Mike Shula

Head Coach

*First Year at Alabama (May 9, 2003)

Mike Shula comes into the job as head coach at Alabama well aware that there is work to be done, but with his thoughts to the future. For the former Tide quarterback, the circle was completed on May 8, 2003 when he was named by athletics director Mal Moore as the Tide's 26th head football coach.

Shula understands the pressures and expectations of coaching at a school like Alabama and that was one of the factors that attracted him back to the Capstone.

"It is with a great deal of pleasure that I announce that we have selected Mike Shula as our new head football coach," Moore said. "Mike brings a mixture of youth and experience to our program, while at the same time, a 15-year career in the NFL has prepared him for the step he is taking today.

"It was that mix of enthusiasm, experience and ties to The University of Alabama that made Mike the perfect fit for this job. "

"I am obviously excited about this job," Shula said. "There is a bright future ahead for Alabama, especially with the new construction plans for the addition to the Football Building, the new weight room and the renovation of Bryant Hall. These new facilities will all be great recruiting tools for this program and this staff. I am thrilled to once again be a part of Alabama football."

At 38-years old, Shula is the youngest head football coach in Alabama's modern era of football and the youngest since the hiring of Wallace Wade in 1923 at the age of 31 and Frank Thomas in 1931 at 33 years old. Both Wade and Thomas went on to win national championships. Wade won two national titles before turning 37. Coach Thomas was 36 when the 1934 title was claimed. Alabama's most famous coach, Paul W. Bryant, was 32 years old when he accepted his first head football coaching position at the University of Maryland. Shula is also currently the youngest head football coach in the SEC.

He is currently the second-youngest Division 1A head coach, a year and two days older than Rutgers’ Greg Schianno.

For Shula, the first step was selection of a staff and he quickly went to work to bring his former coach, Dave Rader, on board to be offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Dave Ungerer was hired next to tutor the tight ends and special teams and then former Alabama assistant Charlie Harbison eas selected to coach the receivers.

With just 115 days between his hire and the season opener on Aug. 30 against South Florida, Shula and his staff wasted no time in preparation. Vacations were cut short and the midnight oil burned at the Football Complex as the Tide coaches worked endlessly on offensive and defensive game plans.

Shula spent the last two seasons as quarterback coach for the Miami Dolphins, after being named to that position by head coach Dave Wannstedt on Feb. 7, 2000. It marked Shula's second stint with the Dolphins after serving as a coaches' assistant from 1991-92. It was also his second stint with Wannstedt after working as tight ends coach with the Chicago Bears from 1993-95.

In Shula's two seasons as quarterbacks coach, Jay Fiedler led the Dolphins to a 21-10 record as a starter. Last year, he completed 60.7% of his passes, and threw for 3,290 yards and 20 touchdowns. He became just the second quarterback in club history to surpass the 3,000-yard passing mark in a season and the third to tally 20 touchdown passes. His completion percentage was the highest by a Dolphin (min. 75 completions) since 1995.

Shula re-joined the Dolphins organization after spending the previous four years (1996-99) as offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs qualified for the playoffs in two of Shula's four seasons,and in 1999 won the NFC Central Division and reached the NFC Championship game. Shula got his initial NFL coaching post in 1988 with the Bucs as an offensive assistant. He was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 1990, and spent one year in that post.

Shula was a four-year letterman (1983-86) as a quarterback for the Crimson Tide, and finished his career with a 32-15-1 record, all under Ray Perkins. He was a starter in each of his final three seasons. Shula finished his Tide career completing 313 of 578 passes for 4,069 yards, 35 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.

He is best remembered for leading the Tide to a 20-16 win over Georgia in Athens on Sept. 2, 1985. It was the opening game of the season and the night game was carried nationally by ABC-TV. Down 16-13 with just 50 seconds remaining in the game, Shula marched the Tide 71 yards in five plays for the winning touchdown. Shula threw 17-yards to flanker Al Bell for the score, his second TD pass of the evening.

Perhaps his biggest wins were against Southern Cal (24-3) in the 1985 Aloha Bowl, Ohio State (16-10) in the Kickoff Classic, Notre Dame (28-10) and Washington (28-6) in the Sun Bowl, all in the 1986 season. The win over Notre Dame is the Tide's only win over the Fighting Irish.

He was an All-SEC selection as a junior and led the Crimson Tide to victories in the Aloha Bowl and Sun Bowl in his final two seasons. As a junior, he became only the second Alabama quarterback ever to throw for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

He earned his bachelor's degree in labor relations from Alabama. Shula was a 12th-round draft choice of Tampa Bay in 1987 and was on the Bucs' roster for part of the '87 season.

Shula is the son of former Dolphins head coach Don Shula (1970-95), the winningest coach in NFL history and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mike prepped at Miami's Columbus High School where he was an all-state performer his senior season when he led the school to the state championship game. He also earned all-state accolades as a senior.

He was born on June 3, 1965, in Baltimore, Md. Shula and his wife, Shari, have a daughter, Samantha and are expecting their second child this fall.