Tua Tagovailoa is not the biggest problem the Miami Dolphins have. He is on the list, but he isn't at the top of it. Luckily for the quarterback, there are other areas that cast the shadows over his own problems on the football field.
Many fans are once again coming to his defense, citing the horrible offensive line play, the loss of Tyreek Hill, and Mike McDaniel's play-calling. At some point between now and the start of next season, McDaniel will be gone, Hill will be released, and the Dolphins will have a new head coach who will be tasked with making Tagovailoa better.
In a recent report, Sportskeeda's Tony Pauline shared that if Miami does the inevitable and fires McDaniel, the team may look to replace him with a defensive-minded head coach, which "would allow the Dolphins to bring in a big-name offensive coordinator who can work exclusively with Tua Tagovailoa."
Miami Dolphins really want Tua Tagovailoa to become the player he admittedly can't be
If Pauline's sources are correct and this is the direction Stephen Ross will take, it seems relatively clear that they have learned nothing from watching games over the last six seasons. Tagovailoa, while not the problem, is not the solution.
The quarterback fans watched at Alabama is not the same guy who is standing behind center in Miami. He has become gun-shy. He can't run the ball like he did due to concerns over his hip and the history of concussions. His deep passes in 2025 appear to require too much effort.
On two occasions this year, Tagaovailoa went deep downfield, once to Tyreek Hill and to Jaylen Waddle against the Panthers. On both passes, the receiver needed to stop his route because Tagovailoa couldn't get the ball in front of them.
Why? His hip might be the problem. The Miami quarterback isn't getting the same rotation he has in the past.
Tagovailoa spent the final two games of the 2024 season on the sideline due to the hip injury he sustained last year. He said after the season that it might not get better than what it is. That is a concern.
Circling back to the coaching change that seems inevitable, Tagovailoa will have to learn a new system and scheme. If the Dolphins' executives pressure the next head coach to hire someone to fix Tagovailoa, they are setting that coach up for failure from the start.
Ross has struggled with football hires since he took over the team completely in 2009. Not one single head coaching hire or general manager hire has been viewed as a home run addition, and by the sounds of it, his next hire may not be one either.
As for Tagovailoa, he doesn't need more coaching to fix his problems. He needs to get out of his own mind and play the game at the level he used to, but it doesn't sound like he can do that mentally.
On the field, no amount of coaching is going to change his ability to make deeper reads and move around the pocket.