Don Shula Legacay

For 33 years, Don Shula roamed the sidelines for the Miami Dolphins as their head coach. He was one of the greatest coaches in all of sports, not just football. What he was able to do as a coach was one of the most incredible things in all of sports history. He's the winningest coach in NFL history and lead the Dolphins to the only undefeated season in the history of football. Coach Shula passed away on Monday at the age of 90. The Dolphins issued a statement saying that Shula died "peacefully at his home."

Lets backtrack a little bit first. Shula started off coaching for six years, from 1963 to 1969, as the head coach of the Baltimore Colts, going 71-23-4 during that time. Then, it was in Miami where his career really took off.During that time in Miami, which went from 1970 to 1995, Shula lead the Dolphins to a record of 257-133-2. In total, Shula finished with a record of 328-156-6.

Lets look at it this way. Shula had done some things not too many greats in this game have. When you think of the great coaches that have roamed an NFL sideline, you think of guys like Bill Parcells, Vince Lombardi, Tom Laundry, Chuck Knoll, Bill Walsh, Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher, the list goes on and on. Shula had one thing going that none of those coaches ever did: He had only two seasons during his coaching career, where he finished a year with a below .500 record. He went 6-8 in 1976 and 6-10 in 1988/ He finished .500 or better in every single other season he coached, including the perfect season with the Dolphins in 1972.

His career records list is endless. He is first in most games coached (526), most consecutive seasons coached (33), and Super Bowl losses (four, tied with Bud Grant, Dan Reeves, and Marv Levy). His teams won seven NFL conference titles: 1964, 1968, 1971–73, 1982, and 1984. He also had three hall of fame quarterbacks play on his teams: Johnny Unitas, Bob Griese and Dan Marino.

You don't get to coach in the NFL as long as Shula did if your not doing something right. Two losing seasons in 33 years as a head coach is an unreal number to think about. He got the best out of his players year in and year out. He's without a doubt on the Mt Rushmore of NFL head coaches.. For everything he did for the game of football, he deserves our eternal grattitude.

Thanks for everything coach, and rest easy/