The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Arth’s meeting with Shula ‘surreal’
When the discussion of John Carroll football is the topic, there is no argument who stands No. 1 atop any list. It begins and ends with JCU alum Don Shula, the NFL’s all-time winningest coach who passed away May 4.
No. 2 on that list is a who’s who in annals of JCU football. In that mix for that spot is All-America linebacker, 2019 College Football Hall of Fame inductee and Super Bowl champion London Fletcher.
Just don’t forget about Tom Arth.
The current University of Akron coach holds the impressive distinction of leading the Blue Streaks to the NCAA Division III Final Four as a player (he quarterbacked JCU to a national semifinal in 2002) and as a coach in 2016.
From 2000 to 2002, Arth was a two-time All-America QB and had 8,609 passing yards and 76 touchdown passes. He spent time in the NFL and the Arena League before calling it a career as a player. Shortly after, he entered the coaching profession.
As head coach at JCU, Arth spent four seasons there and left after the program’s historic 2016 season, which saw the Blue Streaks defeat No. 1-ranked Mount Union to win the conference championship then another No. 1-ranked team in Wisconsin-Whitewater to make the D-III national semifinal round.
That success was huge in Arth landing the head job at FCS Chattanooga, and then two years later the Akron post. It all began at JCU in December 2012, when he was named a head coach for the first time in his career. It was all the more memorable about a month into the job.
That’s when Arth received
word a trip to Miami had been arranged for him.
“I don’t recall how it was arranged,” Arth told The News-Herald in a phone interview. “It might have been Father Niehoff. It might have been Tony DeCarlo. All I know is I was flying to Miami to spend a day with Coach Shula, and it was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had.”
Before that day in February 2013, Arth had never met the NFL coaching legend who was born in Grand River, prepped at Harvey, then played at and graduated from JCU before embarking on his record-setting NFL coaching career.
Whether the trip was
set up by Fr. Robert Niehoff, JCU’s President Emeritus, or former JCU football coach Tony DeCarlo, who as a fellow Harvey grad had a strong connection to Shula, is irrelevant.
What matters now — years later — is the impact that day had on Arth.
“We had no agenda that day. We just talked,” said Arth. “I took a lot from that personally. It’s a moment I’ll always cherish. It’s a special opportunity and rare to be welcomed into his home that way. You see the Lombardi Trophies, all the awards, all the pictures with the all-time greats. To know he came from the same place and I did, that’s
so powerful. It was definitely surreal.”
Arth calls Shula “an institution,” and said the coach had a big impact on his life long before the two met. On a deeper, more personal level, Shula meant even more after their meeting.
“Great sense of humor,” said Arth. “Just a genuine person.”
As for his nerves leading up to that day?
“Oh yeah they were there, but I was more anxious than anything,” said Arth.
What about Shula’s oceanfront home in South Beach?
“It was amazing. His home was beautiful,” said Arth.
It was also a perfect setting to talk football, and talk they did.
“I had a lot of questions,” said Arth, who also observed Shula, who at the time was in his 80s.
“His demeanor stood out to me. He’s very competitive, and even at the age he was, you could still feel how important winning was to him and not just winning, but winning the right way.”
Arth said Shula never professed to have a “magic formula” for winning. The less complex, the better.
“It was simple,” said Arth. “He talked about doing the right things the right way. Being a good person, and caring about the people you coach.”