UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS

By Steve Wulf

HAD SOMEONE TOLD A FOOTBALL FAN back in October that Don Shula would not be coach of the Miami Dolphins after the season, that fan might have replied, "Sure, and the Cleveland Browns are moving to Baltimore."

Well, last Thursday, on the same day that Cleveland Mayor Michael White was pleading with N.F.L. owners not to let owner Art Modell move the Browns to Baltimore, Shula let it be known that he was resigning as coach of the Dolphins. Thirty-three years as an N.F.L. head coach, 26 years as the Big Fish in Miami, a record 347 victories, six Super Bowls and the only undefeated season in league history didn't seem to count when journalists, fans, callers to South Florida radio stations and, most important, the owner, H. Wayne Huizenga, asked, "What have you done for me lately?"

The answer, sad to say, was "Not much." When the Dolphins lost to the Buffalo Bills by a score of 37-22 in a Dec. 30 play-off game, their season, which had begun with such promise, was over. In the off-season, Shula spent $12 million of Huizenga's money in free-agent bonuses, and when the Dolphins jumped off to a 4-0 start, the folks in the Miami area were not only talking Super Bowl, they were talking '72, the year the Dolphins went undefeated. But beginning Oct. 8, Miami lost six of its next eight games, then had to win three of its last four to barely make the play-offs. There was plenty of finger pointing all around--selfish players, ill-prepared assistant coaches, the Fates--but the blame fell to Shula. Never mind the Don Shula Expressway, the Don Shula Steak House, Don Shula's Hotel and Golf Club. In three separate polls in the Miami Herald, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post, 10,000 of a combined 13,000 fans voted in favor of Shula's dismissal.

Even after the Buffalo defeat, Shula maintained that he was going to complete the remaining year of his two-year contract as coach and general manager. But on Wednesday, he and Huizenga met, and the owner informed him that if Shula stayed, he would have to dismiss most of his coaching staff. The demand was too much for Shula's pride and sense of loyalty. So on Thursday, his 66th birthday, he called it quits, and on Friday the Dolphins announced that Shula, a part-owner of the team, would become vice chairman of the board of directors. His replacement will probably be either former Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson, who had considerable success (two Super Bowl wins) replacing a legend (Tom Landry), or University of Florida coach Steve Spurrier, who would have less trouble in the N.F.L. than he did with Nebraska in last week's Fiesta Bowl.

Did Shula get a raw deal? No, if one considers that the last time Don Shula won a Super Bowl was 22 years ago. No, if one holds the coach accountable for his mistakes as general manager. And no, because the coach who once forbade his players to have sex after Tuesday had in recent years let the self-centered behavior of his players get out of hand.

The answer turns to yes, though, when Shula's indomitable class, his never flagging work ethic and his history of success are taken into consideration. He weathered a similar down period with the Dolphins in the late '80s, only to rebuild them into a perennial play-off team. This time around, though, Shula had two things working against him: the ascendancy of new Miami Heat basketball coach Pat Riley, who has turned the N.B.A. team around, and the rabid nature of sports talk radio, which has been feeding the frenzy against Shula and for Johnson. When Shula's resignation was announced during halftime of a Heat game on Thursday night, the fans actually cheered. "After all he's done," said his friend, San Diego general manager Bobby Beathard, "it's amazing the abuse he had to take."

Shula says his successor will be the choice of Huizenga alone, though Shula does recommend that he get the best available coach--even if it's Johnson, who once demoted Shula's son David when he was the Cowboys' offensive coordinator. Still, a new coach will be no guarantee of success. As outspoken linebacker Bryan Cox said on his radio show, "South Florida doesn't know what they're going to miss yet. Next year at this time, they'll be saying, 'We want Shula back.' "

During a conference call on Friday evening, Shula tried to put the best face on his career change. "The hard part will come next September on that first kickoff. I will not be on the sidelines in an N.F.L. game for the first time in 43 years. But this is an opportunity to spend time with my wife and my kids and my grandkids, time I haven't been able to spend with them."

Yet when a reporter prefaced a question by saying, "Congratulations, I guess," Shula dolefully replied, "I guess."