Don Shula Question

[The Furminister]

It's the offseason, so it's time for debates. I was wondering was Don Shula a little overrated. Now Don't get me wrong he was a great coach up until The time of Marino. I say this because During this time he never addressed the running game or defense and some might even argue the o-line with the acceptation of Richmond web. Now I was very young during this time so maybe I'm wrong. I would love it if someone could shed light on this topic.

 

[72champagne]

i can't do an acceptation of debating whether a man that coached in six super bowls was a little overrated.

 

[lcsonka39]

Have to think that if anything he is under-rated but that is probably a stretch ..

 

[shula_guy]

I don't think it was as much a question as him not addressing the running game as it was that he had terrible luck in the draft. He tried to find running backs but none of them panned out.

Our Oline was always very good pass blockers, run blocking is debatable. Shula built the offense more around Marino's arm because that is all he had.

Our defense was solid back then. they're biggest problem was that we had no clock control game. No running back combined with Marino's big armed throws and our defensive spent most of the game out on the field. They fell apart in the 4th quarter often because of this ans they spent so much time on the field opposing offensive coordinators had plenty of game film to look at. That in my opinion was why we did not have more success with Marino behind center. We lacked a solid runner, end of story.

 

[Digital]

No, the Hope Diamond, being the richest person in the world, or maybe expensive beers might be overrated; but Don Shula, never. The man was the best coach I've ever watched, and one hell of a human being on top of all that. He won consistently, despite always drafting low, and won with high character and citizenship people, and didn't cheat. Sure, most "great" coaches have good winning percentages and go through dominant patches ... but Shula _always_ won. Heck, I think he only had like 1 losing season as a Dolphin in all those years ... how absurd is that?

 

[marinotoclayton]

It's the offseason, so it's time for debates. I was wondering was Don Shula a little overrated. Now Don't get me wrong he was a great coach up until The time of Marino. I say this because During this time he never addressed the running game or defense and some might even argue the o-line with the acceptation of Richmond web. Now I was very young during this time so maybe I'm wrong. I would love it if someone could shed light on this topic.

Shula had tried to address needs when they came up. Its just some of them never panned out like he had hoped such as the case in running backs. Now defensively he had a great many players he had drafted.and like all drafts you are going to find gems and you are going to get some duds.

 

[dlockz]

Would take Shula over PArcells anyday.

 

[cellman007]

no offense but I don't think a 21 yr old is qualified to ask that question, since I doubt you ever remember seeing him coach the Dolphins, his record speaks for itself.

 

[shula_guy]

Would take Shula over PArcells anyday.

How about Shula coaching and Tuna playing GM?

Seriously they two of the best football minds to of ever graced the game. We are an extreemly lucky franchise to be lucky enough to get one of theme here let along both of them. Parcels is the best guy we have had in the front office since Shula was here.

 

[BlackRob]

I remember growing up watching Shula. His teams were consistantly in the playoffs. His biggest flaw was his inability to find a true RB for Marino. QB's can't win w/o a true tailback. Elway didn't win until he had TD. Jim Kelly got to four superbowls b/c he had Thurmond Thomas.

 

[SpaceMountain16]

We had a lot of dud draft picks, especially after 1983 or so. I wouldn't say he "didn't address" certain issues but he obviously didn't address them well enough. However you can't say he's over rated because of that. Shula's presence alone pretty much guaranteed 9-10 wins a season. He was a great motivator and so well respected that his players played hard enough for him so he would rarely lose. He's not over rated at all although objectively i don't think he's as good a coach as Bill Walsh.

 

[The Bopkin]

I became a Fan in 1975, and I collect games on DVD; I have over 200 Dolphins games and have seen them all(some repeatedly), so I feel pretty well educated on this. As far as a coach goes, he's clearly in the debate for the greatest ever, with Walsh, Paul Brown, Halas, Lombardi. The running back issue has already been addressed, but something I'd like to point out- Shula's defenses rocked when Bill Arnsparger was with him- the glory years 1971-1974, then again 1977-1983. Now, compare those eras(5 Super Bowl appearances) with the non-Arnsparger years. 1976, 1988 no Arnsparger, only losing seasons. Shula did pretty well rebuilding the team for runs 1990-1995, but he had fallen behind Buffalo, Dallas and San Fran, and Shula's drafting skill towards the end was not good enough to catch up. Shula had many great players that he drafted, or else he would not have the success he had. But the lack of a top-tier personnel guy towards the end kept him from really competing for the big one in the end. In 1992 they were close, if you consider getting destroyed in the AFC championship game to a team that would ultimately lose 59-17 in the Super Bowl close.
Also, I still wonder what would have happened in 1993 had we not lost Marino to the Achilles, Troy Vincent to a knee, and pretty much half our defense in the last 5 games. For those who are old enough, we were a seriously tough team that year, 9-2 after 11 games, but injuries beat us down and we collapsed at the end.
Oh well. Ancient history.

 

[marinotoclayton]

Also, I still wonder what would have happened in 1993 had we not lost Marino to the Achilles, Troy Vincent to a knee, and pretty much half our defense in the last 5 games. For those who are old enough, we were a seriously tough team that year, 9-2 after 11 games, but injuries beat us down and we collapsed at the end.
Oh well. Ancient history.

Yeah and we not only lost Marino and Vincent. We had a couple other Qb injuries. We had Mitchell go down for a bit that year. And had a 3rd stringer in Doug Pedersen help Shula win his 325th victory And then we had Deberg who I think had also hurt his finger also. Until we got Mitchell back that year.

Here is a thing I got from internet. Of that year.



November 14
The Dolphins endure another quarterback injury as Scott Mitchell suffers a separated shoulder during Miami's 19-14 win at Philadelphia. The win enables Don Shula to record the 325th triumph of his coaching career as he becomes the winningest coach in NFL history surpassing George Halas. In the contest, Doug Pederson replaces Mitchell and enters the game in the third quarter with Miami trailing 14-13. He guides the Dolphins to a pair of field goals and the defense holds the Eagles scoreless in the second half to garner the victory.

November 21
Steve DeBerg becomes the third player to start at quarterback for the Dolphins in 1993 as he throws for 252 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Miami to a 17-13 win over New England. DeBerg, the NFL's oldest player, had joined the team just 11 days prior to the Pats game and was forced into his first start in place of the injured Scott Mitchell.

 

[LANGER72]

I big part of Shulas sucess and failures was his inclination to hire coaches that he knew . Some of them were real losers. Remember Tom Olividotti and
Chuck Studley? Most od the no-D marino years were wasted because of his decision to use these bums

 

[3Ply Stagliano]

no offense but I don't think a 21 yr old is qualified to ask that question, since I doubt you ever remember seeing him coach the Dolphins, his record speaks for itself.

Surely someone who doesn't know from first hand experience is exactly the sort of person who should be asking questions to gain information from those 'in the know'.