Coaches reflect on Shula’s legacy ahead of ceremony
Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer is a much bigger Don Shula fan than you may know.
Boyer, usually very short with his answers to the media or at least trying to not reveal too much publicly, went on for a good two or three minutes this week when asked about his memories of the late, legendary Dolphins coach ahead of the celebration of his life the team will hold Saturday at 4:30 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Boyer, a football historian beyond being a football coach, actually had his introduction to Shula through his younger sister. With the family growing up in Ohio, like Shula, she became a fan of his through learning that she shared a birthday with Shula, Jan. 4. This led her to be a Dolphins fan in Ohio. Boyer said, while he had a poster of Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson in his room, his sister had one of Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese.
Boyer can easily name Shula’s high school and college alma maters off the top of his head — Harvey High School in Painesville, a suburb of Cleveland, and John Carroll University, which is in the same conference of Boyer’s alma mater, Muskingum College. Boyer recalls traveling to John Carroll and seeing Don Shula’s name and likeness all over the athletic facilities.
What fascinates Boyer about Shula’s journey to become the NFL’s winningest coach is how he did it with a defensive coaching background. Shula’s first professional coach, Paul Brown in Cleveland, converted him to defensive back from halfback in college.
It led Shula to a career coaching record of 347-173-6 between his 26 seasons leading the Dolphins (1970-95) and seven at the helm for the Baltimore Colts (1963-69). His 1972 and 1973 Dolphins won the Super Bowl, and he also won an NFL championship leading the Colts in 1968. The 1972 Dolphins went 17-0 and remain the lone undefeated team in NFL history.
“Coach Shula’s ability to maintain winning seasons — I believe in his coaching career he only had two losing seasons,” Boyer said of what stands out of his career. “I know he was very successful with the Colts. He was very successful here in Miami, and then obviously he really spent, even when he was done coaching, he spent about 50 years in the Miami organization. I think it’s awesome that they will celebrate his life and his legacy to pro football, his legacy to the Miami Dolphins, and honestly there’s not enough good things you can say about him.”
Dolphins coach Brian Flores recalls having a few moments with Shula between him being named Dolphins coach in 2019 and Shula’s death on May 4, 2020.
“It was an honor and privilege,” Flores said, “for me to get to speak to him and get some insight from him about coaching and about helping guys become the best version of themselves from a preparation standpoint and then take the things that they learned from football on the field and use it outside of football when they’re done, to help them attain success in other areas, which has certainly been the case with a lot of players he’s had.”
The event Saturday, the first public ceremony honoring Shula since his death, will feature remarks from the Shula family with panel discussions from several Dolphins alumni including Bob Baumhower, Kim Bokamper, Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, Larry Little, Dan Marino, John Offerdahl, Joe Rose and Dwight Stephenson.
“We have a great alumni base or alumni group that’s around the facility and at games. I think that’s a great thing, from Nat Moore to Dan [Marino] to [Bob] Baumhower. We’ve got a lot of great players who are around, and I think it’s great,” Flores said. “[Shula is] one of the greatest coaches of all-time. I think he’s made an incredible impact on a lot of players. A lot of players, a lot of coaches and this league. It’s obviously a rich history here with the Dolphins.”
For Dolphins players, while Shula may have been a little before their time, they still feel his legacy in team facilities and when they talk to former players.
“Whenever former players come around and former coaches,” defensive lineman Christian Wilkins said. “I always have a little extra sense of let me listen, let me lock in or let me just go and say what’s up to that guy or that person, that coach, that former player or whatever and just shake their hand a lot of times when I can. There’s a lot of people that came before me that made the rich history here.”
Saturday’s free event honoring Shula requires registration at miamidolphins.com/don-shula.