It feels like forever ago that the Dolphins and the rest of the football world learned of the passing of the most winning head coach in NFL history — Don Shula. In reality, Shula’s passing was just three months ago on May 4, 2020. And as the Dolphins look to honor Shula’s legacy by returning to the winning ways that were made so regular here under Shula’s watch, they’ve now announced that they will wear his name on their uniforms this season to help commemorate the all-time legend.
The Dolphins’ jersey patch will display his name and the number “347”, marking his career win total that still stands as the highest win total (including playoffs) of any NFL coach.
Shula’s win total is starting to feel the pressure from New England’s Bill Belichick, however — Belichick enters the 2020 season with 304 total wins, 44 shy of breaking Shula’s record. What better way for the Dolphins to help remember Shula and honoring his legacy than to manage to stave off a continued Patriots dynasty? If the Dolphins can push the Patriots into mediocrity, Belichick’s path to surpassing Shula may be pushed beyond Belichick’s desire to coach. After all, at 68 years of age, how much longer will Belichick prowl the sidelines? Miami starting to pick up more wins against the Patriots would be a double dip — it helps align the Dolphins for better AFC East positioning in the here and now and helps give Shula’s win record a better chance of surviving the push from Belichick.
Ultimately, Shula’s work was about much more than wins and losses on the field, even if that is what he’s most commonly remembered for. Shula’s stern disciplinary approach to coaching yielded disciplined teams and forged many great men off the field — and that part of his legacy will live on with Brian Flores, whose first year as the head man in Miami has inspired plenty of confidence that he’s going to do things the right way, just as Shula did. And if Flores has half as much success on the gridiron, that’ll be a pretty darn good start.
