As red-hot as the Miami Dolphins have been under head coach Mike McDaniel, the previous head coaching regime has come more into the light in recent days.
First, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa described how his first NFL head coach, Brian Flores, put him in awkward positions of leadership. Now, former Dolphins linebacker Kyle Van Noy described some internal unrest within the organization when Flores and general manager Chris Grier were together.
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Kyle Van Noy Describes His Time With the Miami Dolphins
Speaking on The Punch Line Podcast hosted by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, released on Wednesday, Van Noy used a strong description to detail his time in South Beach while Flores was head coach and Grier was in the facility.
“I believe I was just in the middle of a civil war, they called it, between the GM and the head coach,” Van Noy told Humphrey. “And by that, by going on, the power struggle is that you don’t see behind closed doors.”
MORE: Tua Tagovailoa Nails the Difference Between Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel
As Van Noy verbally illustrated it, Grier and Flores didn’t see eye-to-eye when it came to adding talent to the ‘Fins.
“And it was kind of him like, ‘Oh, this was your guy.’ Well, you know, see ya,” Van Noy said.
Van Noy Addresses Rumors of Him Being a Bad Teammate
Van Noy wasn’t through describing the friction from his time with Miami.
The next story he addressed centered on him and the rumblings that he wasn’t getting along with Tagovailoa.
“Another thing down there that happened was some players were talking to the media about Tua … and a lot of people thought it was me,” Van Noy explained. “But, people don’t know this — me and Tua are close. Like, I know Tua. And, like, for me to go to one of the beat writers seems crazy to me.”
Van Noy felt that he was painted as someone feeding the wrong kind of statements to the local media around the Dolphins.
“I know some players, that’s what they do. I think it’s crazy to do that in general,” Van Noy said. “But it’s not something I would do.”
Kyle Van Noy on why he was cut by the Dolphins after signing a 4YR/$51M contract and being named captain pic.twitter.com/QCTHNfWbjH
— Punch Line Podcast (@punchlinepod44) October 25, 2023
Van Noy put it bluntly on his end in looking back at that experience.
“That kind of pissed me off that some people started that rumor,” he said.
Flores, though, returned to the topic of conversation for Van Noy.
“And then, after I got cut, they asked me about Brian Flores. And then literally, like two hours after that, someone sent me a news article that came out saying that I was a bad captain, I was a bad teammate — you know, x, y, and z. And I was just them trying to, like, cover themselves of why they cut me, I guess.”
Van Noy Joins Tua Tagovailoa in Helping Address Flores Regime
Again, this is the second time in a week Flores’ name has resurfaced as a topic of conversation involving the Dolphins.
Tagovailoa described himself as needing to be a “yes-man” type for Flores during the quarterback’s interview with Michael Smith of NBC Sports that aired Saturday. He described the experience as Flores trying to get his quarterback to lead in ways that, by Tagovailoa’s admission, made him feel uncomfortable, yet he tried to abide by it.
“It is challenging, but I think as I’ve grown up to play football, it’s always, ‘Yessir, no sir,’ or if you feel like talking back, it’s, ‘Coach me, Coach,’ kind of deal,” Tagovailoa said to Smith.
He added: “As I’ve gone from high school to college, I’ve always taught to respect your elders. Whatever they tell you, that’s what you should do. Like, ‘You should get on this guy like that.’ And I’d be like, ‘Man, that’s not how I would normally do it.’”
