Legendary Coach Don Shula Achieves Another First After Passing

MIAMI, FL — Legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula became the first and only NFL coach to lead his team to a perfect season before going on to become the winningest coach in NFL history with a lifetime record of 347 career wins. Now, three months after his passing, Shula can add one more first to his impressive list.

"This will be the first time in the Dolphins’ 54 seasons that a patch will be worn to honor an individual," the team announced Thursday.

The Shula patch bears the coach's name and the numbers “347” to honor his all-time career wins. Dolphins coaches and players will also wear a pin with the patch design throughout the year. The tribute will debut during the start of the regular season against the New England Patriots on Sept. 13.

“Don Shula’s lasting impact on the Miami Dolphins, NFL and South Florida community is immeasurable,” Miami Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross said in announcing the tribute. “We are proud to continue honoring his historic life and legacy with a patch that is emblematic of his success on the football field as the winningest coach in our league’s history.”

See related:

• Legendary Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula Dies At 90

Shula led the 1972 Miami Dolphins to become the only football team to this day that has gone undefeated for an entire season and still won the Super Bowl against the Washington Redskins. The team repeated with a Super Bowl victory against the Minneapolis Vikings a year later.

The Dolphins wore special helmet decals during the 2019 season with the initials of Hall of Fame alumni who passed away, including linebacker Nick Buoniconti and center Jim Langer. The team had previously worn helmet stickers with their uniform numbers to honor the memories of active Dolphins players who had passed away, including running back David Overstreet in 1984 and linebacker Larry Gordon in 1983.

The Dolphins wore black armbands on their jerseys with the initials “JR” in 1990 to honor the passing of team founder Joe Robbie.

Shula "passed away peacefully at his home" on May 4, according to the team. His overall career record was 347-173-6.

His winning ways and his charitable spirit are remembered daily in South Florida by a chain of restaurants that bear his name, a major expressway named in his honor and a statue outside Hard Rock Stadium that remembers Shula's coaching legacy with a likeness of the coach being hoisted on the shoulders of two of his players.

In 1997, Shula was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which lowered its flags to half mast after his passing.

The coach recently celebrated his 90th birthday in the Dolphin Room of his flagship restaurant in Miami Lakes, the same room where Shula held countless team meetings and dinners over the years.

"When he was about to leave, he had gone to the men's bathroom and there were a lot of people that knew he was there,"Delvis Fernandez, who has worked at Shula's Steak House for 25 years recalled in an interview with Patch on the day Shula died.

"When he came out of the bathroom, I said 'hey coach there's a lot of guests.' He goes 'bring em,' Fernandez recalled. "He talked to everybody, let everybody take a picture. He was just very kind, like who he was."