Former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel spoke honestly about the decline of Tua Tagovailoa during his introductory press conference with the Los Angeles Chargers.
A big reason the Miami Dolphins moved on from Mike McDaniel was directly tied to the decline of Tua Tagovailoa. After multiple injuries, it appeared the signal caller may have been affected in a way that nobody knew in 2025.
Tagovailoa indicated plenty in 2025 that his injuries had nothing to do with his decline during the season, despite not being able to throw the ball downfield in a manner that was worse than his usual non-gun-slinging ways.
Tagovailoa was leading the league with 14 interceptions when he was benched. McDaniel made the ultimate call to bench him in favor of rookie Quinn Ewers.
Though the move at the time seemed to be one that could have saved McDaniel's job, that was not the case. Now, the Dolphins are stuck in a position where they must decide what to do with Tagovailoa.
Considering his multiple concussions and his hip and ankle injuries from college, his steep decline could have been impacted due to all of those injuries piling up, though he denies that.
Either way, McDaniel offered some honesty regarding Tagovailoa's decline during his introductory press conference as the Los Angeles Chargers' offensive coordinator.
"Football is a humbling game, and regardless of how good you are as a coach ... We dealt with some injury issues with Tua the year previous, and I think that it pulled into focus how important the QB is to your overall effectiveness as a coach and as a team," McDaniel said.
Despite what could be perceived as a shot at Tagovailoa, McDaniel offered honesty on the situation. Tagovailoa went from leading the league in passer rating in 2022 with 105.5, to leading in total yardage with 4,624 passing yards in 2023, to leading in completion percentage in 2024 with 72.9.
In 2025, Tagovailoa struggled to get the ball to his receivers, and once Tyreek Hill was injured and lost for the season, the offense lost a lot of its effectiveness.
Now, McDaniel will get to mentor one of the best quarterbacks in the game currently: Justin Herbert.
Should McDaniel transform the Chargers offense into one of the best units in 2026, then the world may see that he was not the problem for the Dolphins team, and having Tagovailoa with his limitations may have played a big part in the team's issues in 2025.