Mike Shula

Look at it like this: Cam won Gene Chizik a national championship (and nobody thinks for one second that Chizik is even a minimally competent coach).

Cam is 60 minutes from winning Shula a Super Bowl; that doesn't transform Shula into something he isn't.

Mike Shula just happens to be the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach of the most talented quarterback in football. I would not trade Lane Kiffin for a dozen Mike Shula's. Mike Shula could have never done what Lane Kiffin did with Blake Sims and Jake Coker, period! Take that to the bank!!

Ken Dorsey has been a huge part in the development of Scam.

I think that Sean McDermott has more to do with Carolina's run to the Super Bowl than Mike Shula. The one constant in recent years at Carolina has been their defensive play. You could say the same thing for Denver. These are two of the best defenses in the NFL over the last 5 years.

Yes, both teams have great QBs, but neither team is in this game because of their QB or offense. The QB is just another piece of the puzzle.

Living in Charlotte and watching this up close ... Cam's development and maturation has been astounding. And his relationship with Shula has been a part of that.

Since Shula has not been sealed in amber for the past decade, isn't it possible that he may have gotten better?

GrayTide said:

Don't kid yourself, Newton has made Shula an NFL OC, made Malzahn the current HC at auburn and Chizik a NC head coach. Without Newton Malzahn and Chizik would all be at the FCS level or at best mid major coaches and in the case of Shula, running one of dad's steak houses.

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Amen. Cam is a once in a lifetime QB. Cam is taking a good team and making them great, just like he did Auburn in 2010. Cam can't take a poor team and go to the playoffs but I think he could take a poor team and forge a winning record. I hate him but he is the best QB I know of.

Gr8hope said:

God certainly blessed Cam Newton with athletic ability. He blessed Gus Malzhan, Gene Chizik, and now Mike Shula with Cam Newton. Too bad Cam is such a fake and egotistical jerk.

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Nailed it! :cool2:

Cam may be the most gifted quarterback ever to play the game? I can still remember the first time I saw him vs Kentucky, after 2 plays I knew this guy was something out of the future. Like Bo Walker with an NFL arm. These types of players are better liked when humble by many, because they have been given so much from above. That may be generational, because the kids seem to like him a lot.

Jon said:

he was just young and immature and not ready for the keys to this program.

I'm sure that he will do well in the future somewhere else, and I thank him for everything he did for us. I know he made millions but he also paid a hefty price for his time here and he should be applauded for that sacrifice. I hate when I hear Bama fans bad mouth him (And I know that you are not) as he stepped at a time that was likely a guarantee of failure and he largely held everything together.

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Well said Jon, well said. He came back to Bama when no one else would.

How long will it be before someone hires Mike as a head coach in the NFL? If the Carolina Panthers win the SB, it could be SOON!

Jon said:

he was just young and immature and not ready for the keys to this program.

I'm sure that he will do well in the future somewhere else, and I thank him for everything he did for us. I know he made millions but he also paid a hefty price for his time here and he should be applauded for that sacrifice. I hate when I hear Bama fans bad mouth him (And I know that you are not) as he stepped at a time that was likely a guarantee of failure and he largely held everything together.

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He was a little too young, immature, and a combination of handsome and young to take over our program. Can't you just see him chewing on a player for being in the Dog House. However, he probably didn't have a dog house. If he was chewing on someone, he'd probably have a smile on his face and the player would have no FEAR. I'm not saying you have to be an ugly drill sergeant, but you do need to be a stern taskmaster to get some players aboard and united for a common goal.

I'd like to point out that as QB coach at Jacksonville Shula helped the. David Garrard into a pro bowler.

Cam deserves credit, but this idea that Shula is useless only shows ignorance.

BamainBoston said:

Yeah, anybody who says otherwise is delusional. I'm no fan of Mike Shula, but he has taken the talent Cam has and molded him into an NFL qb, something he was not at Auburn. In fact, he's probably the first coach who didn't just rely on the talent Cam had instead of working to make him better. I've always said that if Tim Tebow had come to Alabama and played under Shula, he'd be an NFL qb today.

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Exactly. Cam already had the physical tools and athletic ability. Shula has worked on the mental and mechanic side of things.

Does anyone remember Cam on Gruden's QB Camp on ESPN? Gruden ask him to call a play that they ran at au and he couldn't. I think he has come a long way since then and Shula has to get credit for some if not most of it. I've heard the idea for giving balls to kids on TD's actually came from CMS.

The most surprising thing to me is that Florida let Cam go over a few simple acts of thievery.

Cam was a heckuva lot closer to being an NFL QB at Auburn than some of you are willing to admit.

Yes, Mike Shula deserves credit for his part in coaching him, but this was going to happen regardless of the QB coach/OC.

RedStar said:

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I honestly think all Mike needed was aging like fine wine! How old was he when he was hired?

Would you say he was an Experienced LEADER of Men when he coached at Alabama? Again, I just think he needed more experience and the willingness to give 100% to the Alabama program.

Sometimes, it's hard to give 100% when your wife and family are important also in your life.

Shula's history is that he gets good performance out of his QB's in the NFL. I know Cam is an incredible talent. People say he is changing the position, but I don't buy that. He is very unique. We won't see many, if any, like him again, but I do think Shula has helped progress as passer. He always had the arm, but he had never been coached to read a defense like a good QB has to in the NFL. Shula did that for him. Garrard from Jacksonville was used as an example of Shula coaching a guy up, and I buy the idea.

He will probably get an NFL HC job at some point, and I wish him well. He didn't work out at Bama, but I wish he had. I felt bad for him during his tenure. We were under terrible sanctions, and he was overwhelmed. I feel like he loved the school and wanted to be the man to lead Bama back to the promised land, but he wasn't able to. I will always appreciate his time as a player and a coach. He made me want to cuss sometimes, but he took a difficult job at its most difficult moment.

bigjue24 said:

but he took a difficult job at its most difficult moment.

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And he also walked away with millions. I like Shula as a person, but you can still evaluate how someone is running a team during probation. When we lost Brodie, Pennington had such a bad experience that he decided to just play baseball his senior year, and was a reserve, or part timer, DH or something. Brodie and Cam seem to have parallels.