Rest In Peace, Don Shula

Don Shula died yesterday; he was 90 years old.  Shula is the winningest coach in NFL football; his record in 33 years of coaching was 328-156-6 (winning percentage .677).  Don Shula also played CB in the NFL for 7 seasons before embarking on his coaching career with the Baltimore Colts.  In his 33 years on NFL sidelines, his teams finished below .500 only twice; that is an amazing statistic all by itself.  Another interesting angle to his coaching career is this:

• It began in Baltimore where he replaced Weeb Ewbank who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• It ended in Miami where he was replaced by Jimmy Johnson who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

To put Coach Shula’s record in perspective with regard to current NFL coaches, Bill Belichick has the most wins of the active coaches with 273; Belichick is third on the list of all-time NFL coaches in terms of total wins.  Next among active coaches is Andy Reid with 207 wins; Reid stands seventh on the NFL All-Time wins list.  The next active coach in terms of wins is Pete Carroll with 133 wins standing 23^rd on the All-Time wins list.

Rest in peace, Don Shula.

On the assumption that there will be an NFL season in the Fall, there will be a change in the CBS announcing booth necessitated by the fact that the network did not renew or extend its contract with Dan Fouts as a game analyst.  Fouts will be replaced with Charles Davis who was poached from the FOX stable and Davis will pair with Ian Eagle as the play-by-play guy.  Davis distinguished himself in broadcasting partnerships with Thom Brenneman and Kevin Burkhardt in the past; he is very good behind a microphone; pairing with Ian Eagle gives CBS a potent #2 announcing team behind Jim Nantz and Tony Romo.

While I am generally on the subject of NFL telecasts – and on sports telecast more broadly – there has been speculation that some or all of the sports in the US that we have come to love may return without fans in the stands.  That seems to be the case with NASCAR as it reopens and with the PGA as it plans to reopen.  Maybe that will have to be the case for MLB and the NBA, NHL and even the NFL.  If that is the case, let me suggest there is a silver lining there:

• If there is no “crowd”, the producers and directors “back in the truck” will not be able to show us any “crowd shots”.
• Perhaps, a month or so of such telecasts will wean them away from their obvious addiction to such diversions.  I for one would appreciate sitting down to a three-hour telecast focused exclusively on the players and the game situations.

Also on the assumption that there will be an NFL season in the Fall, the league made two announcements regarding its schedule:

1. The full schedule will be released on Thursday 7 May.
2. All the games will be played in the US; all the international games have been relocated.

Previously, the NFL had planned to play 5 overseas games in 2020; four would have been in London and one in Mexico City.  Those four “London Games” were to be divided between 2 venues there; two in Wembley Stadium where previous London Games had taken place and two in the new stadium built to be the home of the Tottenham Hotspurs in the English Premier League.  The Jags were supposed to be the “home team” for two of those four games; they will now take place in Jax.

I think this is a very smart move on the part of the NFL.  If there is – as some epidemiology folks predict – a “second wave of COVID-19” in the Fall/Winter, there could well be international travel restrictions in place that could ruin the NFL schedule in toto.  There may be travel restrictions in the US but the potential for disaster is reduced.  Imagine the situation where two NFL teams are in London to play on Sunday and on Saturday Night the UK closes its airports to flights going in and out of the country and holds onto that restriction for a couple of weeks.  The fact that I typed that sentence probably gave Roger Goodell a twinge in his shoulder…

Finally, let me close today with three NFL Draft observations:

“But of course: As sung again this year by a chorus of media and team officials, ‘The NFL draft was so strong from top to bottom.’ Cut and paste.”  [Bob Molinaro, Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot]

And…

“Quick hit: If every team gets the players it wanted, why are some franchises on their 12th consecutive rebuilding year?”  [Bob Molinaro again]

And …

“With stay-at-home orders in effect during the NFL draft, wasn’t every lineman technically an interior lineman?”  [Dwight Perry, Seattle Times]

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………