“[The season] was a disappointment. I think their defense has gotten better. Offensively, Chad [Henne] has a big, strong arm and he does some things that are exceptional. But they got to get him to do more of those exceptional things and make fewer mistakes.”
Shula doesn’t understand why Henne failed to progress in 2010. Before the season began, he expected great things from Miami’s starting quarterback. Now, he shakes his head.
Despite the season’s “disappointment,” Shula was clearly not pleased by what happened in the days following the season.
“God, that had to be uncomfortable,” he said before I could even finish a question about team owner Stephen Ross’ flirtation with Jim Harbaugh while Tony Sparano remained Miami’s coach.
“I think [Ross] felt he had a good chance of landing Harbaugh and that’s why he made the move he did. It turned out to backfire on him. But when that happens, you have to move on.”
Shula has experience with rocky owner-coach relationships. Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom became disenchanted with Shula after Baltimore’s Super Bowl III loss to the New York Jets.
Shula responded to that disenchantment by leaving for the Dolphins.
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Once, during a club awards banquet, Shula threatened to knock Robbie out with one punch.
“It was this one,” Shula said, showing off a right hook that stirred the air around him. “Somebody had my arm.”
“My late wife was talking to people, being nice while we’re walking in,” Shula recalled. “She didn’t want to go shooting past people. Neither of us did. Robbie is up there saying, ‘Damn it, you’ve got 1,000 people waiting for you up there. Get your [butt] up there.’
“I said, ‘Don’t talk to me like that; I’ll knock you on your [butt].’ And some guy took a picture of it. But Joe was a good guy.”
Shula and Robbie were obviously able to overcome that moment. But it took work. So he understands Sparano’s anger over Ross trying to hire another coach behind his back.
“That had to be very uncomfortable for Tony,” Shula said. “For him now, it just depends on what alternatives you have. You have to figure you’re not wanted here. If you have alternatives, you jump at them. If you don’t, you have to wait it out, which I guess is what Tony did.”
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