Carolina Panthers Hire Mike Shula

by outsidethesidelines on Jan 21, 2011 9:33 PM CST in Football

Mike Shula found a new coaching job today as he was hired by the Carolina Panthers as their next quarterbacks coach, where he will have the unenviable task of making a legitimate NFL quarterback out of Jimmy Clausen. Per the Charlotte Observer:

Friday, the Panthers agreed to a deal - which is not yet signed - with former Jacksonville quarterbacks coach Mike Shula for the same job.

"Mike possesses a great knowledge of the quarterback position, having both played there as well as coaching it," Rivera said in the release. "He has worked with a wide variety of quarterbacks during his career and will be a strong addition to our coaching staff."

Shula has done some quality work in the NFL as a quarterbacks coach since he left Alabama, but the takeaway point here I think should be that he is still a quarterbacks coach a full four years after being fired by Mal Moore. When he came to Alabama he was basically a young coach whose career had sputtered and stalled after an unsuccessful stint as an offensive coordinator, and seven years later he seems to be settling in as a career position coach. At this point, there is no reasonable expectation for a head coaching position or even an offensive coordinator position in the near-to-intermediate future.

And the same basic description fits Sylvester Croom, too. Like Shula, he followed up an unsuccessful stint as an offensive coordinator by returning to his old job of a position coach before he was finally hired as a head coach by a college program that really had no other attractive alternatives. Likewise, after being fired there, Croom also looks to be settling in as a career position coach as well.

Going on eight years later, both still have nearly carbon copy resumes and neither have done anything to give anyone any reasonable belief that they should shoulder any more responsibility. In other words, hindsight 20/20, the correct answer in the Shula or Croom debate was neither, and their respective career paths in recent years have only underscored that point.

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So he's gotta work for this guy? Scary.

'There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you'll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment,'- Nick Saban

by J Tadpole on Jan 21, 2011 9:40 PM CST reply actions

I was a student

from 00-04. I really wanted Croom when everything went down. Looking back, I still really like both men (as people), but as head coaches….exactly. It was neither here nor there. However, I do think Croom would have beaten AU a time or two had he come. Ahhh, hypotheticals…my favorite drink of the offseason.

by JunctionCrimson on Jan 21, 2011 10:00 PM CST reply actions

Good luck to them both. I always watch for Mike on the sidelines.....

Bama's Pluck and Grit have Writ Her Name in Crimson Flame

by TideFanAtlanta on Jan 21, 2011 10:10 PM CST reply actions

The correct answer in the Shula or Croom debate...

…was clearly Shula at the time, and I’ll always be grateful for his service to the University. That said, he is obviously best suited to be a QB coach, and there are worse things to be than an excellent position coach. Best of luck to him.

"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban

by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 21, 2011 10:22 PM CST reply actions

I liked Shula

I think he gets a bad rap for no good reason. He’s isn’t a Saban, but people forget that he took over during a really dark time. He really doesn’t get credit for his hand in helping turn the program around.

I don’t think any amount of money could have pulled in a Saban when he took over.

by cal n on Jan 21, 2011 11:43 PM CST up reply actions

This

there are worse things to be than an excellent position coach. Best of luck to him.

"You know, we had a lot of fun tonight. But there's nothing funny about vapor lock! It's the third most common cause of cars stalling. So please, take care of your car and get it checked!" -Joe Namath

by billycthulhu on Jan 22, 2011 8:00 AM CST up reply actions

Bless his heart...

I loved Coach Shula. I still wear the red nike baseball hat like the one he sported.

I’m with you…I wish him nothing but the best.

by Queen of the Universe on Jan 22, 2011 3:09 PM CST up reply actions

This.

Guy is probably pulling in 200-300k and has as much job security as anyone can reasonably have in the NFL. And he’s doing something he loves. Certainly worse things indeed.

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on Jan 23, 2011 12:56 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

The good news (or not?) for Shula...

He gets to work with a potential #1 QB pick…. if the Panthers go that route. If not, hello Jimmy Clausen!

Fumbles. It was always Fumbles

by DocFumbles on Jan 21, 2011 11:13 PM CST reply actions

Just hope Shula does not end up

with Cam Newton.

If Auburn was in New Mexico and we never played them I would still hate them and their dumb coach and their cheating players.

by 5026 on Jan 21, 2011 11:16 PM CST reply actions

Redskins.

Or someone trades to the #9 pick to take him before they can. I’d bet on this.

Death, Taxes, and Tim Duncan.

by TexaninNYC on Jan 22, 2011 9:39 AM CST up reply actions

Just kill me now and take my Steve Smith jersey...

It's not what you've done but what you are doing that matters.

And the roses in this grand ol' stadium are once again Crimson. - Eli Gold, CTSN Broadcast of the BCS Championship Game at the Rose Bowl, 1-7-2010

by AlabamaJammer on Jan 21, 2011 11:24 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

As a Jags fan let me be the first to say good luck Mike!

Now if we can find a way to get rid of Del Rio …

RMFTR! GO JAGS!

by banditref on Jan 22, 2011 12:28 AM CST reply actions

by banditref on Jan 22, 2011 7:30 PM CST up reply actions

Just glad I am not a Panther Fan

"Two things were certain in our household: Alabama football and church on Sunday. We were raised to believe in God and root for anyone that was playing against Auburn" Pam Swinney

by Fatback on Jan 23, 2011 9:58 AM CST reply actions