the Miami Sports Dude

I think Mike Shula is an okay college coach. BUT, if we’re talking about him taking over the Dolphins head coaching spot, I say no thank you.

I’ve seen polls and read in forums where a lot of fans like the idea of Shula as the coach. I think it’s because of his name. If we were talking about the Dolphins interviewing former Alabama head coach Mike Smith, these same fans would throw their arms in the air and wonder what Wayne Huizenga was smoking.

But the fact is, he’s former Alabama head coach Mike SHULA. And that, I think, is blinding some of these people.

Armando Salguero, who broke the story about Shula being a candidate, says the Dolphins insist that Shula is not among the candidates because of his father, Hall of Famer Don Shula. But the Dolphins have already stated that they’re getting feed back from Don about the head coaching job. Don Shula is advising the Dolphins on their coaching search. Whether or not they’re telling the truth about the relationship between father and son not playing a factor is irrelevant. If Mike is given this job not only will he forever have the cloud of “having this job because of Daddy” hanging over his head for the duration of his tenure here. But he will also have to constantly live under Don’s looming shadow, making the fans’ expectations unreasonable. That’s what’s got these fans who voted for him and talking about him in the forums all lathered up. He’s Don’s boy. His name is Shula. Any other name and we’d all be saying, “Next!”

Now let’s forget this is Don Shula’s son for a second and let’s look at Mike Shula the coach, and why he should NOT be the Dolphins’ next head coach.

After a few NFL stints in Miami and Chicago as quarterbacks coach, Shula made his name as Tony Dungy’s offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay. He was eventually fired when the Bucs’ offense was ranked 21st in the league. He was then given the Alabama job. His time at Bama has been marked with mediocre teams, one good season, and a final season where he “lost” his players – 2006 was marred by a supposed lack of discipline and sloppy play from his players. In 4 seasons with the ‘Tide, Shula's record is 26-23 (4-9, 6-6, 10-2, 6-6).

In the end, his resume and track record leaves very little to be desired.

If, in fact, the Dolphins have narrowed down their search to three candidates -- Chan Gailey, Jim Mora and, now, apparently, Mike Shula -- this team needs to give this job to Jim Mora so it can move on and start planning ahead to the draft and the off-season.

Unless Cam Cameron is still in the mix, Mora needs to be offered the job. Period.

Update 1: Looks like Dad has already made a public statement endorsing Mike. On the Dolphins official website no less! Wow. The Dolphins would be wise to reconsider this whole Mike Shula thing and move on to the other candidates. Salguero, you've been duped.

Update 2: As JD reported in the comments, Cam Cameron is slated for a second interview.

Labels: Dolphins Coach Search, Miami Dolphins