I had to do my thing. I like that in a leader.”

Tagovailoa’s fiery speech worked. The Dolphins finished with 400 yards and beat Jacksonville 20-17 on a walk-off field goal. It was also the latest example of Tagovailoa’s improved leadership. His teammates say he has been more vocal on and off the field. While he has always possessed a natural charisma, his confidence has been restored since the arrival of coach Mike McDaniel in 2022. Tagovailoa’s increased mastery of McDaniel’s offense gives him the agency to speak up and direct a Dolphins team eager to win its first playoff game since 2000.

Miami has been to the postseason five times without a win in 24 years and hasn’t won its division in 16 years. After racing to a 9-3 start in 2023, the Dolphins lost four of their final six games, including a lackluster 26-7 wild-card defeat at the Kansas City Chiefs to end the season.

In July, Miami showed faith in Tagovailoa to get the Dolphins over the hump, signing him to a four-year, $212.1 million extension that made him the highest-paid player in franchise history. Along with the outlay came increased expectations to lead the team on a deep playoff run, beginning with this season, which will continue Thursday against the Buffalo Bills (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

It’s a responsibility Tagovailoa has embraced.

“Heavy is the crown, whoever’s wearing that,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m the highest-paid employee in this office. I’ve got to get my whatever together, I’ve got to get that right and get our guys moving in the direction that we need to go, to be able to do those things.”

HILL JOKED PRIOR to the start of the season that Tagovailoa might have become too vocal this year.

“He’s more vocal in the huddle, he’s more vocal in the locker room, he’s vocal everywhere,” Hill said. “Like everywhere I walk inside of this building you’re going to hear Tua’s mouth like to the point where I’m like, ‘I wish you’d shut up now.'”

It hasn’t always been like that.

Tagovailoa said he didn’t feel empowered during his first two years in the NFL, which coincided with former coach Brian Flores’ tenure with the Dolphins. His two seasons with McDaniel have been the opposite.

During an interview with “The Dan Le Batard Show” in August, Tagovailoa described the differences between Flores’ and McDaniel’s coaching styles.

“To put it in simplest terms, if you woke up every morning and I told you [that] 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,'” he said in the interview, “how would it make you feel listening to one or the other?

“You start to believe that. And so that’s what sort of ended up happening. It’s basically been two years of training that out.”

McDaniel was hired one month after Flores was fired. One of his first priorities was to build Tagovailoa’s confidence, which included showing his QB a 700-play highlight tape showcasing the qualities that made him a good fit for McDaniel’s offense. As Tagovailoa’s confidence grew, so did his production. Since 2022, he ranks fourth in the NFL in passing yards, fifth in passing touchdowns and third in expected points added.

Tagovailoa also began to speak up, gradually improving each year before blossoming this offseason.

“When he was young, [he was] more of a lead-by-example guy, but I think he’s just gotten so comfortable in the last couple years, and there’s a lot of factors that go into that,” Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe said. “In this game, if you’re playing really well in terms of your standards, it’s easy to be confident and comfortable. And obviously these last two seasons, he’s played very well. … When you’re doing that … you can say what you want to say, you can be yourself around the guys.”

Dolphins offensive players say Tagovailoa also became more assertive this offseason, spearheading off-field hangouts to build chemistry.

According to Hill, who joined the Dolphins in 2022, there has been a clear difference between Tua then and now. Tagovailoa has taken greater command of and responsibility for the offense, making sure to gather his teammates after each play to discuss what he saw.

“When I first came in here, we’d run a play and then it’d be like, ‘Where’s Tua at? I need to talk to him about this play.’ Versus now, he’s coming to find you. It’s a beautiful thing to see.

“The same thing that [Patrick Mahomes] used to do back in KC making sure that guys see it the same as him. It’s great.”

TAGOVAILOA ADMITS HE has shown a different side of himself on the field this year, but says the leadership qualities have always been inside him.

“A lot of the guys know who I am off the field. Just on the field, it’s just, I guess, coming out now,” he said. “That’s just what it is. I guess feeling more comfortable bringing my own personality onto the playing field … bringing my own personality into playing the game of football.”

McDaniel thinks Tagovailoa’s leadership qualities go even deeper. He says his quarterback possesses an innate charisma that causes people to gravitate toward him, which is buoyed by his authenticity and production on the field.

“There are certain guys that have an it factor with large groups, especially teams,” McDaniel said. “There’s ways to measure energy waves, and the strongest energy wave you can give off is authenticity. So I think that’s what people feel and that’s why people follow, is not only do they like and believe in him, believe in his skills and his ability to lead them to places they haven’t been, but they also trust it.”

Tagovailoa acknowledged McDaniel’s assertion of having an “it factor,” saying it’s something he has felt since he was young.

“I’ve had the it factor since I was in high school, then going into college, and then coming here,” he said. “That’s how I’ve always viewed myself as — going out and competing. Yeah, very, very nice, very cool, calm, collected, but inside just very competitive. So a lot of the guys know how I am and whatnot, but I guess it’s just now showing that I’m becoming a little more vocal.”

Tagovailoa’s natural charisma combined with his willingness to speak up more is why teammates say his halftime speech against the Jaguars was so well received.

Armstead commended Tagovailoa for standing up and addressing the team. He said his readiness to challenge and call out veteran players — and even coaches — helped establish a sense of urgency that sparked the second-half comeback.

From a coach’s perspective, McDaniel appreciated Tagovailoa essentially taking the words out of his mouth. He called the address to the team “genuine” and “constructive.”

“There were details that led to execution in terms of how we are organized and communicate.” McDaniel said “I guess at the time, he definitely felt that there were several guys that were loose there. I couldn’t deny that at all and was really pumped to hear him constructively lead. It wasn’t, ‘Let’s win,’ or ‘Let’s make plays.’ It was, ‘Let’s adhere to our standard,’ which is what a captain and a franchise quarterback have to be — that voice to echo.”

For Tagovailoa, who finished the afternoon with 338 passing yards and a touchdown, the motivation to speak up was simple: He wanted to help his team win.

“It was just one of those deals where we just needed to get our head out of our ass,” he said. “We got punched in the mouth. That’s what you get. How are you going to respond?”

If the Dolphins fail to meet expectations in 2024, it likely won’t be for a lack of accountability — especially from Tagovailoa.

“I think you see [the change in Tagovailoa], it’s just infectious right now. It’s spreading throughout the entire locker room in the best way possible,” fullback Alec Ingold said. “The results on the field were one thing last year, but the way he’s leading this locker room on and off the field is something completely different now.”