Phinatics.com

Coach Don Shula
06/27/02

Don Shula was coach of the Miami Dolphins from 1970-1995. His accomplishments include:
Career Record: 347-173-6 (.665), Winningest Coach in NFL History, Coach of 2 Miami Dolphins Super Bowl Championship teams, Coach of the only UNDEFEATED team in NFL history -- the 1972 Dolphins, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year 1993, Hall of Fame induction: 1997 (Unanimous selection, first year of eligibility).

Phinatics.com had the privilege of interviewing Coach Shula at the 2002 NFLPA Celebrity Pro-AM Championship in Old Hickory, TN at The Hermitage Golf Course. The tournament is sponsored by the ASGA. For more information, including a schedule of events, please visit their web site at www.ASGATour.com.

A special thanks goes out to Steve Brodsky and the rest of the ASGA for their hospitality.

phinatics.com: Do you play a lot of golf?
Don Shula: I do; now that I've retired from coaching I've had the opportunity to play year round. Previous to that I would ... always with training camp open ... I'd put my clubs away and never even think about golf until the season was over hopefully after the Super Bowl. But, since I've been out of coaching, I get a chance to play year round. I live on a golf course in Miami, and I have a home on a golf course in North Carolina, and we go out to California and play some on those golf courses.

phinatics.com: Do you normally shoot a 72?
Don Shula: (Laughs) No, I am a bogey golfer on a good day and a good golf course. If I can break 90, I'm very happy.

phinatics.com: Dan Marino plays golf very well; have you had a chance to play golf with him?
Don Shula: I played in a tournament with him about a couple of months ago. It's unbelievable how far he's hitting the ball. He's also a good chipper and putter. He's a 2 or 3 handicap; my handicap is 18.

phinatics.com: Do you use that long golf putter like he does?
Don Shula: No. Dan likes that long putter; he says it really helps him. He's sold on it and I know he's very happy with the long putter.

phinatics.com: You're getting to have some fun today, but do you spend most of your spare time on the restaurant business?
Don Shula: No, I really don't spend a lot of time on it. I go to the openings, and I go to promotional activities with the restaurant business. My son Dave is responsible for the day to day operations of our steak houses. We have 24 now, and we're opening the 25th in Times Square in New York in November.

phinatics.com: Since Dave Wannstedt has been the coach of the Dolphins you have visited practice a few times. Do you just observe or do you offer some ideas?
Don Shula: I go out there to watch the practice, and you know, if we're talking about a player or a play, we discuss it. It's mostly just going out as a spectator and getting caught up on the new personnel.

phinatics.com: From what you've seen so far, what do you think about the Dolphins chances this season, and has Ricky Williams impressed you?
Don Shula: I think they're excited about their chances. They've won 22 games in the last 2 years. They've won 11 regular season games each year. There's only one team in football that has won more games in the last 2 year period and that's the Rams . . . they've won 24. So, I think they are a definitely a team that is looking forward to it. I think they feel that Ricky is the missing piece of the puzzle and hopefully will be.

phinatics.com: They have a great backfield, a thinking QB, and a great defense. Do you think this team is more like an early Don Shula team than a later Don Shula team?
Don Shula: I think you are going to have to see what happens. I think it's going to depend on how Ricky Williams fits in, and how much they give him the ball, and what he does with it after he gets it. My early teams, you know I had Csonka and he was such a strength, that enabled us to do the play pass and then throw the ball occasionally. And then later with Marino we threw the ball, but we never did get the running game to compliment his great passing.

phinatics.com: Rumor was that you were offered a position with the Cleveland franchise. Was that true, and if yes, why did you decide not to take the position?
Don Shula: When I first got out of coaching Art Modell was interested in having me come up with the Baltimore Ravens. I wasn't ready to come back into it at the time, and then later the Nolans' were trying to buy the Browns and get the franchise, and I was in that group and we came in second. I would have been happy going back to Cleveland and helping football get reestablished in Cleveland.

phinatics.com: It's the Super Bowl and you need a touchdown. Your team is on the 10 yard line with one timeout and one minute to go in the game. Would you take Unitas, Griese, or Marino? Who do you pick and why?
Don Shula: That's just such a tough question because all of them have been great. Unitas invented the 2 minute drill, Griese knew how to get the football into the endzone, and nobody did it better than Dan Marino. So, there's no easy answer to that.

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