Nothing Got Past The Man
May 4th, 2020![](https://www.joebucsfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IraCopyBannerFINAL2019.png)
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
A quarter-century has passed since I had the honor of chowing down with the winningest coach in NFL history.
It seems like yesterday.
I can still see Don Shula walking into the dining room of his just-opened Shula’s Steak House on Tampa’s Westshore Boulevard, looking fresh and relaxed in a blue blazer. He motioned me to a nearby table and asked what I wanted to drink before lunch was served.
That was quintessential Shula — harping on the details.
Despite winning four Coach of the Year awards and sitting alone atop the career win list, Shula might be a little underrated in the Hall of Fame pantheon. Some would rank Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown, Bill Belichick, Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs ahead of him, but that’s a tough call.
Nobody before or since in the league’s 100-year history orchestrated a perfect season. During Shula’s 26 years with the Dolphins, Miami’s .657 winning percentage was the best in all of the major sports.
“I used to watch them in practice and Don was very demanding,” Bruce Arians told me on Monday. “He had a great way with his players.”
Shula was so proud of that 1972 team, accomplished in only his third year in Miami.
Chucky Wasn’t First
Coming off a 3-10-1 mark in 1969, the Dolphins were so obsessed with landing Shula that they gave up a first-round draft pick to pry him out of Baltimore.
The turnaround was immediate as the 1970 Dolphins won 10 games. So much for easing into success. The next year, they upset the Chiefs on Christmas Day, an overtime playoff win on the road that remains the longest game in NFL history.
That victory for the ages set the stage for the perfect season, but I had the audacity to suggest to Shula that the 1973 team was even better. I pointed to Miami’s combined 85-33 margin of victory in the postseason, averaging 234 yards on the ground against the Bengals, Raiders and Vikings.
Shula wouldn’t go there. He said you can’t beat perfection and I was too busy devouring a couple of crab cakes to argue the point.
“You set a goal to be the best and then you work hard every hour of the day striving to reach that goal,” he said. “If you allow yourself to settle for anything less than the No. 1, you are cheating yourself.”
It was Shula’s flexibility that set him apart.
The ’73 Dolphins, powered by Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris, threw 256 passes and ran 507 times in 14 games. Flash forward to 1984, with Dan Marino under center. That team represented the AFC in the Super Bowl after throwing 572 times and attempting 484 runs in 16 games.
“The man adapted to his players,” Arians said. “And the one constant was he always had a defense.”
Trademark Discipline
Another constant was Miami usually was flagged for the fewest penalties in the league. That’s a tribute to Shula’s attention to detail and discipline, but some fellow coaches thought Shula also got the benefit of the doubt from officials who duly noted he was on the Competition Committee.
Like Lombardi, Shula could be a hard-ass. If you were a foot off in your stance, you heard about it in practice. If you dropped the football, you’d get the look.
“He was tough when he had to be,” said Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey, who played for Shula in Baltimore. “But the most important thing was he treated us like men.”
You should have seen Shula prowling every nook and cranny of his Tampa restaurant. He wanted the floors swept clean, the napkins folded properly and the utensils placed on the table just so.
Like the days when he was prowling the practice field, Shula saw everything. Nothing got past the man — including immortality.
May 4th, 2020 at 5:13 pm
A great coach…..a better man……a legend.
May 4th, 2020 at 5:15 pm
Dad took me to Clearwater Mall after the 72 season for an autograph session with Csonka and Kiick. I was 5, thankfully Bucco Bruce came along and saved me and countless other kids in the Bay Area from becoming Dolphins fans. Always liked Shula. one of my non Buc favorites. RIP
May 4th, 2020 at 5:33 pm
My heart absolutely sank after hearing this. Too many memories from my younger years associated with Don Shula. May he RIP.
May 4th, 2020 at 5:38 pm
RIP coach Shula.
May 4th, 2020 at 6:36 pm
Greatest coach in my lifetime RIP.
May 4th, 2020 at 6:50 pm
My wife’s best friend in college grew up with and was very close with the entire Shula family. By all accounts, Don was a great man.
May 4th, 2020 at 7:11 pm
Nobody can deny his greatness as a coach, but IMO, the “Perfect Season” should more appropriately named, the “Perfect Storm”.
1972 was post-merger but pre-parity. In 1972, the only two decent AFC teams were Oakland and Pittsburgh, both in the infancy of building their dynasties of the ’70’s. In the NFC, Dallas was aging and had a down year and were overtaken by a gritty but not terribly talented Washington Redskins team. The 1972 Dolphins were good.. never beat themselves, but by no stretch great and couldn’t compare with Oakland, Pittsburgh and Dallas of the late ’70’s.
May 4th, 2020 at 7:24 pm
Great coach. Great man. RIP sir.
May 4th, 2020 at 8:21 pm
GREAT coach …maybe the greatest …rest in peace
May 4th, 2020 at 8:49 pm
R.I.P. Coach Shula
May 4th, 2020 at 9:34 pm
RIP, Coach Shula. My Pee Wee football team was the Dolphins, the year of Miami’s perfect season. My coach thought he was Don Shula, he’d make the entire team run laps if anyone made a mistake in practice.
May 4th, 2020 at 10:02 pm
He was 100% an all time great coach; he adapted to the times unlike say lovie smith and even BA to a point. He realized that what worked in 72 would not work in the 80s when he had woodley and then marino. The guy was innovative and it goes to show with him being on top of the all time win chart. Belichek is similar in his approach to not be set in a certain way.
May 4th, 2020 at 11:16 pm
Great article Ira, Don Shula truly was an iconic figure always larger than life. R.I.P, he will be remembered for a long long time.
May 5th, 2020 at 8:35 am
Garo Yeprimien had a tie shop in Seminole mall, one day he’s in there signing autographs, I was just a little kid must have been around 1974. But shoot, we were dolphins fans back then! RIP coach.