Don Shula

Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his career, Shula is the NFL's winningest head coach at 347 career victories and 328 regular season victories. He is regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time.

Shula held his first head coaching position with the Baltimore Colts for seven seasons and spent his next 26 seasons with Miami. With the Dolphins, he led the team to two consecutive Super Bowl titles in Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII. His first Super Bowl title during 1972 is the only perfect season in NFL history.

Shula was the first head coach to appear in six Super Bowls, five with the Dolphins and one with the Colts. His six Super Bowl appearances rank second among head coaches and he has the most Super Bowl losses at four. He was also the first head coach to bring two franchises to the Super Bowl and appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, which he accomplished with the Dolphins from 1971 to 1973. Having guided Baltimore to Super Bowl III and Miami to Super Bowl VI, Shula is the only head coach to lead two franchises to their Super Bowl debut. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

Shula was born on January 4, 1930, in Grand River, Ohio, a small town along the Lake Erie shore in the northeastern part of the state. His parents, Dan and Mary Shula (Dénes Süle and Mária Miller), were of Hungarian origin, having immigrated when they were children. Shula's father Dan worked for $9 a week at a rose nursery and saved up to buy the small house where Shula spent his early childhood. The house was next door to a grocery store in Grand River owned by Mary's parents. Shula played football in his neighborhood as a child, but his parents forbade it after he got a gash on his face when he was 11.

Shula had six siblings, including a set of triplets born in 1936. To meet the family's financial needs, his father obtained a job in the local fishing industry for $15 a week, and later worked at a rayon plant in nearby Painesville, Ohio. Shula attended elementary school at St. Mary's, a private Catholic school in Painesville; his mother was a devout Catholic, and his father converted to that denomination when they married.

Shula later attended Harvey High School in Painesville, Ohio, where he played on its football team starting in 1945. He did not try out for the team because of his mother's prohibition and because he was recovering from a bout of pneumonia, but an assistant football coach noticed him in a gym class and convinced him to join. Shula forged his parents' signatures to sign up.

Within weeks of joining Harvey's football team, Shula was a starting left halfback in the school's single-wing offense. He handled a large portion of the team's rushing and passing duties, and helped lead the team to a 7–3 win–loss record in his senior year. It was the first time in 18 years that Harvey High School had had a seven-win season. The team would have won a league title had it not lost an early game to Willoughby. He also ran the 440-yard dash at Harvey and was an 11-time letterman in his three years there.

As Shula prepared to graduate from high school in 1947, many men whose football careers were delayed by service in World War II were returning and competing for college athletic scholarships. As a result, Shula was unable to get a scholarship and contemplated working for a year before going to college. That summer, however, he had a chance meeting at a gas station with former Painesville football coach Howard Bauchman, who suggested he ask about a scholarship at John Carroll University.