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Can the ‘07 Patriots Match the ‘72 Dolphins? Interview With Legendary Coach Don Shula

by David Kindervater on January 25th, 2008

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL

Don Shula’s record as head coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins (347-173-6) makes him the winningest coach in National Football League history. Of all NFL coaches, only Coach Shula and the immortal George Halas have 300 victories. In Super Bowl VII, the 1972 Dolphins completed their historic 17-0 campaign with a 14-7 win over the Washington Redskins. I was honored to take part in a national conference call with Coach Shula late this afternoon to talk about his ‘72 Dolphins and the New England Patriots’ present-day pursuit of perfection. In-between all the other reporters’ questions, here is my part of that interview.

DAVID: Coach, did you ever think you would see this day when a team was just one win from doing what your Dolphins did in ‘72?

COACH SHULA: You know, it’s hard to say because there were some teams that went 13-0 one year, and I guess 11-0, but to see somebody now 18-0, you’ve got to feel that this is a great football team that’s got a chance to do something no other team has done; that’s go 19-0 and have a perfect season. So it’s interesting and it should be a great Super Bowl.

DAVID: Can you even put into words just how incredibly difficult it is to make it through an entire NFL season without losing a game?

COACH SHULA: Well, when you think about the 50 years before we did it in ‘72, and the 35 years since we’ve done it, that tells you how difficult it is to do because, you know, the league is so highly competitive. And all of the rules in the league are designed for competitive balance. And it’s tougher to stay on top than the struggle to get to the top because the team that finishes last gets the best draft pick, they get the first place on the waivers. Everything is done to keep the team from having a dynasty and staying on top, and that’s why it’s so remarkable when a team does stay on top for a period of time. New England, winning three out of the last six Super Bowls, I think that’s remarkable.

DAVID: Were you drained at the end of your undefeated season? I mean, were you glad you didn’t have another game at the end or did you feel like you wanted to play more?

COACH SHULA: Yeah, you always feel like you want to play more. When you have it going like that, it’s just magical and when you do something that nobody else has ever done; it just makes it that much more significant and you just feel that much more proud of your accomplishments. You want to keep playing and you want to keep winning.

DAVID: What similarities do you see between your ‘72 Dolphins and this season’s Patriots?

COACH SHULA: I think the similarities are we were a team that just didn’t make many mistakes and we didn’t beat ourselves. When you look at the Patriots, they are a team that just doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. I don’t think they ever have been accused of beating themselves or not being prepared. They do a great job. I think they are a much more wide-open football team with Tom Brady as the quarterback than we were with Bob Griese and Earl Morrall. We played more of a ball-control style of offense, and they are wide open. Brady will just let it fly. Against Jacksonville, he was 26 out of 28 with one dropped ball. A lot of them were just short passes, but that’s what Jacksonville was giving them and Brady had the intelligence and the patience to sit back there and just take what they were giving him and methodically move down the field and to not make any mistakes.

DAVID: It’s been 12 years since you retired. What do you miss most about coaching?

COACH SHULA: The thing I miss most about coaching is game day. You know, the excitement, the adrenaline, the decision-making on game day and the emotional highs and lows that you’re on and above all, that feeling of satisfaction if and when you win the game. And especially what I liked more than anything in my coaching career was having a lot of respect for the coach that I was coaching against and the team that we are playing against; and then to end up being the winner in that game, because it made you feel that much better about your accomplishment, because you knew that you were beating a good coach and you knew that you were beating a good team.

AP Photo/File

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POSTED IN: Interviews, Miami Dolphins