Don Shula

Don Shula

Lake County native, Painesville Harvey and John Carroll graduate and Cleveland Browns defensive back who became the winningest coach in NFL history (347 wins) and coached the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Born January 4, 1930, Grand River
Died May 4, 2020, Indian Creek, Florida

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: January 4, 1930, Grand River (Lake County) source
Died: May 4, 2020, Indian Creek, Florida source
Buried: Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery (main mausoleum), Doral, Florida source
Also known as: Don Shula
Education: Harvey High School, Painesville, OH
: John Carroll University, University Heights, OH, to 1951, sociology
Known as: Sports
Organizations: Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns

Life story

Don Shula was born in Grand River, Ohio, in 1930 to Hungarian immigrant parents. At Harvey High School in Painesville he started football in 1945 by forging parental signatures on the permission form. He earned a scholarship to John Carroll University and graduated in 1951 with a sociology degree.

The Cleveland Browns drafted him in the ninth round in 1951. After 11 months in the Ohio Army National Guard in 1952 he turned to coaching, starting at the University of Virginia in 1958. He became the Baltimore Colts' head coach at 33 in 1963 and joined the Dolphins in 1970.

In 1972 Miami went 17-0, the only perfect season in NFL history. He coached through 1995, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1997, and died in 2020. Don Shula Stadium at John Carroll University opened in 2003.

Ohio ties

Grand River (1930-1940s)
birthplace and boyhood home on River Street; summer work on his father's fishing boat on Lake Erie Lake County · source
Painesville (1930s-1947)
St. Mary's elementary school, then Thomas W. Harvey High School; halfback in the single wing and 11-time letterman Lake County · source
John Carroll University, University Heights (1947-1951)
halfback on scholarship; sociology major with a mathematics minor Cuyahoga County · source
Cleveland (1951-1952)
defensive back for Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns; turned down a $3,750 teaching and coaching job at Canton Lincoln High School Cuyahoga County · source
Ohio Army National Guard (1952)
11 months of active duty during the Korean War, in Ohio and at Fort Polk, Louisiana source
Case Western Reserve University (as Wikipedia names it), Cleveland (1953)
completed a master's degree in physical education Cuyahoga County · source
Canton (1997)
enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Stark County · source

Timeline

1930 Born January 4 in Grand River. source
1941 His parents forbade football after he cut his face in a neighbourhood game at 11. source
1945 Joined Harvey High School's team in Painesville after forging his parents' signatures, and soon started at left halfback. source
1946 Named an all-state quarterback as a Harvey senior. source
1947 A chance meeting at a gas station with former Painesville coach Howard Bauchman led to a scholarship at John Carroll under new coach Herb Eisele. source
1948 Ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns as a substitute in a win over Youngstown, earning a full scholarship. source
1951 Graduated from John Carroll and was drafted in the ninth round (110th overall) by the Cleveland Browns, one of two rookies, with teammate Carl Taseff, to make the 11-1 team. source
1952 His Ohio Army National Guard unit was activated in January for the Korean War; he returned to the Browns in November and played in a second straight championship game. source
1953 Traded on March 26 to the Baltimore Colts in a 15-player deal. source
1963 Became head coach of the Baltimore Colts at 33. source
1964 His Colts lost the NFL championship game 27-0 to the Browns, coached by his old position coach Blanton Collier, in Cleveland's last title. source
1968 The Colts beat the Browns 34-0 for the NFL title, then lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets. source
1972 Coached the Miami Dolphins to a 17-0 season, the only perfect season in NFL history, ending with a 14-7 win over Washington in Super Bowl VII. source
1995 Retired after 33 seasons as the winningest NFL head coach, 347-173-6. source
1997 Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton in his first year of eligibility. source
2003 John Carroll dedicated Don Shula Stadium at Wasmer Field on September 27. source
2020 Died May 4 at his home in Indian Creek, Florida, aged 90. source

What Don is known for

347 career wins, NFL record when he retired
Led Miami to the only perfect NFL season, 1972 (17-0)
Super Bowl VII and VIII champion; Pro Football Hall of Fame 1997
347 career wins
1972 perfect season

Stories

Low on gas in 1947

Shula finished at Harvey High School in Painesville in 1947, when returning World War II veterans were taking most college football scholarships. With no offers, he planned to work for a year. That summer he pulled into a gas station and met Howard Bauchman, who had coached at Painesville and was now at Cleveland Heights. Bauchman told him not to wait and set up an interview with his friend Herb Eisele, the new head coach at John Carroll. Eisele offered tuition for one year and a full scholarship if he did well, and after a strong freshman season he got it. 'I think about needing gas that day a lot,' Shula told the News-Herald at 80.

Source

A fisherman's son who got seasick

Grand River, Shula said, was a small fishing village of about 500 people, where commercial fish houses sent boats out to lift nets on Lake Erie and came back with two tons of fish. His father was a commercial fisherman, and one of Shula's first summer jobs was on the boat, learning to fillet, pack and ice the catch for shipping. He never got used to the rough water and was often seasick. Years later, when people in Miami offered to take him deep-sea fishing, he said he had had enough of seasickness. The white two-storey house he grew up in still stood on River Street in 2010.

Source

Why Paul Brown took a small-college back

In 1951 Shula had a job offer to teach and coach at Canton Lincoln High School for $3,750 a year. Then Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns, the defending NFL champions, drafted him and his John Carroll teammate Carl Taseff. John Carroll coach Herb Eisele had attended Brown's coaching clinics and used Brown's terminology, so Brown knew the two would learn his playbook quickly. The Browns offered $5,000, and Shula decided to 'shoot for the moon.' Both made the team as its only rookies. Shula later said Brown, who taught by having players write down every word he dictated, influenced him more than any other coach.

Source

Honors and things named for them

Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1997
Don Shula Stadium, John Carroll University (2003)
Don Shula Expressway, Miami (1983)
Statue at Hard Rock Stadium (2010)
Shula Bowl

Named for Don Shula

Don Shula Stadium at Wasmer Field, John Carroll University (University Heights, Cuyahoga County) source
Don Shula Chair in Philosophy, John Carroll University (endowed by Shula) (University Heights, Cuyahoga County) source

Family

parents: Dan and Mary Shula
wife: Dorothy Bartish (d. 1991)
wife: Mary Anne Stephens (m. 1993)

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Don Shula Stadium at Wasmer Field, John Carroll University
University Heights Cuyahoga County · source
2 Thomas W. Harvey High School
Painesville Lake County · source
Shula boyhood home, River Street, Grand River (private)
Grand River Lake County · source
3 Cleveland Stadium (Browns home field 1951-1952) (demolished)
Cleveland Cuyahoga County · source
4 Pro Football Hall of Fame (Shula bust, 1997)
Canton Stark County · source

Places in Ohio to see

Don Shula Stadium, John Carroll University (park)
1 John Carroll Blvd, University Heights, Cuyahoga County ZIP 44118 (approximate) · University Heights · Cuyahoga County · official page

Ohio places

Where Don Shula was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: Grand River, Lake County ZIP 44045 · Grand River · Lake County
School: Painesville (Harvey High School), Lake County ZIP 44077 · Painesville · Lake County
School: University Heights (John Carroll University), Cuyahoga County ZIP 44118 · University Heights · Cuyahoga County
Worked: Cleveland (Browns player), Cuyahoga County ZIP 44114 · Cleveland · Cuyahoga County

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Don Shula at 80: From Harvey to Hall, by Jeff Schudel (News-Herald, July 18, 2010), interview on his Lake County boyhood 2010, The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio)
Ohio National Guard photograph of Sgt. Don Shula, 1952 1952, Ohio National Guard Historical Collections (via Wikimedia Commons)

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

090711-N-0696M-252 Hall of Fame NFL coach Don Shula addresses the crew of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN76) underway i...
Public domain
Hall of Fame National Football League coach Don Shula addresses the crew of the USS Ronald Reagan underway in ...
Public domain
National Football League (NFL) hall of fame coach Don Shula addresses the crew of aircraft carrier USS Ronald ...
Public domain
National Football League (NFL) hall of fame coach Don Shula addresses the crew of aircraft carrier USS Ronald ...
Public domain
National Football League (NFL) hall of fame coach Don Shula addresses the crew of aircraft carrier USS Ronald ...
Public domain
L-R: Sheriff Nick Navarro, Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula, sports journalist Howard Cosell and unidentifi...
Public domain
GULF OF OMAN (July 13, 2009) Former NFL head coach Don Shula addresses the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Ro...
Public domain
Matchbook from Shula's Steakhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, circa 1990.
Shula's Steakhouse / CC BY 3.0
Don Shula's bronze bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Jg772010 / CC BY-SA 4.0
Don Shula & Mary Anne Shula at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival presentation of "An Unbreakable ...
MiamiFilmFestival / CC BY-SA 2.0
Don Shula & Mary Anne Shula at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival presentation of "An Unbreakable ...
MiamiFilmFestival / CC BY-SA 2.0
Don Shula & Mary Anne Shula at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival presentation of "An Unbreakable ...
MiamiFilmFestival / CC BY-SA 2.0