South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula has learned many precious coaching lessons from his father, both growing up and working on his staff.
Don won two Super Bowls during his 26th birthday as a chief coach of the Miami Dolphins. The 1972 team was the first and remains the only team in NFL history to have a perfect season. Thirty years since his retirement, he is still the most winning coach in the history of the history of the League.
Mike worked for his father on the defensive side of the ball during the 1991 and 92 seasons, between stops at Tampa Bay and Chicago.
“My father was great for many reasons, because he was my father, for only one. But he just had such a great perspective and spoke to always go ahead and learn from the past, you can’t change the past, be better because of the past,” said Mike on Thursday, before the South Carolina season opened Virginia Tech.
The young Shula was invited to share what he remembers the approach of his father during this time of the year, in the last days preceding a first match of the season.
“Do you surround good people and trust what you do, because of how you have prepared,” said Mike. “And continue in a way to believe in you and these guys around you. I think it is the things immediately that has stuck to me over the years. I also heard it by other coaches. You must manage the ups and downs, manage the sions and be the same guy every day.”
Mike entered the coache company in 1988, initially as an offensive assistant for the Buccaneers, where he remained for three seasons. Ray Perkins, who also led him Alabamawas the head coach and the attacking coordinator. Perkins, like so many coaches for whom Mike worked, helped influence certain parts of his offensive philosophy.
After working for his father, Mike then spent three seasons in Chicago as a tight coach, where he learned from the attacking coordinator Ron Turner.
Mike returned to Miami in 2000, where he crossed Chan Gailey, who worked as an offensive coordinator of the Dolphins throughout the 2001 season.
After four years as a chief coach of Alabama, Mike landed Jacksonville As a quarter of the quarter from 2007 to 2000. Dirk Colets was the offensive coordinator of the four seasons.
Pat Shurmur I first hired Mike to work for the New York Giants. Mike coordinated the offensive and resulted in quarters in 2018 and 19 while Shurmur was head coach. They spent two more seasons together DenverWhere Shurmur coordinated the offensive and Mike resulted in quarters.
Now Mike is preparing for his second match as an attacking coordinator in South Carolina. The season’s opener is scheduled for Sunday at 3 o’clock against Virginia Tech in Atlanta.
Earlier this week, Shula was asked about how he played scripts for the start of a match.
“I did it in different ways over the years. I have learned very good callers,” said Mike. “There are guys that I went to that were hard for the first games. There are others who were (more) in general and others between the two … We look at him with a few things – these are the things we would like to start the game and then there are other calls. I am not talking about each coordinator, but we have to call on these games at some point.”
We will see how it takes place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“All these guys had their own way of arriving at the same point, so I hope that I learned from all these guys and that I can apply it,” said Mike.
