tr1
July-19th-2006, 03:14 PM
Johnson didn't pay much respect to Landry, either.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15069270.htm
DOLPHINS
Healing time for Don Shula
After 11 years in retirement, legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula is now comfortable and excited about the Dolphins in 2006.
By GREG COTE
gcote@miamiherald.com
Don Shula is comfortable again with the football franchise he put on the national map. It hasn't always been so in the 11 years -- can it really be that long? -- since he last coached the Dolphins. For too much of that time, Shula has felt estranged from the club or been disappointed to see it adrift.
Now an enthusiasm that had been missing from his voice comes across as he speaks of the 2006 team that opens training camp next week. Now the patriarch feels something about his club that he hasn't in a long time: excitement. A sense that the stagnation that followed his retirement is over.
''Nick Saban has got 'em headed in the right direction,'' Shula said Tuesday of Miami's second-year coach, ``after about nine years of not heading in the right direction.''
Shula looks good. He is 76. The famous jaw still juts. The Super Bowl ring still shines on his left hand. You can ask him which one of the two he wears. But you shouldn't have to.
''The Perfect Season,'' he says.
Shula disliked Jimmy Johnson, the man who replaced him in 1996, and that might be putting it mildly, and The Don -- ordinarily loath to utter a controversial word -- doesn't care if you know it. He does not mention Johnson by name.
''I didn't admire the guy who took over for me,'' Shula says, as the temperature in the room plummets. ``His four-year record indicated that.''
Johnson did what to Shula is sacrilegious. He turned his back on Dolphins history. In Miami, Dolphins history and Don Shula are the same thing.
''He wanted to forget about everything that had happened,'' says a still-bitter Shula. ``Everything we accomplished.''
MENDING FENCES
Dave Wannstedt came next and put salve on some wounds, welcoming Shula back, respecting the franchise's heritage. But Wannstedt's five seasons didn't move the team forward.
''Wannstedt was a good guy, but he was never able to get it going. He just didn't get it done,'' Shula says. ``Drifting is a good word.''
The old coach gives you the impression that now, with Saban, the coaching reins at last are in the right hands. Qualified hands. Shula is entitled to have a say on his worthy successor. An NFL-record 347 wins, most of them in 26 years with Miami, including those 1972-73 Super Bowls, give him the right.
Shula admires New England's Bill Belichick as much as any coach working, and Saban is a Belichick protégé. Shula likes what he sees. He calls Saban ''no nonsense, no pretense,'' and, from an old-school coach, that's high praise.
(Speaking of old-school mentality, don't get Shula started on Ricky Williams. With a twinkle, he says, ``They need to find a way to keep him from walking around India with an elephant.'')
Shula doesn't agree with everything about Saban, such as not allowing his assistant coaches to speak to the news media, but thinks this might be the coach who can end the club's long championship drought and cause a South Florida celebration that would dwarf the one we just had for the Heat.
Football remains King Sport here, after all. Let there be no doubt.
''Saban looks like he has a knack of getting guys ready to play big games, and, from what I've seen, a great attention to detail,'' Shula says.
The Super Bowl is in Miami this coming season. Can the Dolphins be in it?
''Yeah, coming off six straight wins [to end last season] and looking like they've strengthened their team since then,'' Shula says. ``It looks like they're good enough to contend.''
The coach loves the signing of Daunte Culpepper, presuming full recovery from knee surgery, saying, ``The Culpepper of two, three years ago did everything that as a coach you want your quarterback to do.''
Shula had one of those. Some guy named Dan Marino. Culpepper could be the worthy successor that eluded the club for so long, in much the same way Saban could be.
Shula was at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach when we caught up with him Tuesday, making an appearance on behalf of the work he does to raise awareness about high blood pressure.
Catching up with Shula isn't as easy as it might seem. At his age, he isn't going to outrun you. It's just that, with homes in Miami Beach, the mountains of North Carolina and near golfing heaven in Pebble Beach, Calif., you're never quite sure where he'll be. The best bet is that he'll be busy, with a combined eight children and 16 grandchildren for him and second wife Mary Anne.
...
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15069270.htm
DOLPHINS
Healing time for Don Shula
After 11 years in retirement, legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula is now comfortable and excited about the Dolphins in 2006.
By GREG COTE
gcote@miamiherald.com
Don Shula is comfortable again with the football franchise he put on the national map. It hasn't always been so in the 11 years -- can it really be that long? -- since he last coached the Dolphins. For too much of that time, Shula has felt estranged from the club or been disappointed to see it adrift.
Now an enthusiasm that had been missing from his voice comes across as he speaks of the 2006 team that opens training camp next week. Now the patriarch feels something about his club that he hasn't in a long time: excitement. A sense that the stagnation that followed his retirement is over.
''Nick Saban has got 'em headed in the right direction,'' Shula said Tuesday of Miami's second-year coach, ``after about nine years of not heading in the right direction.''
Shula looks good. He is 76. The famous jaw still juts. The Super Bowl ring still shines on his left hand. You can ask him which one of the two he wears. But you shouldn't have to.
''The Perfect Season,'' he says.
Shula disliked Jimmy Johnson, the man who replaced him in 1996, and that might be putting it mildly, and The Don -- ordinarily loath to utter a controversial word -- doesn't care if you know it. He does not mention Johnson by name.
''I didn't admire the guy who took over for me,'' Shula says, as the temperature in the room plummets. ``His four-year record indicated that.''
Johnson did what to Shula is sacrilegious. He turned his back on Dolphins history. In Miami, Dolphins history and Don Shula are the same thing.
''He wanted to forget about everything that had happened,'' says a still-bitter Shula. ``Everything we accomplished.''
MENDING FENCES
Dave Wannstedt came next and put salve on some wounds, welcoming Shula back, respecting the franchise's heritage. But Wannstedt's five seasons didn't move the team forward.
''Wannstedt was a good guy, but he was never able to get it going. He just didn't get it done,'' Shula says. ``Drifting is a good word.''
The old coach gives you the impression that now, with Saban, the coaching reins at last are in the right hands. Qualified hands. Shula is entitled to have a say on his worthy successor. An NFL-record 347 wins, most of them in 26 years with Miami, including those 1972-73 Super Bowls, give him the right.
Shula admires New England's Bill Belichick as much as any coach working, and Saban is a Belichick protégé. Shula likes what he sees. He calls Saban ''no nonsense, no pretense,'' and, from an old-school coach, that's high praise.
(Speaking of old-school mentality, don't get Shula started on Ricky Williams. With a twinkle, he says, ``They need to find a way to keep him from walking around India with an elephant.'')
Shula doesn't agree with everything about Saban, such as not allowing his assistant coaches to speak to the news media, but thinks this might be the coach who can end the club's long championship drought and cause a South Florida celebration that would dwarf the one we just had for the Heat.
Football remains King Sport here, after all. Let there be no doubt.
''Saban looks like he has a knack of getting guys ready to play big games, and, from what I've seen, a great attention to detail,'' Shula says.
The Super Bowl is in Miami this coming season. Can the Dolphins be in it?
''Yeah, coming off six straight wins [to end last season] and looking like they've strengthened their team since then,'' Shula says. ``It looks like they're good enough to contend.''
The coach loves the signing of Daunte Culpepper, presuming full recovery from knee surgery, saying, ``The Culpepper of two, three years ago did everything that as a coach you want your quarterback to do.''
Shula had one of those. Some guy named Dan Marino. Culpepper could be the worthy successor that eluded the club for so long, in much the same way Saban could be.
Shula was at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach when we caught up with him Tuesday, making an appearance on behalf of the work he does to raise awareness about high blood pressure.
Catching up with Shula isn't as easy as it might seem. At his age, he isn't going to outrun you. It's just that, with homes in Miami Beach, the mountains of North Carolina and near golfing heaven in Pebble Beach, Calif., you're never quite sure where he'll be. The best bet is that he'll be busy, with a combined eight children and 16 grandchildren for him and second wife Mary Anne.
...