I loved hearing the stories about him on ESPN and how tough a coach he was.
My favorite was when he was on the road and he was having trouble with his players missing curfew. So, right before he went to bed, he gave a football and a Sharpie to the valet and told him that if any of his players showed up after midnight to get their autograph. He even tipped the valet $100 for it. The next day before the Dolphins were about to play their game, Shula went to the front of the team bus and read the names of the players who had signed the ball. Then, he said whoever signed the ball was benched for the first half. I'd really like to see Bill Belichick try to pull off something like that with the Patriots!
Another story was from Chris Berman the night the Bears played in Miami in 1985. And right before the game, he saw all the Dolphins from 1972 on the sidelines with Shula and Berman said to himself, "Oh, my! They're here! The Bears are not going to win this game!" And, sure enough, the Dolphins beat the Bears to hand them their only loss of the season in 1985.
Don Shula was truly an icon. The next time I go down to Miami, I'm going to go to one of his famed Shula's Steakhouses.