The greatest of all time has passed - RIP Don Shula

Barry Jackson

@flasportsbuzz

Very sad news: Dolphins Hall of Fame coach Don Shula passed away this morning at age 90, one of his children confirmed.
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10:00 AM - May 4, 2020

Oh no. RIP Coach. He is and always be the #1 Dolphin in my opinion.

sad news. he's the greatest of all time and is the one person most responsible for making the Dolphins franchise the bastion of excellence that it once was. he is the reason why i - and i am sure many of you - am a Dolphins fan. rest in peace, sir.

RIP Architect of the Perfect Season.

A career of excellence. Just 2 losing seasons in 33 years as a head coach. That is unreal.

I didn't get the joys of seeing Miami win a Superbowl under him but I did get to see a lot of great Fin football while he was coaching....very sad

I Started watching the Fins in 1970 at the age of 6 and got to see Greatness right away at such a Young Age, Thanks Coach for All the Great Memories and We haven’t come Close to replacing the Standard You set. Keeping your Family in Prayer during this Difficult Time.

Stats don't tell the whole story, but two that just amaze me:

1) Between 1963 and 1985, a span of 23 years, won 256 games (11.1 per year, in an era with 12 or 14 game seasons for two-thirds of that span) with a .721 winning percentage. Winning 72 percent of your games over 23 years? Unreal. That's the equivalent of going 12-4 12 times and 11-5 11 times over that same time span today.

2) Went to the league championship game with 5 different starting QB's: Unitas, Morrall, Griese, Marino and Woodley. True, three HOF'ers, but two who aren't. Gibbs is the only one close, having done that with three (Rypien, Williams, Theismann).

HalCHorn wrote:Stats don't tell the whole story, but two that just amaze me:

1) Between 1963 and 1985, a span of 23 years, won 256 games (11.1 per year, in an era with 12 or 14 game seasons for two-thirds of that span) with a .721 winning percentage.  Winning 72 percent of your games over 23 years?  Unreal.  That's the equivalent of going 12-4 12 times and 11-5 11 times over that same time span today.

2) Went to the league championship game with 5 different starting QB's: Unitas, Morrall, Griese, Marino and Woodley.  True, three HOF'ers, but two who aren't.  Gibbs is the only one close, having done that with three (Rypien, Williams, Theismann).

I think #2 is a very important stat and one that is often not considered. If you look at the history of head coaches, for the most part they attained their highest success with 1 quarterback, at most 2. Shula and Gibbs clearly break that mold. Props to Gibbs for winning it all with 3 different QBs, this is why I say he is in the argument for greatest of all time, but while Shula may not have won them all, simply getting there with 5 different QBs is simply amazing.

Sad news indeed. Shula was always a class act. Even when he probably had cause to pitch a fit, he never did. Remember the playoff game in SD, when the power in the visitors locker room went out at halftime?

I still got my Dolphins Digest photo of him being carried off the field after that win in Philly that broke the wins record. Didn't Doug Pederson finish that game up?

He picked a great time to go. I just hope that a year or two from now we all aren't wishing we were dead.

I also hope he's not being classified as a COVID-19 death, since hospitals are being paid to do that no matter what the actual cause of death is. Seriously, this is a real thing.

Also, do NOT buy or read the book "SHULA: The Coach Of The NFL's Greatest Generation." It's crap.

What an amazing life and amazing run for him. I love this guy.

RIP Coach, we'll never forget you.

He had a great run and a great long life. Ninety is more than most of us could ask for. RIP Coach Shula. I know he is probably tipping a cold one (green lizard) with his buddy Mad Dog Mandich.

The greatest coach of all time. He won without belicheating!

CarsonChris wrote:The greatest coach of all time. He won without belicheating!

I don't know if it's accurate but I read something that basically said that Shula was the one who coined the word "belicheat."