And adios, Mexico and England.  There will be only one nation in the National Football League in that 2020 schedule.  Here is the announcement from the NFL and its international partners.

The National Football League announced today that it will schedule all 2020 games in the United States in order for the entire season to be played in NFL teams’ stadia under consistent protocols focused on the well-being of players, personnel and fans. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made this decision after consultation with our clubs, national and local governments, the NFL Players Association, medical authorities and international stadium partners.

“After considerable analysis, we believe the decision to play all our games domestically this season is the right one for our players, our clubs, and all our fans in the US, Mexico and UK,” said NFL Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Christopher Halpin. “We greatly appreciate the support of our governmental and stadium partners in Mexico and the United Kingdom, who all agree with this decision, and we look forward to returning for games in both countries in the 2021 season.

“We also thank our incredible fans in those territories for their passionate support of the NFL. We will continue to serve them through our outstanding media partners and by being active supporters of both grassroots football and COVID-19 relief efforts in Mexico and the UK.”

The NFL had been planning to play one game in Mexico City at Azteca Stadium and four games in London – two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and two at Wembley Stadium – during the 2020 season. The Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins had all previously announced that they would be home teams for International Series Games in 2020. These teams will now play all of their home games this season at their home stadia in the United States.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “While the NFL’s many fans in London, the UK and Europe will obviously be disappointed by this news, it is absolutely the right decision to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the sport. I know that the NFL remains fully committed to London and I look forward to welcoming NFL teams back to the capital in 2021.”

Alistair Kirkwood, Managing Director of NFL UK, said: “The NFL’s London Games have become a major part of the NFL season and the UK sports calendar. But the uncertainty in the current sporting landscape and the tremendous amount of long-term travel and planning required to stage successful London Games mean this is the sensible decision to make.

“Ahead of our games returning next season, we will continue to strengthen our ties to the UK community this season through programmes such as NFL Flag and the NFL Academy.”

Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Daniel Levy said: “We fully appreciate the difficult decision that the NFL has had to make, given the unprecedented circumstances everyone around the world is facing. We were overwhelmed with the response we received from everyone at the inaugural NFL matches in Tottenham last year at our new stadium – the sport’s only purpose-built stadium outside of the United States – and we were proud to deliver world-class facilities for the NFL family.

“We look forward to welcoming everyone from the NFL back to Tottenham in 2021 as we further develop our unique partnership and create even more memorable game days. Until then, we wish the NFL a successful season ahead and send our sincere thoughts and well-wishes to everyone who has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Mark Burrows, The FA’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Wembley Stadium has had the privilege of hosting NFL games for the past 13 consecutive seasons, and they are undoubtedly one of the highlights of the stadium’s calendar. We were of course looking forward to welcoming teams back to Wembley this autumn – in particular, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were due to be the first NFL team to play back-to-back international games here in London.

“However, we understand the challenges that sports across the world are facing as a result of this crisis and, as a valued partner, we fully support the NFL in their decision to schedule all games in the US this year. We wish them every success for the new season and stand ready to welcome the NFL back to our iconic venue in the near future.”

GREEN BAY

Some more thoughts from Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com on the peculiar pattern of QB decisions in Green Bay, perhaps stemming from the lack of an owner in the draft room:

Green Bay’s stunning decision to trade up four spots to take a first-round flier on quarterback Jordan Love raises many questions. Here’s one that Simms and I discussed on Monday’s PFTOT: Would a traditional owner have allowed G.M. Brian Gutekunst to make the move?

To answer the question, which was smartly raised by Simms, of whether an owner would have answered the “can we trade up for Jordan Love?” question with a “hell no,” it’s important to remember the question that Gutekunst would have posed to an owner less than 20 months earlier: “Can we sign Aaron Ridgers, who has two years left under contract, to a four-year extension?”

More specifically, can we give Aaron a $57.5 million signing bonus? Can we pay him $66.9 million through the 2018 season? Can we pay him $81.9 million through the 2019 season?

Yes, the Packers have paid Rodgers nearly $82 million for two years of football, in order to have the right to employ him for four seasons beyond that. Now, those four seasons will at best coincide with the four years of Love’s rookie contract.

Would an owner who green-lit a major late-career investment in Green Bay’s franchise quarterback have also approved the acquisition of his likely successor so soon thereafter? Maybe some would have, but others definitely would have refused. If there were misgivings about Rodgers’ longevity, the Packers should have simply dogpaddled through the final two years of his prior contract and then tagged him or signed him now, at the age of 36. It’s difficult if not impossible to harmonize signing him to a six-year contract in August 2018 with selecting the guy who presumably will take over for Rodgers at some point during the four years of the extension that was tacked onto Rodgers’ prior deal.

Of course, Gutekunst didn’t have unfettered discretion, even without an owner. He surely sought, and received, the approval of CEO Mark Murphy. And Murphy had no qualms about making a move that doesn’t quite mesh with the decision to give Rodgers a massive contract.

Then again, maybe Murphy thinks that having Love on the roster will coax even better play out of Rodgers. Indeed, it was Murphy who embraced the potential friction flowing from the Tyler Dunne article that, among other things, characterized Murphy as telling Rodgers “don’t be the problem” and claimed that Murphy had become weary of Rodgers’ “diva stuff.”

“I think this is going to be great motivation for [Rodgers] and the team,” said Murphy at the time in response to the storm of something other than sand created by Dunne’s article. “You hate to have your dirty laundry aired but I do think it’s going to be a positive.”

And it was. The Packers went 13-3 and nearly got to the Super Bowl. So if a little dysfunction is good, maybe a lot is better — and maybe this whole thing was designed to give Rodgers a reason to finish his career with a full-on sprint.

It’s still an all-in play that carries plenty of risk, including a very real chance that, after the 2020 season, Rodgers will begin to clamor for a trade to a team with an owner who wouldn’t make a major investment in Rodgers and then turn around not very long after doing so and undermine him.

DALLAS

Will QB COOPER RUSH get a job before CAM NEWTON?  David Helman ofDallasCowboys.com:

The quarterback news keeps coming.

Less than 48 hours after they signed Andy Dalton, the Cowboys have released Cooper Rush, clearing up the quarterback depth chart just a bit.

The decision to sign Dalton didn’t look like good news for Rush, who was slated to play this season on a one-year, $2.1 million tender. That’s a hefty price tag for a third-string quarterback, and it seemed fairly obvious that Dalton, a nine-year veteran and a three-time Pro Bowler, would take Rush’s place as the Cowboys’ backup.

A four-year starter at Central Michigan, the Cowboys found Rush as an undrafted free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft. They took him to training camp alongside Luke McCown and Zac Dysert, where he competed to be the team’s third quarterback behind Dak Prescott and Kellen Moore.

When Moore was eventually released during the 2017 season, Rush moved into the backup role, where he had remained until now.

Thanks to Prescott’s durability, that hasn’t meant much in the way of playing time outside the preseason. In almost three full seasons as the Cowboys’ backup, Rush had appeared in just five games, completing one of just three pass attempts for two yards.

That lack of experience is likely part of the reason why the Cowboys moved to sign Dalton. In nine seasons as the Bengals’ signal-caller, Dalton started 133 games and threw for 31,594 yards and 204 touchdowns.

We wondered if the club with 30,000 passing yards and 200 TD passes was a small, medium or large number of QBs?  Under 50 we would think, maybe under 40.

So we did a sort – and the answer is 39 QBs are in the club with RUSSELL WILSON knocking on the door with 29,734 yards to go with 227 TD passes.  CAM NEWTON would need to throw for about 1,000 more yards and 18 TD passes.  Dalton is one of 12 active QBs in the club with RYAN FITZPATRICK probably the most surprising member (also ALEX SMITH and JOE FLACCO, if indeed either is truly “active”).

HOUSTON

The Texans are the first, of what probably will be many, to look to hire a “hygiene coordinator.”  Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com:

The Houston Texans plan to hire a facility hygiene coordinator, executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby told Sports Business Journal.

According to SBJ, this employee, who will “run coronavirus risk mitigation” throughout the Texans’ facilities, is the “first known case of a major U.S. pro sports team hiring a dedicated industrial hygiene expert.”

The person hired will report to Texans coordinator of medical administration Geoff Kaplan, and according to Easterby, “will be expected to swiftly implement new virus-protection protocols that are expected to be put in place by the NFL or public health organizations.”

Houston is currently holding its virtual offseason program that is scheduled to go through May 15. The Texans’ facility, along with every other NFL team facility, is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, head coach Bill O’Brien said the team planned to hold meetings through Zoom, and use Discord to show film to players.

Easterby told SBJ that because the Texans do not own NRG Stadium, the person hired will mostly focus on the offices and practice facilities owned by the team, but will also “contribute to decisions made by the stadium partners.”

INDIANAPOLIS

Oft-injured S MALIK HOOKER joins the growing ranks of members of the Class of 2017’s first round to be have his fifth-year option denied.

Following his third NFL season, Hooker received mixed reviews from general manager Chris Ballard.

“Malik was solid,” Ballard said during a sprawling 72-minute news conference in January. “Wouldn’t say he was great. He was solid. He had some moments of being really good. And I thought he tailed off a little bit there at the end.”

In the months to follow Ballard declined to discuss the team’s plans for Hooker, who appeared in some trade rumors ahead of last week’s NFL draft — the same draft in which the Colts selected safety Julian Blackmon in the third round.

Hooker finished last season with a career-high 51 tackles, one for a loss, along with two interceptions and three passes defended in 13 games. He has yet to a play full 16-game slate (34 of 48 possible games) and played much of last season at less than 100%.

After he suffered a torn meniscus Week 3 against Atlanta, it was initially reported he could miss 4-6 weeks. Hooker made sure it was the short side of that projection, sitting out only three games (with a bye week included) and returning Week 8. He played every defensive snap in the final six weeks of the season.

“Last year, I really felt like Malik had a really good year,” coach Frank Reich said Monday before the decision was made. “You could really feel his presence. Physically, I felt Malik’s presence on the field. Malik is not the most outgoing, bubbly personality. He’s got a lot of juice and intensity in him, and I think you really saw that come out last year when he was healthy, when he started playing real physical and making plays on the ball. So really excited and expecting big things from him this year.”

Hooker remains an intriguing talent with unfulfilled potential. He has flashed his unique abilities but hasn’t been able to deliver them consistently. It’s reasonable to believe, however, he could still be learning the ins and outs of the game. Hooker left Ohio State as a redshirt sophomore, having played in just 19 collegiate games, giving him a total of 53 at the top levels of the sport.

TENNESSEE

The Titans went one-for-two in exercising fifth-year options.  Turron Davenport ofESPN.com:

The Tennessee Titans declined to pick up the fifth-year option for wide receiver Corey Davis, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The fifth-year option would have carried a $15.68 million salary for Davis in 2021.

NFL Network was first to report that the option would not be picked up.

In three seasons with the Titans, Davis, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, has 142 receptions for 1,867 yards and six touchdowns. In 2019, he scored two touchdowns during the regular season — one each from quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill — and another in the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens on a pass from running back Derrick Henry.

Tannehill said on a conference call last week with the local media that he would like to get Davis more opportunities this season.

“I definitely think my chemistry will grow with Corey this year. Such a talented guy,” Tannehill said. “Looking forward to building on what we started last year and our rapport, and looking forward to him making some big plays for us because I know he has the talent. I’ve seen him make the plays. Really excited to see him just keep growing and make those plays in 2020.”

Meanwhile, the Titans will exercise the fifth-year option for cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, a source told ESPN. By exercising the option, the Titans guarantee Jackson’s contract for injury only in 2021 and his salary will be approximately $10.24 million — the average of the third- through 25th-highest salaries at his position.

Jackson, the 18th overall pick in the 2017 draft, has started 39 games over the past three seasons, along with five playoff starts. The fourth-year player has two interceptions and 33 passes defended over his career.

MIAMI

Florida’s Non-Lockdown Governor has actually approved the concept of partially filled sports venues – not this fall, not this summer, but now.  No one has defied Team Apocalypse in the Media and taken him up on it yet, but the Dolphins are thinking about how things might work.  Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com:

The Miami Dolphins have put together early plans for how to host fans in their stadium during the 2020 NFL season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

During a Monday segment with “Good Morning America,” Dolphins CEO/president Tom Garfinkel revealed mock-ups of new entrances into Hard Rock Stadium that would help people adhere to social distancing guidelines.

“We would have times to come in for security at different gates so people would be separated out, in terms of when they enter the stadium,” Garfinkel said. “We would exit the stadium much like a church environment, where each row exits so people aren’t filing out all at the same time in a herd.”

The mock-up including colored spots on the ground leading up to entrance gates to designate the distance needed between fans as they file into the stadium. It’s a plan not unlike what some restaurants have done for customers picking up takeout orders during the pandemic.

Garfinkel said this mock-up plan would include all fans wearing masks and ordering food from their seat then go upstairs and pick it up rather than waiting in line for concession.

Hard Rock Stadium can hold approximately 65,000 fans for a football game, but the Dolphins said they might be down to 15,000 fans for the next season as they adjust to a different setup.

Hard Rock Stadium became the first public facility to earn the Global Biorisk Advisory Council’s STAR accreditation, the standard used for facilities to implement cleaning, disinfecting and infectious disease prevention work practices to control risks involved with infectious agents like the coronavirus. (The GBAC is a division of ISSA, a worldwide trade association for the cleaning industry.)

The accreditation paves the way for Hard Rock Stadium to reopen and host fans for events once the NFL and the government give clearance for activities to resume.

There haven’t been any finalized plans from the NFL, but the Dolphins wanted to have their plan in place.

“When our fans, players and staff are able to return to Hard Rock Stadium, we want them to have peace of mind that we’re doing everything we can to create the safest and healthiest environment possible,” Garfinkel said. “We didn’t want to create our own standard, we wanted to be accountable to the most credible third-party standard that exists. Working with the GBAC ensures compliances with critical guidelines for the highest standard of cleanliness and it is our hope that other venues will follow suit as we navigate through these unprecedented times.”

– – –

Wolfe also has this on the veteran running tandem that Miami quietly picked up.

It won’t take a huge leap for the Miami Dolphins to improve upon their NFL-worst 2019 run game, and the start of that push will be led by newly acquired running backs Matt Breida and Jordan Howard, instead of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick leading the Dolphins in rushing for the second consecutive season.

Many Dolphins fans became nervous as each of the top running back prospects went off the board during the 2020 NFL draft. The board didn’t fall the right way for Miami to land one, but there was another plan in mind. On Day 3 of the draft, the Dolphins traded an early fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for running back Matt Breida.

“There’s a lot of brainstorming that goes on about doing some things outside the box, and this trade was an example of that,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said.

Miami general manager Chris Grier added: “There was no panic on anything. It was just we stayed with our process.”

It wasn’t the long-term solution many had hoped for, but the Dolphins have a new lead duo in offseason arrivals Howard and Breida. Their job in 2020 is simple: make the Dolphins’ run game fun again.

Howard and Breida represent the 2020 Dolphins’ version of thunder and lightning. Breida is one of the NFL’s fastest running backs and should add some home-run ability to Miami’s offense. Howard, who signed a two-year, $10 million contract in March, is the power runner with a lot of career production as a lead back. He fits perfectly as the Dolphins transition more to a power or gap running scheme.

“I’d describe my running style as rugged, pretty physical. I like to make the defenders feel me,” Howard said. “I’d rather hit them than them hit me. I definitely try to make them quit, that way by the fourth quarter, they don’t really want to tackle.”

That is just the type of the mentality the Dolphins want to bring to their running game.

Howard, 25, has the third-most rushing yards (3,895) and the seventh-most rushing touchdowns (30) in the NFL since he entered the league in 2016. He is also one of five players to rush for at least six TDs in the past four seasons. Despite missing six games with the Philadelphia Eagles last season with a significant shoulder stinger, Howard says he is 100 percent now.

The Dolphins won’t expect Howard to carry the load alone. Expect a one-two punch, with Howard the early favorite to lead the duo in carries while Breida functions as the explosive back who brings speed and can be a receiver out of the backfield.

Breida, who is set to play on his restricted free-agent tender that will pay him $3.3 million in 2020, has made a name for himself based on maximizing his carries. He has averaged 5 yards per rush over the past three seasons, fifth most among qualified running backs. Breida, 25, averaged 5.1 yards per rush last season, good for sixth in the NFL. Dolphins running backs averaged a NFL-worst 3 yards per carry in 2019.

“[Breida] is a very explosive, young running back with good vision and can create a lot of big plays,” Flores said. “But he’s also tough, he’s also smart, he also has a lot of the qualities that we’re looking for in our players.”

To quantify the explosiveness that Breida brings to Miami’s offense, take his 83-yard rushing touchdown in Week 5 vs. the Cleveland Browns last season. He reached 22.30 mph on that run per NFL Next Gen Stats data, which made him the fastest ball carrier in the 2019 season — including the playoffs. Buckle up, Dolphins fans.

The Dolphins had 72.3 rushing yards per game last season, and their top two rushers in 2019 from the running back position, Mark Walton (201) and Kenyan Drake (174), are both gone. Though Kalen Ballage, Patrick Laird and Myles Gaskin return to compete for backup roles, the run game will be different in 2020. Miami could still look for its long-term running back during the 2021 offseason, but the plan now involves leaning on Howard and Breida.

Perhaps the most significant moves to improve the Dolphins’ run game were part of a focused effort to overhaul an offensive line that was arguably the worst in football in 2019. Free-agent signings Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras should slide in as starters at left guard and center, respectively. Draft picks Austin Jackson (No. 18 overall) and Robert Hunt (No. 39) seem set to compete for offensive tackle jobs in Year 1. Solomon Kindley (No. 111) and Hunt, if he doesn’t win the right-tackle job, could also compete at guard.

Miami could see four or five new starters along the offensive line, including two or three rookies. If the Dolphins’ evaluations on those players are correct, the run game should be improved simply because they are better up front.

The hiring of offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, along with the return of veteran running backs coach Eric Studesville, were made partly in hopes of improving Miami’s run game.

With Howard, Breida and an improved offensive line, the Dolphins are off to a good start in a pursuit to make sure Fitzpatrick doesn’t lead the team in rushing again.

– – –

WR ALBERT WILSON takes a paycut.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Wide receiver Albert Wilson and the Dolphins have agreed on a reworked contract for the 2020 season.

Field Yates of ESPN reports that Wilson is now set to make a base salary of $3 million. There will be another $1 million available in incentives.

Wilson’s contract previously called for him to make $9.475 million with a cap hit of over $10.8 million. None of that money was guaranteed, so he’ll be making less but would seem to have a better chance of actually sticking around for the final year of his current deal.

Wilson had 43 catches for 351 yards and a touchdown last season. He also ran five times for 45 yards and completed 1-of-2 pass attempts for 20 yards.

NEW YORK JETS

RB FRANK GORE has a contract for 2020. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Running back Le’Veon Bell‘s first season with the Jets wasn’t as productive as many hoped it would be when the Jets signed Bell as a free agent in March 2019.

Bell ran for a career-low 3.2 yards per carry and only found the end zone four times as the Jets went 7-9 under head coach Adam Gase. During an interview with Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Gase said he hopes to get better results from Bell in Year Two by working other players into the mix more often than last season.

“I do think we have some guys that can help maybe lessen the load on [Bell] to where it’s not all on him,” Gase said. “Hopefully, we can get some of the younger backs to where we can make a good one-two punch to where we can really excel instead of feeling like it’s just all on him all the time.”

Bilal Powell was last year’s No. 2, but he is unsigned. Kenneth Dixon, Josh Adams and fourth-round pick La’Mical Perine are on hand.

Bell would also be helped by seeing fewer defenders in the box when he gets the ball. Gase hopes that having healthy tight ends Chris Herndon and Ryan Griffin back in the lineup alongside new wideouts Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims can create a passing game that provides more room for Bell to show that he’s still capable of big numbers out of the backfield

Here are the worst yards per carry averages (minimum 150 attempts) from 2019:

Peyton Barber, TB              3.1

Le’Veon Bell, NYJ             3.2                      

Devonta Freeman, ATL      3.6

Frank Gore, BUF               3.6                      

THIS AND THAT

DON SHULA

Don Shula, one of the greatest coaches of all-time, passed away at age 90 on Monday.

Judy Battista of NFL.com covers the basics:

On the bus ride to Super Bowl VII, Don Shula was deep in thought.

His teams had already lost the first two Super Bowls he had coached in — including, most memorably, when his Baltimore Colts were on the losing end of one of the biggest upsets in the game’s history, falling to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III after Joe Namath famously guaranteed a victory for the heavy underdogs, a result that changed the trajectory of professional football.

Now, on the way to Shula’s second Super Bowl with the Miami Dolphins, safety Jake Scott leaned over.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “You thinking about going down as the losingest coach in Super Bowl history?”

That would not be a problem for Shula, the jutting-jawed Hall of Famer who passed away peacefully at his home on Monday at the age of 90 as the winningest coach in NFL history. That Dolphins team played in 1972 and holds a singular place in the game’s history. Miami beat the Washington Redskins, 14-7, to complete the NFL’s only perfect season, a mark that is still gleefully celebrated by former Dolphins and their fans each season whenever the last undefeated team loses.

As extraordinary as that season was, it is just one of the dazzling records Shula established in his 33-year head coaching career. When he retired — reluctantly — a day after his 66th birthday at the end of the 1995 season, he had 347 victories (including the postseason). He was a head coach in the Super Bowl six times, winning two of them. Perhaps most astonishingly, his Colts and Dolphins teams suffered just two losing seasons in his more than three decades on the sideline, and they won at least 10 games 21 times, reaching the playoffs 19 times. In the 1980s, a sign at the Orange Bowl — then the Dolphins’ home stadium — read “Shula is god.”

It was hard to argue. The Dolphins have not come close to such consistent success since his departure, while Shula remained a beloved Miami icon in retirement. A major highway is named for him and a string of steak and hamburger restaurants has proliferated. In 1997, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — he joked then about how the bronze bust accurately reflected what was widely known as The Jaw — where he is joined by three quarterbacks he coached: Johnny Unitas, Bob Griese and Dan Marino. Not coincidentally, Shula’s favorite remark might be that luck means a lot in football, and not having a good quarterback is bad luck.

Shula had little of that. In an interview conducted several years ago for The New York Times, Shula, who remained a keen observer of the league until the end of his life, reflected on his career.

“What was my legacy?” Shula said. “You’ve got to look at the numbers. That’s pretty important. I coached 33 years, won the most games and then the perfect season. When you do something that no other team has done, something that every year we get resurrected, probably to the point where people are saying ‘They’re talking about the Dolphins again?’ “

Because of Shula, the Dolphins remain an indelible part of NFL lore. But his connection to football went much further back. He played running back at John Carroll University in Cleveland (the team now plays home games in Don Shula Stadium), helping to establish the school as an unlikely NFL pipeline. In 1951, the Cleveland Browns drafted Shula in the ninth round, giving him a $5,000 salary. From 1951 to 1957, he played defensive back for the Browns, Colts and Redskins.

While he was with the Colts, Shula became reacquainted with a girl with whom he had attended elementary school in Painesville, Ohio. When Dorothy Bartish, by then a schoolteacher, left Cleveland to teach in Hawaii, Shula fired off a letter asking her to return and marry him. Shula admitted he hated that his chosen career — playing and coaching — interfered with having a normal family life. That responsibility fell to Dorothy, the mother of their five children — two of whom, David and Mike, would become high-profile coaches, too. (Dorothy Shula died in 1991 at age 57 of cancer. Shula remarried in 1993, to the former Mary Anne Stephens, who survives him.)

After his playing career ended, Shula was a college assistant coach before he became the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions in 1960. In 1963, at age 33, he became the Colts’ head coach — and he went on to be named the NFL’s Coach of the Year three times in seven seasons with Baltimore. His Colts teams never had a losing record. The 1968 team, with Bill Arnsparger and Chuck Noll on the defensive coaching staff, finished the regular season at 13-1. Those Colts won the NFL championship by beating the Cleveland Browns, 34-0. But in the Super Bowl, the upstart AFL Jets pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports history, downing Shula’s Colts, 16-7 — ironically, in the Orange Bowl, where Shula would later have so much success. It was, Shula maintained throughout his career, his most difficult loss, and it began to sour his relationship with Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom. Shula and Namath later became good friends, though, in part because at subsequent Super Bowls after both retired, the NFL often seated them in the same box. But it was the game that gave the AFL legitimacy and gave the Super Bowl its sparkle.

After the 1969 season, Shula moved to Miami, where he was given a 10 percent stake in ownership of the team (he later sold it). His first team made the playoffs. His second made it to the Super Bowl. His third and fourth teams won championships and established themselves as South Florida legends, complete with a famous story about the time former Dolphin Manny Fernandez captured an alligator from the Everglades and put it in Shula’s shower after practice. When Shula ran into the locker room, fullback Larry Csonka informed him that players had taken a vote — with Shula prevailing by just one — to decide whether to tape the alligator’s mouth shut.

During his 26 years in Miami, Shula was also a longtime member of the influential Competition Committee. He was such a stickler for playing by the rules that he publicly criticized New England’s Bill Belichick — the only active coach right now with even a remote chance of topping Shula’s victories record — after scandals involving improper videotaping of opponents and underinflated footballs. But in 2007, when the Dolphins were celebrating the 35th anniversary of the perfect season and the Patriots were crafting an undefeated regular season, Shula said he would call Belichick to congratulate him if the Patriots were to finish undefeated.

“We’re very proud of the fact that we’re the only team to have done it,” Shula said that year. “It’s been a very meaningful record for us.”

The Dolphins went to two more Super Bowls after the two championships — with David Woodley and Marino as quarterbacks — giving Shula six Super Sunday appearances in all. Shula’s teams won with a no-name defense and offenses so diverse that Shula named his collie after Csonka, to honor how much Shula loved short-yardage situations with his crooked-nosed runner, and later relied so heavily on the prolific passing attack of Marino that the coach once said in an interview, “If I would have had Marino establish the running game, every defensive coach would have been patting me on the back.”

Certainly, no coach who opposed Shula would do that. But former Buffalo Bills head man Marv Levy once offered something more meaningful. He called Shula the greatest coach in the history of professional football.

“That’s like 30 years of 10 wins — oh my gosh,” Levy said in an interview with The New York Times several years ago. “His teams were always least penalized; he taught team football. He honored the game very much. As much as he wanted to win, he wanted to do it by the rules. He’s a straight shooter. He wasn’t a huggy guy, just straight and honest, and as good for the game as anyone.”

Dan LaBatard on the man and his city:

Through the grief of the eulogy, we do not bury merely a winner now … not merely a leader of champions … not merely a warrior hero with more successful conquests than anyone in the forever of America’s gladiator game. No, we come with respect to bury a historic symbol … and a different time … in football, Miami, America.

Don Shula took Miami from black and white to color — the football team, yes, but the sparkling seaside city, too. Horse racing and jai alai, that’s all we had in South Florida before Shula’s granite jaw led us somewhere bigger, better. He cleaned us up, classed us up — the Miami Dolphins, yes, but our city, too.

A pillar of virtuous excellence across the decades, so very dignified, nary a smear on his integrity, rugged and royal. He was part army general, part Papal majesty. He is the very first winner this region ever grew to love in sports, and he dies as its most enduring. We were always proud to have him leading us, as his football teams introduced and showcased tough and brown and glitzy and sunny Miami to the rest of the world, because very few people before or since have represented us as well.

In a different America, preaching family and faith and football, Shula made our city of exiles and transplants feel like a winner, so many nationalities squeezing into the dumpy Orange Bowl to feel a little more together than they did in the fractured surrounding city. Anywhere you find our fertile football roots, stretching through Liberty City and over the bejeweled campus in Coral Gables, those seeds were planted generations back in the garden where Shula manicured his craft. Football, high school and college and pro, wouldn’t be what it is in this region without him. Sports in South Florida wouldn’t be what they are without him. Hell, Miami itself might not be what it is without him, which is why you’ll find a highway bearing his name at its heart.

“I was in awe of him,” no less an authority than Miami Heat legend Pat Riley said Monday. There are only four names on the Mount Rushmore of South Florida sports. Shula. Riley. Marino. Wade. When Riley, a fashion icon, arrived in Shula’s town a quarter century ago, Sports Illustrated heralded it on its cover by proclaiming that Riley was hot while Shula was not. “I wrote a note to him and apologized for it,” Riley says now, the godfather kissing the ring of the king.

For all the winning that came after Shula, as South Florida grew as an international city and a national sports city, as the University of Miami college football team won five championships and the Miami Heat won three and the Florida Marlins won two, our region has still never felt quite as perfect as Shula had us feeling in 1972, at the height of professional sports. He was the pioneer, arriving first with such echoing impact that no one has surpassed him in his sport or this city in the half century since. There is nothing better than perfect. We get to keep that, forever, in his loving memory. In South Florida sports, there has never been and can never be anything better than Shula.

The Dolphins have spent the past two decades desecrating the empire of excellence Shula entrusted to them, of course, going from a national symbol for class to a regional one for disgrace. They only get in the national news cycle when Richie Incognito is bullying a teammate, or an offensive line coach is snorting something off his desk and sending the video evidence to a Vegas entertainer. The Miami Heat somehow stole this sports city from the Dolphins after Shula left, a new generation of children watching Dwyane Wade do all the winning while the Dolphins did none, and they have never given it back. Shula kept going to Dolphins games until the end, staying by their side, even when they had to wheel him there.

A tribute to how high Shula set the standard: Not even football giants like Bill Parcells, Nick Saban and Jimmy Johnson, coaches of the highest order, could meet it. They all did the Dolphins’ job less well than he did.

Interesting note there about the high quality successors who did not meet his standard.

Chip Namias, a Dolphins PR director back in the day, sums up what the DB hears from those who worked with him:

I cannot begin to recount all that I learned from Coach Shula during my years with the Dolphins—both professional lessons and life lessons. He was tough and demanding of everyone, whether you were the quarterback, the equipment guy or the P.R. director. You had to be professional at all times and you had to do your job at the highest level or else you wouldn’t be around him for very long. But he was always fair and if you were able to win him over, you had his loyalty and ultimately his friendship. But believe me—just like a lot of others before and after me—I experienced the infamous Shula glare and his legendary jutted jaw on several occasions. And I was also lucky enough to get a few of the ultimate sign of his warmth—when he would cup the back of your neck in his hand.

Some of his ex-players talked to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:

His greatest asset as a coach, several former players said, was his diligent preparation and ability to maximize their talents.

“His teams couldn’t have been any more prepared,” Stradford said. “We prepared for everything, from how you walked off the bus to how you walk in the stadium. That is what always stuck with me. He may have been tough on those not looking for excellence. For someone who wanted to be very good or great at what they did, he was the perfect coach for that.”

Dick Anderson, an All-Pro safety on that 1972 team, said Shula’s best quality was demanding perfection.

“You couldn’t make a mistake, you have to play as a team,” Anderson recalled Shula preaching. “He pushed you to be better than you thought you were. He wasn’t hard to play for; you just had to put up with the fact he screamed at some people and some people he didn’t.

“He was personable and respected the players who performed for him. You could always have a conversation and express your opinion. He would agree, shake his head or tell you to go back to your locker.”

And Anderson wants to make this clear: The 1972 undefeated season wouldn’t have happened without Shula.

“He’s the reason we were 17-0, the reason we played as a team,” Anderson said. “Shula pushed everyone to make them better. We were fortunate to have him as a coach.”

Fernandez said Shula “had the ability to get you to buy into his way of thinking and that’s so important in sports. I found him always to be fair. He was tough on everybody. He was usually right, not always, but usually right.”

Former Dolphins standout receiver O.J. McDuffie, who played his first three seasons for Shula, recalls how the coach “yelled at me a couple times for not knowing the plays as a rookie and it scared the hell out of me. But that’s when I became the pro I needed to be.

“He was definitely intimidating, very demanding. He held every player accountable, but also treated us like men. If you weren’t doing your job, he would let you know about it. But he also was complimentary, would pat you on the back. He was a fair man, very respected by all his players.”

Former All Pro receiver Mark Duper said Shula didn’t simply make you a better player, but a better person.

“That was one great man,” Duper said. “He made a difference in peoples’ lives. Coach Shula put us in situations where we had to be a man about things and take responsibility. He taught us about being respectful. He was a motivator.”

This from Bob Griese:

HOFer Bob Griese on HOFer Don Shula: “We lost someone who cannot be replaced, who cannot be equaled, and who personified everything that is right not only about our sport, but about the way we all should conduct ourselves.”

Elias Sports Bureau on how Shula is a link in a chain of three coaches who have spanned a century.

@EliasSports

Don Shula head-coached against a man who was an NFL head coach in 1920, the league’s first season, and also against someone who is still an NFL head coach today.  He was 5-4 head-to-head against George Halas, and 2-0 versus Bill Belichick.

Broadcaster Chris Myers grew up in South Florida, first interviewing Shula when Myers was just 15.  He puts Shula above all others:

@The_ChrisMyers

We’ll miss Coach Don Shula..

His perfection.. his most wins in NFL history…his highly principled ..highly disciplined style… In my book .. he is the first face on the NFL’s Mt Rushmore of coaches!

He is on the side of the mountain for Bruce Arians:

@BruceArians

We lost the greatest coach of all time. RIP Coach Don Shula

So who should be on the NFL head coaches Mt. Rushmore?

The DB would have Paul Brown and Bill Belichick.

Then, others to consider the enduring founders Curly Lambeau and George Halas.  In the modern era, Shula, Chuck Noll and Tom Landry endured and won.  Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh shone brilliantly in shorter spans, so too did John Madden and Tony Dungy.  Don’t forget Joe Gibbs who won SBs with three QBs, but took a break early.  Bill Parcells has his supporters.

That list above, we figured out after we made it, includes the ten coaches chosen for the NFL All-Time Team plus Hall of Famers Dungy, Madden and Parcells.

All great coaches who could legitimately be on someone’s Mt. Rushmore.

Here are the 10 coaches with the most total wins – and someone not on our list is active and at #6 (headed for #5 this year).

1          ^ Don Shula              1963–1995             347

2          ^ George Halas          1920–1967           324

3          Bill Belichick*              1991–                  304

4          ^ Tom Landry              1960–1988            270

5          ^ Curly Lambeau         1921–1949          229

6          Andy Reid                    1999-                   222

7          ^ Chuck Noll                1969–1991          209

8          Marty Schottenheimer            1984–1998           205

9          Dan Reeves                1981–1992            201

10        Chuck Knox                 1973-1991           193

Here are the top 10 for winning percentage (minimum 100 wins)

1          ^Vince Lombardi          105-35-6          .740

2          ^John Madden             112-39-7          .731

3          Bill Belichick*              304-139-0        .686

4          ^ George Allen             118-54-5          .681

5          ^ George Halas           324-151-31      .671

6          ^ Don Shula                347-173-6        .665

7          ^ Tony Dungy               148-79-0          .652

8          George Seifert              124-67-0          .649

9          Mike Tomlin*                 141-81-1         .635

10        ^ Joe Gibbs                   171-101-0      .629

We boldfaced those who appear on both lists.

FIFTH-YEAR OPTIONS

Here is NFL.com’s fifth-year option tracker with the passing of yesterday’s deadline.  We count 18 of 32 picked up or extended (CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY), including S JABRIL PEPPERS picked up by a team that didn’t draft him:

Below are the 32 first-round picks from the 2017 draft and their fifth-year option statuses:

1. Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns: Picked up. The Browns picked up his fifth-year option on April 27, sources told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.

2. Mitchell Trubisky, QB, Chicago Bears: Declined. The Bears are declining Trubisky’s option, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.

3. Solomon Thomas, DE, San Francisco 49ers: Declined. The 49ers are declining Thomas’ option, Pelissero reported.

4. Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars: Declined. The Jaguars are declining his fifth-year option, per Pelissero.

5. Corey Davis, WR, Tennessee Titans: Declined. The Titans are declining Davis’ option, according to Pelissero.

6. Jamal Adams, S, New York Jets: Picked up. The Jets picked up his fifth-year option on April 29, per Pelissero.

7. Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers: Picked up. The Chargers picked up his fifth-year option on April 30, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported.

8. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers: Extended. The Panthers signed McCaffrey to a four-year extension on April 16, the team announced.

9. John Ross, WR, Cincinnati Bengals: Declined. The Bengals intend to decline Ross’ option, according to Pelissero.

10. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs: Picked up. The Chiefs exercised Mahomes’ option April 30, Rapoport reported.

11. Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints: Picked up. The Saints exercised Lattimore’s option in March, per Rapoport.

12. Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans: Picked up. The Texans exercised Watson’s option April 28.

13. Haason Reddick, LB, Arizona Cardinals: Declined. The Cardinals are declining Reddick’s option, Rapoport reported, per an informed source, on May 3.

14. Derek Barnett, DE, Philadelphia Eagles: Picked up. The Eagles announced on April 28 that they pick up Barnett’s option.

15. Malik Hooker, S, Indianapolis Colts: Declined. The Colts are declining Hooker’s option, Rapoport reported on May 4.

16. Marlon Humphrey, CB, Baltimore Ravens: Picked up. The Ravens exercised Humphrey’s option April 28.

17. Jonathan Allen, DE, Washington Redskins: Picked up. The Redskins announced April 27 that they picked up Allen’s option.

18. Adoree’ Jackson, CB, Tennessee Titans: Picked up. The Titans picked up his fifth-year option on May 1, Pelissero reported.

19. O.J. Howard, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Picked up. The Buccaneers picked up his fifth-year option on April 29, Pelissero reported.

20. Garett Bolles, OT, Denver Broncos: Declined. The Broncos are declining Bolles’ option, according to Pelissero.

21. Jarrad Davis, LB, Detroit Lions: Declined. The Lions are declining Davis’ option, according to Rapoport.

22. Charles Harris, LB, Miami Dolphins: Declined. A day after trading for him, the Falcons opted to not pick up Harris’ option, per Pelissero.

23. Evan Engram, TE, New York Giants: Picked up. The Giants announced April 29 that they have picked up the fifth-year option of Engram.

24. Gareon Conley, CB, Oakland Raiders: Declined. Traded to the Houston Texans last October. The Texans declined to pick up Conley’s option, per Rapoport.

25. Jabrill Peppers, S, Cleveland Browns: Picked up. Traded to the New York Giants last March. The Giants announced April 29 that they have picked up the fifth-year option of Peppers.

26. Takkarist McKinley, DE, Atlanta Falcons: Declined. The Falcons announced April 29 they were not picking up McKinley’s option.

27. Tre’Davious White, CB, Buffalo Bills: Picked up. The Bills announced April 23 that they picked up White’s option.

28. Taco Charlton, DE, Dallas Cowboys: Released by Dallas last September and subsequently claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins. Charlton was then cut by the Dolphins, voiding his option, and subsequently signed by the Chiefs.

29. David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns: Picked up. The Browns picked up his fifth-year option on April 27, per Rapoport.

30. T.J. Watt, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers: Picked up. The Steelers announced on April 28 that they have picked up Watt’s fifth-year option.

31. Reuben Foster, LB, San Francisco 49ers: Declined. Released by San Francisco in November of 2018 and subsequently claimed off waivers by the Washington Redskins. The Redskins declined Foster’s fifth-year option on April 30, per Garafolo.

32. Ryan Ramczyk, OT, New Orleans Saints: Picked up. The Saints exercised Ramcysk’s option in March, per Rapoport.