Early career Shula has served in assistant coaching positions in the NFL, twice with the
Miami Dolphins plus stints with the
Chicago Bears and the Buccaneers, where he was
offensive coordinator from 1996 to 1999. As offensive coordinator under
Tony Dungy with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team enjoyed success and narrowly missed the
Super Bowl after losing the NFC Championship Game against eventual Super Bowl champion
St. Louis Rams. Following that 1999 NFC Championship Game, he was fired as offensive coordinator after the Bucs finished no higher than 22nd in total offense during his tenure. After his firing from Tampa, Shula went on to be the quarterbacks coach of the
Miami Dolphins from 2000 to 2002, then left to become the head coach of the University of Alabama football team.
Alabama 2003 Shula was hired as head coach at
Alabama in May 2003 after the termination of
Mike Price. At the time of his arrival, the program was in great turmoil despite a 10–3 record the previous year. In that year, the program had been hammered by
NCAA sanctions, lost
Dennis Franchione to
Texas A&M, and subsequently fired Price due to his off-field actions. The injury effectively marked the beginning of the end for the 2004 season. The offense sputtered the rest of the way while suffering even more injuries to several other key players. Starting tailback Ray Hudson suffered a season ending knee injury three weeks later against Kentucky, and starting fullback Tim Castille also suffered a season ending knee injury the following week in the fourth quarter against Tennessee. Backup quarterback Marc Guillon and backup tailback
Kenneth Darby were also sidelined due to injuries. Alabama hobbled down the stretch to finish the year 6–6. By the time of the
Iron Bowl, the Crimson Tide had a third-string quarterback, with a fourth-string tailback, two true freshman wide receivers, and a true freshman tight end. The season was, like the year before, marred by close losses. Shula did, however, lead Alabama to its first bowl game since the 2001 season, with a berth in the
2004 Music City Bowl against the
Minnesota Golden Gophers. Alabama lost the game after the third-string quarterback Spencer Pennington sailed a pass over the head of
Tyrone Prothro, who was open in the back of the endzone, and failed to convert on a 4th-and-5.
2005 The 2005 season would see fortunes turn around for Shula and his Alabama team. Despite a catastrophic leg injury suffered by star
wide receiver Tyrone Prothro, Alabama went 10–2 with a victory in the
2006 Cotton Bowl Classic over the
Mike Leach-led
Texas Tech Red Raiders. The season included blowout wins over
Florida and
South Carolina, and also included a 6–3 win in a defensive classic over rival Tennessee. Alabama was ranked third in the nation and in the National Championship chase before losing at home in overtime to
LSU and getting blown out by archrival Auburn on the road. The relative success gave Shula his first 10–win season in just his third year as head coach and also extended Alabama's lead in respect to having the most 10–win seasons of any program in the nation. Furthermore, the Cotton Bowl Classic appearance and victory extended Alabama's lead in playing in, and winning, more bowl games than any other major school. The Tide finished the season ranked eighth in the nation. Following the season, the university gave Shula a contract extension—6 years, $1.8 million per year.
2006 Although few expected Alabama to win 10 games again in 2006, expectations generally still called for a solid eight or nine win season. The Tide jumped out of the gate playing well, moving to 3–0 on the heels of clutch kicking and the solid quarterback play of
John Parker Wilson. The team suffered two consecutive losses to the Arkansas Razorbacks and, the eventual national champion, Florida Gators. The Tide struggled the rest of the year, as the offense could not consistently move the ball once inside the red zone, and the defense played below previous standards. The Tide lost to long time rival Tennessee after leading for over fifty minutes. Alabama ended the season by losing their final three games to
Mississippi State at home, LSU, and their fifth consecutive Iron Bowl loss to in state rival Auburn, ending with a 6–6 record. On November 26, one week after the Iron Bowl loss, Alabama athletic director
Mal Moore notified Mike Shula that he would not be retained as the University of Alabama's head football coach for the 2007 season. The University of Alabama had to pay Shula $4 million left on his contract after they fired him.
Jacksonville Jaguars On January 16, 2007, the
Miami Herald reported that Shula was a candidate to become the next head coach of the Miami Dolphins. At that point he'd already had two interviews for the job. If the job had gone to Shula, he would have obtained the job
Nick Saban—the coach who took over at Alabama—had vacated. However, on January 19, 2007, the Miami Dolphins announced that
Cam Cameron, then
offensive coordinator of the
San Diego Chargers, had been appointed to the job. On January 25, 2007, the
Jacksonville Jaguars named Shula their quarterbacks coach. He oversaw quarterback
David Garrard’s development from becoming a full-time starter in 2007 to making the Pro Bowl in 2009. In Shula's first year with the Jaguars, Garrard ranked third in the NFL with a 102.2 passer rating – an almost 23-point improvement from the previous season – threw an NFL-low three interceptions and established a team record with a 64.0 completion percentage.
Carolina Panthers On January 21, 2011, the
Carolina Panthers named Shula as their quarterbacks coach. In 2011, he helped quarterback
Cam Newton earn Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year after turning in one of the most prolific rookie seasons in NFL history, passing for 4,051 yards and accounting for 35 total touchdowns. In 2012, under Shula's tutelage, Newton improved on his Rookie-of-the-Year quarterback rating from 2011 with an 86.2 mark while rushing for more than 700 yards for a second straight season. Newton's 7,920 passing yards in the 2011/12 seasons surpassed the previous mark for a player's first two seasons held by Peyton Manning. On January 18, 2013, the Panthers named Shula their offensive coordinator replacing
Rob Chudzinski, who had been hired as the
Cleveland Browns' head coach. Shula was named Offensive Coordinator of the Year by
Pro Football Focus during the 2015 NFL season. In the 2015 season, Newton won the
NFL MVP award, and the Panthers reached
Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016. The Panthers fell to the
Denver Broncos by a score of 24–10. On January 9, 2018, following the Panthers' wild-card playoff loss to the
New Orleans Saints, he was released by the Panthers.
New York Giants On February 13, 2018, Shula was hired by the
New York Giants as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
Denver Broncos On January 28, 2020, Shula was hired by the
Denver Broncos as quarterbacks coach and working again with offensive coordinator
Pat Shurmur.
Buffalo Bills On March 15, 2022, Shula was hired by
Buffalo Bills as senior offensive assistant. On March 6, 2024, Shula was not retained by the Buffalo Bills.
South Carolina On March 20, 2024, Shula was hired by
South Carolina as an offensive analyst, and was promoted on December 17, 2024 to offensive coordinator following
Appalachian State's hiring of
Dowell Loggains as head coach. On November 2, 2025, Shula was fired following a 3–6 start and the offense failing to surpass 350 total yards in any of their games. == Personal life ==