Shula's Miami Success Story Began 45 Years Ago Today

[DKphin]

For us Old Dudes, the name Shula floods the mind with images of Miami Dolphins players with bloodied noses. Teal-and-orange duds, Gary Yepremian's farce of a field-goal try and the groovy Dolphins logo are lodged in ancient memory files, too.

The Dolphins looked New School and played Old School.
Flamboyant in attire, they were precise in practice. Violent, too.
The man behind the machine was Don Shula. He was The Jaw before Steelers coach Bill Cowher came along.
Turnarounds aren’t easy. But then again, Don Shula was never accused of taking the easy way out. His determination to succeed is what made him the winningest coach in NFL history.
And quite simply, that’s the reason why 45 years ago today, on Feb. 18, 1970, Shula took the job as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins after a successful seven-year run with the Baltimore Colts. He decided to take on the challenge of coaching a team that had won a total of only 15 games in its first four years of existence, a win total Shula matched in one year alone, in 1968 when he led the Colts to a victory in the NFL Championship Game and a berth in Super Bowl III.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/a...go-Today/af4c9f4d-1670-4985-915f-cede56d9063e

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

That is awesome. My first three years as a Dolphin fan Miami went 44-6-1 with a perfect season, two straight super bowl titles and three straight appearances. Yes, I was a spoiled fan who expected Miami to win every week. That's what Don Shula brought to this franchise.

 

[The Goat]

I had just been born.

I take credit for the whole thing. :)

 

[Djavelin]

That was a great write up of Shula. The good old days.

 

[gofins60]

Yes, I was a spoiled fan who expected Miami to win every week. That's what Don Shula brought to this franchise.

With Shula, winning was expected and it was easy to become spoiled. And then, along comes Dan The Man who takes Miami right back to the Super Bowl. With the "Dan and Don" show, making the playoffs was a given. Unfortunately, the Football Gods decided that having 2 legends on the team at the same time wasn't playing fair, so Miami had no more SB appearances after that.