RIP Don Shula
-
- Posts: 11523
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2019 5:27 am
Re: RIP Don Shula
Saw that this morning. 90 years old. Pretty sad, he was an absolute icon.
- Oso Dorado
- Posts: 516
- Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 8:43 pm
- Location: Port Coquitlam, BC
Re: RIP Don Shula
He'll never see another undefeated team in the NFL. Nice to be able claim that honor. RIP. A class individual and a great coach.
-
- Posts: 7851
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2019 6:24 pm
- Location: Phillips Ranch, CA
Re: RIP Don Shula
One of the all time greats, I wonder if he would go up on the Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches, period. Belichik gets the George Washington spot, but the other three spots are pretty challenging. I think Shula would get one of the other three spots. 33 years and a lot of success.
-
- Posts: 11523
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2019 5:27 am
Re: RIP Don Shula
Great question. Depends on the criteria I guess, but Shula could be there. I was also thinking Lombardi has to be one...I mean, the trophy is named after him. Then? Walsh? That could be recency bias, but he changed the way offenses played. Noll was 4 and 0 in Super Bowls. Landry went to 5, but lost 3. Gibbs was 3 and 1 in Super Bowls, so one more appearance than Walsh and the same number of rings. I have always felt that Seifert's ring should have at least partially been credited to Walsh.DavidGee24 wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 8:44 pmOne of the all time greats, I wonder if he would go up on the Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches, period. Belichik gets the George Washington spot, but the other three spots are pretty challenging. I think Shula would get one of the other three spots. 33 years and a lot of success.
I would say Belichick, Shula, Lombardi and Walsh. With an honorable mention to Noll and Gibbs. You might be able to convince me to put one of those two in for Shula, but hard to make that case today since he just passed.
-
- Posts: 7851
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2019 6:24 pm
- Location: Phillips Ranch, CA
Re: RIP Don Shula
I think that Noll and/or Terry Bradshaw might have been overrated. I know this sounds weird to say about a team that won four Super Bowls in less than a decade, but the Steelers' rosters were so stacked that they had no competition in the AFC except for maybe the Raiders, yet their best regular season record was 12-2 and they lost some postseason games against teams that they should have stomped. Those guys should have won at least two more Lombardis and put up at least a couple undefeated seasons, they had top talent EVERYWHERE on the field. But somebody held them back and I wonder if it was the coach or if it was Bradshaw.Michael K. wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 9:03 pmGreat question. Depends on the criteria I guess, but Shula could be there. I was also thinking Lombardi has to be one...I mean, the trophy is named after him. Then? Walsh? That could be recency bias, but he changed the way offenses played. Noll was 4 and 0 in Super Bowls. Landry went to 5, but lost 3. Gibbs was 3 and 1 in Super Bowls, so one more appearance than Walsh and the same number of rings. I have always felt that Seifert's ring should have at least partially been credited to Walsh.DavidGee24 wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 8:44 pmOne of the all time greats, I wonder if he would go up on the Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches, period. Belichik gets the George Washington spot, but the other three spots are pretty challenging. I think Shula would get one of the other three spots. 33 years and a lot of success.
I would say Belichick, Shula, Lombardi and Walsh. With an honorable mention to Noll and Gibbs. You might be able to convince me to put one of those two in for Shula, but hard to make that case today since he just passed.
Shula, on the other hand, seems to have gotten the most out of his teams, even where Dan Marino is concerned. They blew the NFC Title game to the Patriots and ruined what would have been an epic rematch against the Bears in Super Bowl, but otherwise it didn't seem like he ever screwed up until he got old.