Don Shula, as the coach of the Miami Dolphins, is known as the winningest football coach in the NFL.
Donald Francis Shula was born in January 1930 in Grand River, Ohio. Shula played football in high school and then in college at John Carroll University. Ironically, Don was not a starting player. His first stint as a professional player began in 1951 at the age of 21 with the Cleveland Browns. His professional career ended 7 years later with the Washington Redskins. During these 7 years he played in only 73 games.
His coaching career began at the collegiate level for a few short years. It wasn’t until 1963 that he became head coach of the Baltimore Colts, where, over a 7-year period, his record was 71 wins, 23 losses, a 7-year winning season. He left the Colts to coach a then-young team that was in its 5th season as a professional team. This head coaching job was for the Miami Dolphins, where he spent the remaining years of his coaching career.
From 1970 to 1995, Don Shula, as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, amassed an impressive record of feats. During this time, his team played 6 Super Bowl games, where he holds the record for having directed that number of games. They were only victorious in 2 of these events. Those games were in 1973 against the 14-7 Washington Redskins and in 1974 a 24-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Don Shula’s record stands today at 300 career wins. The Miami Dolphins, in their 26 years of leadership, had only 2 of those years under 500 and a total of 7 consecutive winning seasons. Shula’s team made the playoffs 20 times, winning 10 of them in his 33 years as coach.
Shula won the Football Coach of the Year award 3 times, in 1964 and 1968 as manager of the Baltimore Colts and in 1971 as manager of the Miami Dolphins. It wasn’t until 1997 that Don Shula was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the winningest coach in the National Football League.
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