In Super Bowl III on Jan. 12, 1969, the New York Jets of the AFL then defeated the Baltimore, now Indianapolis Colts of the NFL 16-7. The for the head coach of the Colts at that time, it served as a footnote to all the winning he did after that, especially as the leader of NFL squad from South Florida. Along with the winning he brought a swagger that resides in South Beach to this very day. A swagger that was dampened by his passing at the start of this week.
On Monday morning, Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula, who is well known for the success he had with Miami Dolphins for 26 seasons died at his home in Indian Creek, FL at age 90 and is survived by his wife Mary Anne Stephens of 26 years and his five children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne, and Mike with his first wife Dorothy, who died from breast cancer on Feb. 25, 1991.
Shula in 33 seasons as head coach of the first the Colts (1963-69) and then the Dolphins (1970-95) compiled a total of 347 wins (regular season and playoffs), ranking No. 1 all-time amongst NFL head coaches. He has just two losing seasons in those 33 years, which included the famed perfect 17-0 mark in 1972, the only perfect season in NFL history and it was one of two times Shula’s Dolphins were Super Bowl Champions in six tries. The career resume also includes four NFL Coach of the Year Awards; being named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1993 and to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019 and being inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton, OH in 1997.
Shula became the NFL’s all-time leader in head coaching victories in 1993 surpassing the legendary George Halas’s record of 324 wins, compiling a combined record (regular season and playoffs) of 347-173-6.
“Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years. Shula put the team, (the) city of Miami in national sports scene” the team said in a statement on Monday. “He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami in the national sports scene. Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Anne along with his children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne and Mike.”
“Whether it was his force of will, his organization, his work ethic, sense of integrity or his total focus on winning
What allowed Coach Shula to compile such an amazing record in his illustrious career on the NFL sidelines was his ability to adapt while maintaining his established reputation as an old-school coach, where his sideline demeanor of his stoic stance and his arms folded. His thumb and index finger that framed his chiseled jaw as he peered the field seeing his teams dominate whether it was in the 1970s where their offense was predicated on running the football and playing great defense or in the 1980s where they mainly an offensive team that three the football all over the field with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino pulling the trigger.
To put into context how great Coach Shula was, he coached five different quarterbacks-Hall of Famers in the aforementioned Marino, Johnny Unitas and Bob Griese, and David Woodley and Earl Morrall. Only Hall of Fame head coach of the Washington Redskins came close to that distinction coaching four Super Bowls with three different offensive signal callers (Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien), winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy three times (Super Bowl XVII, XXII, and XXVI)
Born on Jan. 4, 1930 in Grand River, OH one of seven kids, Shula football journey began at Harvey High School in Painesville, OH as a halfback in the school’s single-wing offense.
After graduation from high school, Shula attended John Carroll University, a private Jesuit school in University Heights, OH.
Shula graduated from the institution in 1951 with a degree in sociology, with a minor in mathematics and was drafted in the ninth round of that year’s draft, where he and his teammate from college Carl Taseff, who would become his assistant with the Dolphins for 23 years made the team as the only two rookies. Shula played defensive back alongside four-time Second-Team All-Pro Warren Lahr and Pro Bowler Tommy James.
In eight total NFL seasons with the Browns (1951-52), Colts (1953-56), and Redskins (1957), Shula had 21 career interceptions.
He really made his bones in the coaching ranks first as the defensive backs coach in 1958 for the University of Virginia Cavaliers under head coach Dick Voris, and then for the University of Kentucky Wildcats one year later under head coach Blanton Collier.
Shula NFL journey began in 1960 with the Detroit Lions as their defensive backs coach and then as their defensive coordinator for two seasons. The Lions, whose head coach then was George Wilson posted a winning record of 26-13, finishing second in the then NFL’s Western Conference in 1961 and 1962. The Lions’ defense was especially great in 1962 led by the dubbed “Fearsome Foursome of defensive tackles in the late Hall of Famer Alex Karras and Roger Brown, and defensive ends in the late Darris McCord and the late Sam Williams.
In 1963 Shula was named the head coach of the Colts, becoming at age 33 the youngest head coach in NFL history at that time, replacing the fired Weeb Ewbank, who he played for at the Browns and Colts, and who coached the Jets against Shula in the previously mentioned loss in Super Bowl III to the AFL’s Jets.
The hiring of Shula was a risky move by then Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom, but had a feeling that he was the one to turn the fortunes of his team, especially because he became very familiar with Shula’s personality and approach to the game from his time with the team as a player.
The move paid off big time as the Shula turned the Colts around, compiling a 71-23-4 record in his seven seasons as their leader on the sidelines, winning three of his four career NFL Coach of the Year Awards.
The team went 13-1 in the 1968 season and routed the Browns 34-0 to capture the NFL title and were heavily favored to take down the AFL champion Jets in Miami, FL in Super Bowl III.
Unfortunately, the Colts lost that game 16-7 to Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath and the Jets, which not only proved that the AFL could play on the same level as the squads, it also bought into question Shula’s ability to coach in games where the lights are the brightest, which began with the Colts’ 27-0 loss in the NFL Championship Game at the Browns on Dec. 27, 1964.
Following the 1969 season, then Dolphins owner Joe Robbie signed Shula and produced double-digit wins in his first six seasons, which included three straight American Football Conference (AFC) Championship Game wins.
After losing to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl VI 24-3 on Jan. 16, 1972, the criticism of Shula’s ability to make the right decisions in big games that overshadowed his success with the Colts, who went 2-3 in the postseason under his watch continued.
That all changed back-to-back Super Bowl triumphs Super Bowl VII (14-7) over the Redskins and in Super Bowl VIII (24-7) over the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 14, 1973 and Jan. 13, 1974 respectably.
Shula’s offensive identity as a coach during that was about running the football behind a stellar offensive line led by Hall of Famers in guard Larry Little and center/guard Jim Langer, and guard Robert Kuechenberg. They opened up big holes for Hall of Fame tailback Larry Csonka and understudies in Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris.
The Dolphins got solid quarterback play from the aforementioned Griese and Morrall, who got the ball to their excellent receivers in Hall of Famer Paul Warfield, Howard Twilley, and tight end Jim Mandich.
As solid as the offense was for the Dolphins, led by their running game, their defense, which was known as “The No-Name Defense” was just as great led by the late great Hall of Fame middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti and defensive tackle Manny Fernandez.
Griese, who played for Coach Shula for 11 seasons told ESPN that he remembered his long time coach first as a “savior” when he first arrived in South Florida, then as a “mentor” and as a head coach and then as a “friend,” and then as a great friend.
“Whether it was his force of will, his organization, his work ethic, sense of integrity, or his total focus on winning, he molded us into champions,” Griese said of Coach Shula. “And the entire time he was doing that, he served as a role model for all that was right in sports.”
“He was the driving force behind everything we’d accomplished with the Dolphins. He was just a guy with strong morals and good values and doing everything the right way in sports.”
Csonka talked about how Coach Shula motivated the team after their loss in Super Bowl VI to the Cowboys where he threw everyone from the media and everyone but the players and coaches out of the locker room and said that he wanted “everyone” to remember this feeling.
The Dolphins remembered that feeling and went as mentioned 17-0 the next year and won back-to-back Super Bowls, including the only undefeated season in the 100-year history of the National Football League.
“And that perfect season is attributable to that moment after that loss in Super Bowl VI. That was Don Shula. That was pure Don Shula,” Csonka said. “That’s what he was thinking. He was driven. He was motivated.”
ESPN’s NFL reporter and Florida native Jeff Darlington, whose covered the Dolphins since 2005 said on the Monday evening of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” Coach Shula displayed his ability of tough love one time when in an effort correct his team’s inability following the rules of curfew that he brought a football and a sharpie down to the guy working at the vela, telling him after tipping him a $100 that anyone of his players who enters the hotel after 12 a.m. has to sign the football.
As the team boards the bus to get ready to head out to the stadium, Coach Shula Darlington said reads the names off of the football and at the end it said, “If I just read your name your benched for the first half.”
After losing to the Redskins 27-17 in Super Bowl XVII on Jan. 30, 1983 following the 1982 season, the Dolphins drafted Marino out of the University of Pittsburgh, and the former Panthers quarterback changed the team from a run heavy offense into a pass-first one, where they road the right arm of the NFL’s MVP that season to a then NFL-records of 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns back to the Super Bowl, following the 1984 season. They fell 38-16 in Super Bowl XIX to Hall of Famers Joe Montana and head coach Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers, getting outscored 31-6 the final three quarters, going scoreless in the second half.
“Coach Shula-you will be truly missed! You embody the definition of ‘greatness,” Marino tweeted about his former head coach. “You brought that winning attitude with you every day and made every around you better.”
Former Dolphins wideout Mark Clayton, who had 1,389 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdowns in the 1984 NFL campaign echoed those same sentiments tweeting of Coach Shula, “Best coach on earth, best coach in heaven.”
That would be the one and only appearance for Dolphins on Super Sunday with Marino and Coach Shula leading the way as they got no further in the postseason then the AFC Championship Game following the 1985 season, losing 31-14 against the New England Patriots on Jan. 12, 1986.
Shula, who went 2-4 in Super Bowl retired from coaching for good after the 1995 season, after the Dolphins lost in the AFC Wild-Card Game (37-22) at the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills on Dec. 30, 1996.
Coach Shula understood that his very successful career as a head coach in the NFL was because he had some incredible offensive signal callers in Unitas, Marino, and Griese making the offensive work to go along with those great running attacks and great defenses over three-plus decades.
“Sure, luck means a lot in football,” he said once. “Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.”
That perspective combined with an integrity to do things right is what earned Coach Shula respect from his players and coaches, opponents, fans of South Florida and across the sports landscape.
“He would not bend the rules. If we cheated to win, that was considered the worst kind of loss as far as he was concerned,” Csonka said of his former coach.
Six-time Super Bowl championship coach and future Hall of Famer of the Patriots Bill Belichick said of Coach Shula one of the “all-time great coaching figures” who set the standard for “consistency and leadership” in the NFL.
Super Bowl champion coach Bill Cowher, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992-2006 and current NFL studio analyst for CBS Sports said of Shula’s passing that the NFL, “Lost one of the most iconic men in NFL coaching history.”
Owner and Colts Jim Irsay echoed a similar sentiment saying with the passing of Shula, the NFL said goodbye to “one of the last all-time greats from an incredible era.”
Former Dolphins’ head coach from 2016-2018 and the current one of the Jets Adam Gase said that being able to spend time with Coach Shula was the “best part” of his day, and that he truly “enjoyed” getting to know him as a person and “treasured” those interactions they had.
Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl champion as a player and head coach of the Chicago Bears (won Super Bowl XX) Mike Ditka also said that Coach Shula was a “good friend” and one “hell of a man.”
Hall of Fame quarterback of the Bills Jim Kelly, whose teams played twice a year against Coach Shula’s Dolphins for 11 seasons (1986-96) said that he “admired” and “loved” playing against him because you played against the “best.”
“Anytime you played against a legend like that, you know you have to play your best game,” Kelly said of playing against Coach Shula’s teams.
Following his retirement, Shula lent his name to a chain of steakhouses named “Shula’s Steakhouse,” with its original home in Miami Lakes Florida. He also has a golf club in his name called The Senator Course at Shula’s Golf Club. A spa called The Spa at Shula’s and an athletic club called Shula’s Athletic Club.
Shula also appeared in commercials for NutriSystem with Marino and many other former NFL players.
In 1999, the Hall of Famer was honored with the “Lombardi Award of Excellence” from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation.
At Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego, CA, Coach Shula performed the ceremonial coin toss to conclude the pregame festivities.
On Nov. 15, 2005, Shula as part of a public awareness campaign by our federal government signed up for Medicare Part D plan for prescription drug benefits just after midnight.
In 2007 at Super Bowl XLI in Miami Gardens, Shula to part in the presentation of the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the World Champion Colts, who defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 on Feb. 4, 2007. The next year he participated in the opening of Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, AZ.
In 2011, Coach Shula’s humanitarian efforts were recognized when he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
At his alma mater, Coach Shula endowed John Carroll University with the Don Shula Chair in Philosophy, which support programs that interest philosophers and the general public by the school’s Philosophy Department.
Sports has the power to take you a lot of places and put you in position to make an impact on a lot of people. It also can put you in position to make a name for yourself in this world.
Hall of Famer Don Shula made a major impact on a lot of people, especially as a head coach with just two losing seasons (1976 and 1988) in 33 years in the NFL. He turned the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins into winner both on and off the field. He made an impact in the community of South Florida.
He left this world with a body of work and taught us all, especially those in South Florida that you can make a name for yourself if you are willing to put in the work and always leave a positive image for others to remember you.
Darlington got to see that with his own eyes, when as a reporter for the Miami Herald spent time with him a day before his 80th birthday saying that it was a day that he “treasured” and called his “best day” as a sports reporter and of his life.
He remembers walking through Coach Shula’s home and looking at the pictures framed on his wall of former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, and Saint Teresa of Calcuta Mother Teresa in his home looking over Biscayne Bay.
Darlington said that he was in “awe” of what he saw in Coach Shula’s home. But the most impressive part was when the two sat in his villa and Shula was telling him stories for hours, where Darlington said that he felt like his grandson instead of a sports reporter.
“Despite the fact that he met everybody and done everything, when you were in his presence you were his moment,” Darlington said of that time with Coach Shula. “He treated you like absolute gold.”
Fellow longtime reporter, Florida native and host of ESPN’s “Highly Questionable” Dan Le Batard, who also worked at the Miami Herald in the final six seasons Shula coached the Dolphins called him “A God from another time, another era. A picture of leadership and class. A hora of how to manage yourself. How to conduct yourself.”
Le Batard added that Shula was one of the first things to leave a major imprint on the Florida region, who represented a cleaner image of South Florida, which he said can be dirty at times but deserved to be represented.
One person whose day was completely flipped due to Coach Shula’s passing was three-time champion with the Miami Heat Udonis Haslem who said to NBATV’s Ro Parrish and Caron Butler via video chat on Monday.
“For Don Shula to do what he was able to do with the Dolphins and the undefeated season and just everything, man. It gave us something to be proud of,” Haslem said of the impact Shula and his Dolphin teams had on the city with their winning.
“Before the Marlins won the championship. Before the Heat won the championship. Before any of that, they (Dolphins) gave the city of Miami something to be proud of. And Miami is the melting pot of so many different cultures and so many different people, that at that point all those different cultures and all those people was able to come together.”
Information, statistics, and quotations courtesy of 5/4/2020 5 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” with Sage Steele and Kevin Negandhi, with report from Jeff Darlington;
5/5/2020 Newsday stories “Legendary Coach Shula Dies at 90,” Neil Best and “Coach Brought Best Out of His Players,” by Bob Glauber; 5/5/2020 1 a.m. edition NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Ro Parrish and Caron Butler; https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/c/ClayMa00.htm; https://www.en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_VII; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Shula; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Taseff; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Gase; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_III; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Karras; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XVII.
No comments:
Post a Comment