You get the feeling that had Don Shula still been coaching in the 2010s, he’d have adopted the spread offense and his teams would have used run-pass options as well as anyone else.
Shula died at the age of 90, and at the heart of his legacy was longevity. He is still the NFL’s all-time leader in wins. He was a head coach for 33 years, and had just two losing seasons.
You’ll hear a coach talk about an identity. A coach’s ego is often tied to his system. Shula’s identity was his players.
You can’t last from 1963 to 1995 — with winning records in his first and last seasons — without reinventing yourself.