One of the greatest coaches in NFL history, Don Shula, passed away at the age of 90. He won two Super Bowls and coached the Miami Dolphins to the only undefeated team in NFL history.

Here’s a great interview with Larry Csonka about Shula:

"Winning was important to him, but not at all cost. He had to win within the rules or it didn’t count.”
“If you cheated in any capacity, it meant nothing. He’d throw the whole thing out."

My full interview with @ProFootballHOF @Larry_Csonka39 #NFLNow @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/YwJ8V4BrgV

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) May 4, 2020

As we seem to repeat week after week lately, you can’t put anyone other than Jim Caldwell and Sean Payton atop this list as their teams remain undefeated. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other contenders for coach of the year, however.

1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The Colts have clinched their division, their conference, a first round bye and home field throughout the playoffs, and threatening the 1972 Dolphins, all with a rookie head coach. That just doesn’t happen, but here we are.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Like Caldwell, Payton’s Saints have encountered a few road bumps recently, but are still 13-0. One more win and they will have ensured that the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC goes through the Superdome…and that’s just daunting for anyone.

3. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—The Vikings beat up a very good Bengals team last weekend, and are close to wrapping up the #2 NFC seed. Despite the Saints’ undefeated mark, nobody should be taking Childress’ team lightly.

4. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—Funny, we’ve been ignoring this guy the whole time, and all his team does is win, especially late in the season. This season, Turner’s Bolts might be Super.

5. tie Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals & Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Despite losses to the Vikings and Colts, respectively, last weekend, the fact remains that both of these playoff bound teams have very much exceeded expectations, especially defensively, this season.

Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Tony Sparano, Dolphins

After basically rooting against the New England Patriots last year, NFL player Mercury Morris – who was a member of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins – is backing the Tennessee Titans and their quest for perfection.

“If the Titans show up [in the Super Bowl with a perfect record], they would be exactly like we were. Nobody believed after the 10th game, the 12th game, the 16th game,” Morris said on ESPN’s First Take on Monday.

The 1972 Dolphins, who went 14-0 and then won three playoff games, are the last team to go undefeated. Morris rushed for 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns that season.
The Titans improved to 10-0 Sunday with a 24-14 victory at Jacksonville. New England finished the regular season 16-0 in 2007 but lost in the Super Bowl against the New York Giants, failing to finish undefeated.

“The Patriots, you people were crowning them after the second game and the season was a formality. I kept trying to tell you,” Morris said on First Take.

What, since nobody thinks the Titans can go undefeated Morris is all about them? Yet because the Pats were a juggernaut and everyone bought into their quest for perfection, Morris wanted them to fail?

Is anybody else sick of this guy? I’m afraid that ESPN is going to keep going to Morris for his brilliant commentary every season while teams remain undefeated and that makes me feel sad inside.