Don Shula, Hall of Fame coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins, dies at age 90

Don Shula was the losing coach in the greatest upset victory in New York sports history. But it was a testament to all the winning he did after that day that it represented a mere footnote in his long career.

Sure, the 16-7 loss to the Jets with his mighty Colts in Super Bowl III hurt – forever – but Shula, who died at his home Monday morning at age 90, went on to finish his 33-year head coaching career with 347 overall victories, two Super Bowl championships (including a perfect season) and induction into the Hall of Fame. Those 347 wins, including regular season and playoffs, are the most in NFL history. 

In 1993, Shula surpassed George Halas' league-record 324 victories and  was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year.

Along the way, he established a reputation as a combination iron-jawed, old-school football man with a willingness to adapt, from his ground-and-pound Dolphins of the early 1970s to his air-show, Dan Marino-led teams of the 1980s.

"Don Shula was the patriach of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years," the team said in a statement Monday announcing Shula's passing. "He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami in the national sports scene. Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Anne along with his children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne and Mike."

Born Jan. 4, 1930, in Grand River, Ohio, Shula played at John Carroll University and reached the NFL as a defensive back drafted in the ninth round, playing for the Browns, Colts and Redskins in the 1950s. He had 21 career interceptions.

But he made his real mark as a coach, getting his first pro job as an assistant for the Lions in 1960 and taking over the top job with the Colts in 1963 at age 33. He replaced the fired Weeb Ewbank, who later would coach the Jets against him in the fateful Super Bowl.

Shula immediately turned the Colts into winners and was named NFL Coach of the Year twice in his first five seasons. Then came a 13-1 season in 1968, despite an elbow injury that sidelined quarterback Johnny Unitas for most of the year.

The Colts routed the Browns, 34-0, to win the NFL Championship – this was before the official AFL-NFL merger two years later – and were heavily favored to defeat the AFL champion Jets in Miami in Super Bowl III.

They did not, proving that the AFL teams belonged at the sport’s top level, and adding to concerns about Shula as a big-game coach after he also had lost the 1964 NFL title game as a heavy favorite.

Shula moved to the Dolphins in 1970 and had double-digit victory totals in each of his first six seasons, won three consecutive AFC Championship Games, and in 1972 went 17-0, including a 14-7 win over the Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

The Dolphins repeated the following year, routing the Vikings, 24-7, an era for the team defined by only occasional passing by Bob Griese and plenty of running by Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris behind an elite offensive line.

After losing Super Bowl XVII to the Redskins after the 1982 season, the Dolphins drafted Marino, morphed into a pass-oriented team and were back in the Super Bowl after the ’84 season, where they lost to the 49ers.

Neither Shula nor Marino would return to the Super Bowl again. Shula finished 2-4 overall in the big game. Shula retired after the 1995 season with a 347-173-6 record.

Shula understood it was no small part of his success to have had the likes of Unitas, Griese and Marino as his quarterbacks over the decades.

“Sure, luck means a lot in football,” he once said. “Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.”

Over his final 10 seasons, from 1986 to 1995, the Dolphins had only one losing season, but they had plenty of mediocre ones, winning eight or nine games six times.

Shula remained active and visible in retirement, lending his name to a chain of steakhouses, a hotel and golf club and commercial and philanthropic endeavors.

Shula and his first wife, Dorothy, had five children, including Dave and Mike, who followed him into coaching. Mike joined the Giants’ staff as offensive coordinator in 2018.

Dorothy died of breast cancer in 1991. Shula married Mary Anne Stephens two years later. 

Shula was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, the same year as the late Giants co-owner Wellington Mara.

"You know, it's only 50 miles from Grand River to Canton," Shula said in his speech, "but it took me 67 years to travel that distance.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.