The Dolphins had a combined 15 – 39 – 2 record in their first four seasons ( under head coach George Wilson and behind QB Bob Griese 1967 when Don Shula was hired as head coach.

Shula was a former Paul Brown disciple who had been lured from the Baltimore Colts after first losing Super Bowl III two seasons earlier to the AFL's New York Jets and finishing 8 – 5 – 1 the following season.

The farthest advance Miami had in the third quarter was to its own 42-yard line as Griese and the offense were, said Shula, " destroyed.

Morrall had previously played for Dolphins head coach Don Shula when they were both with the Baltimore Colts, where Morrall backed up quarterback Johnny Unitas and started in Super Bowl III.

Don Shula said of Schramm, " I truly believe he had as much, or more, to do with the success of professional football as anyone who has ever been connected with the league.

Shula simply turned to Bob at halftime and asked him, “ Are you ready ?” to Griese ’ s reply, “ Yes, I ’ m ready .” With that, Bob took the field and responded as if he had never been away, leading the Dolphins to a convincing win and their second straight Super Bowl appearance.

In 1976, the Dolphins were beset with many injuries, and the team finished with a 6-8 record, the first time Don Shula had ever suffered a losing season in his career ( which went back to 1963 ).

Shula only had two losing seasons in his 36-year career of coaching in the NFL.

Shula had a 2-4 record in his six Super Bowl appearances.

Together they had five children — including former Alabama coach Mike Shula and former Cincinnati Bengals coach Dave Shula.

The Dolphins ' secondary did not have the speed to cover Curtis, and had Don Shula push, bump and hold him.

Dolphins coach Don Shula later explained the team had practiced the play before, but had never used it in a game because in practice it had never worked.

Beginning with the 1972 season, he had to share halfback duties with other players, most notably Mercury Morris, as Shula decided a faster back would better complement Csonka.

For most of their early history, the Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the most successful head coach in professional football history in terms of total games won.

Grand River is the hometown of Don Shula, a former professional football coach for the National Football League, who coached the Miami Dolphins to two Super Bowl victories, and an undefeated season in 1972.

After three non-playoff seasons, the 1964 Browns ' team would finish 10 – 3 – 1 and appear in the 1964 NFL Championship Game against a heavily favored Don Shula coached Baltimore Colts team with Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas as its signal caller.

Duhe, Don Strock, Jim Kiick, John Offerdahl, Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Melvin Bratton, Brian Blades, Bennie Blades and Eddie Brown. The Final Days The NFL's winningest coach Don Shula coached the Dolphin players while Florida Atlantic University and former Hurricanes coach ( and former Dolphins assistant ) Howard Schnellenberger coached the UM players.

Shula also holds the distinction of having coached five different quarterbacks to Super Bowl appearances ( John Unitas and Earl Morrall in 1968, Bob Griese in 1971, 1972 and 1973, David Woodley in 1982 and Dan Marino in 1984 ) three of them ( Unitas, Griese and Marino ) future Hall of Famers.

Coslet returned to the Bengals, who were now coached by Dave Shula, and retook his offensive coordinator position.

Following the two championships in 1958 and 1959, the Colts did not return to the NFL Championship for four seasons and saw a transition from head coach Ewbank to a young Don Shula in 1963.

However, in 1968 the Colts returned with the continued leadership of Unitas and Shula and went onto win the Colts ' third NFL Championship and made an appearance in Super Bowl III.

When Shula replaced Wilson at Miami the Colts charged the Dolphins with tampering in their hiring of Shula, costing the Dolphins their first round draft pick in 1971.

The Colts did well under Shula, losing to the Cleveland Browns in the 1964 NFL Championship Game and, in 1965, losing in overtime to the Green Bay Packers in a tiebreaking game to decide the NFL Western Division championship.

In 1968 Shula and the Colts were considered a favorite to win the NFL championship, which carried with it a berth what was becoming popularly known as the Super Bowl against the AFL champion.

His performance was so impressive that Colts coach Don Shula decided to keep Morrall in the starting lineup after Unitas was healthy enough to play.

Dolphin owner Joe Robbie brought in Don Shula from the Baltimore Colts in 1970, and immediately the Dolphins ' personality and fortunes turned.

In came Earl Morrall, fresh off the waiver wire from Shula ’ s former team, the Baltimore Colts.

Under Shula, the Dolphins were an impressive 57 – 9 – 1 ( 60 – 10 – 1 including playoff contests ) against the Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts ( 15 – 3 ), the Boston / New England Patriots ( 15 – 1 ), the Buffalo Bills ( 16 – 1 ) and the New York Jets ( 13 – 4 – 1 ).

The Colts traded T Mike McCormack, DT Don Colo, LB Tom Catlin, DB John Petitbon, and G Herschell Forester to the Browns for Shula, DB Bert Rechichar, DB Carl Taseff, LB Ed Sharkey, E Gern Nagler, QB Harry Agganis, T Dick Batten, T Stu Sheets, G Art Spinney, and G Elmer Willhoite.

Shula and Taseff were teammates at John Carroll, with the Browns and with the Colts.

After Ewbank left the Baltimore Colts to coach the New York Jets in 1963, Shula was hired by Colts ' owner Carroll Rosenbloom to coach Baltimore.

Shula took the controls and led the Colts to an 8 – 6 record in 1963.

He contacted Don Shula ( a Baltimore Colts player at the time ), John Gordy of the Detroit Lions, Frank Gifford and Sam Huff of the New York Giants, and Norm Van Brocklin of the Los Angeles Rams to aid in the development of the association.

On December 23, 2007, with a win over the Houston Texans, Dungy won his 72nd game as Colts head coach, passing Don Shula to become the winningest coach in franchise history.

* Don Shula, former Baltimore Colts player, later coach of the Miami Dolphins

< TR >< TD align =" center "> 1968 </ TD >< TD align =" center "> Hank Stram </ TD >< TD align =" center "> Kansas City Chiefs </ TD >< TD align =" center "> Don Shula </ TD >< TD align =" center "> Baltimore Colts </ TD ></ TR >

Each school's first head coach has previous ties to Don Shula.

During practice the day before Super Bowl VII, the Dolphins ' five foot seven, 150 pound kicker, Garo Yepremian, relaxed by throwing 30-yard passes to David Shula, Don Shula's son.

In his seven NFL seasons, Shula played in 73 games, intercepted 21 passes and also recovered four fumbles.

Shula played with Baltimore for four seasons before finishing his playing career for one season with the Washington Redskins.

Shula set numerous records in his 33 seasons as a head coach.

After Michigan, Moeller was hired in June 1995 by the Cincinnati Bengals as tight ends coach under head coach David Shula and spent two seasons there.