The 1st time I watched Don Shula coach was in the 1969 Super Bowl. His Baltimore Colts with Johnny Unitas at quarterback were heavily favored to win.

Their opponents were the New York Jets with a brash young quarterback named Joe Namath, who played for Bear Bryant at Alabama.

Broadway Joe, as he became known, predicted the Jets would win. Sports writers laughed at him.

The Jets won 16-7. I watched Shula shake Jets coach Weeb Ewbank’s hand after the game. You knew he had to be disappointed, but he showed the kind of man he was.

Don Shula went on to become the winningest coach in NFL history. He died this month at age 90.

Everyone’s a Coach

I met one of Shula’s friends, Ken Blanchard, the co-author of “The One Minute Manager” and other bestsellers, 25 years ago during a speaking engagement in Columbia. He told us how he came from Miami where he and his wife were guests of the Shulas.

They were to fly from Miami to Columbia the evening before but the weather was so foul that all planes were grounded.

Don Shula made a phone call and 15 minutes later a sleek limousine arrived to take them to Columbia.

The driver drove all night while the Blanchards slept.

Ken walked in the next morning fresh as a daisy and spoke for 5 hours about leadership in business.

He and his friend Don Shula even wrote a book together, “Everyone’s a Coach: 5 Business Secrets for High-Performance Coaching.”

The Colts

In 7 years together, quarterback Johnny Unitas and Shula created 1 of the most successful franchises in NFL history in Baltimore.

They had a higher winning percentage than Vince Lombardi’s Packers but together never won a championship. They lost in the NFL title game to Cleveland in 1964 and the Jets in Super Bowl III – both stunning upsets. Those near misses were among the more confounding losses of any franchise ever. Rarely had a team performed so well over so long only to lose the biggie.

The Dolphins

Miami was different. Shula took the Dolphins to the lone undefeated season in NFL history. He led his teams to 6 Super Bowl appearances. After losing the 1st 2. he coached a perfect season and beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 for the title.

The Dolphins repeated as Super Bowl champions the next season, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 24–7.

He holds the NFL record for most career coaching wins (347). While Shula was coaching there, a lot of us became Dolphins’ fans.

What’s your opinion of Don Shula or any other NFL coach? I’d appreciate your opinion. Email Chroniclesports@yahoo.com.