It was a sad but strange feeling for me to hear the news of the passing of Miami Dolphins coaching legend Don Shula Monday morning at age 90.
It was sad because I knew what Shula meant to my beloved Dolphins and to the city of Miami and South Florida as a whole. I also know what he meant to my father, who gave up his New York Giants fandom when he moved from the Big Apple to the Magic City in 1990 and became a Dolphins fan, in part because of Shula’s excellence.
But it was strange because I have no memory of Shula roaming the sidelines at first the Orange Bowl and then Hard Rock Stadium in his signature white polo shirt and sunglasses.
See I was born in October 1999, almost four years after Shula retired following the 1995 season. He retired with 347 wins, which remains the most wins by a head coach in NFL history.
However, Shula does still hold a special place in my heart as a Dolphins fan because he was the epitome of a bygone era of Fins football, an era where Miami wasn’t a perennial loser, but a toast of the NFL world.
As I mentioned above, I was born in 1999, which was iconic quarterback Dan Marino’s final season in the NFL. Ever since Marino’s final game in January 2000 – an embarrassing divisional round loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars – Miami has been a laughingstock in the NFL.
Since 2002, it has been to the playoffs twice – 2008 and 2016 – and lost in the wild card round both times. The Fins have only had five winning seasons during that span, meaning that most of my football fandom has been trademarked by losing seasons and high draft picks.
Shula’s Dolphins, though, were different. He only had two losing seasons in 26 years as head coach and made the playoffs 15 times. All five of Miami’s Super Bowl berths were under Shula, and its two championships, including the 1972 perfect 17-0 season, the only perfect season in NFL history.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Shula’s time with the Baltimore Colts. He led the Colts from 1963-1969 before coming to South Beach, leading them to three playoffs, including Super Bowl III in 1969, when they were famously upset by Joe Namath and the New York Jets.
Another characteristic Miami has been known for these days is embarrassments and bad decisions.
The only times the Dolphins seem to make national news are when there is a scandal, whether it be star running back Ricky Williams retiring a month before the 2004 season, offensive lineman Richie Incognito accused of bullying teammate Jonathan Martin or offensive line coach Chris Foerster being fired in the middle of the 2017 season for snorting cocaine and sending the video to a stripper.
Once again, however, Shula teams were the opposite of today’s teams. They were often free of trouble and a lot of that was due to Shula. Yes, he was demanding and a perfectionist who wanted the best out of his players, but he was also beloved by those players. Former Dolphins running back Larry Csonka said Monday on a call with reporters that it was like a family member dying.
Finally, Shula helped make Miami matter on a national sports scene. When he arrived in 1970, the Dolphins had only been a team for four years and had never had a winning record. Before Shula arrived, you could argue the biggest sport in South Florida was horse racing. He is the reason Miami became a football town and arguably the reason the Miami Heat, Miami Marlins, Florida Panthers or any Florida pro sports team even exist.
That is part of the reason why Shula still and will always matter in South Florida, even to people like me who never saw him coach live. He brought out the best in an organization and a city and changed both forever.
Plenty of legends have passed through Miami since Shula, such as Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade, but we may never see another sports figure influence this region like Shula did.
He truly was one of a kind.
Follow Noah on Twitter @Noah_ram1 and contact him at nram@alligator.org
FILE - In this Nov. 14, 1993, file photo, Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula is carried on his team's shoulders after his 325th victory, at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium. Shula, who won the most games of any NFL coach and led the Miami Dolphins to the only perfect season in league history, died Monday, May 4, 2020, at his home in Indian Creek, Fla., the team said. He was 90. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
