Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas
Very quietly, there's a nice story developing in Jacksonville. Mike Shula's coaching career is undergoing a resurgence that's going to play out over the next year or two.
Fans in Tampa Bay and Tuscaloosa might not want to hear it or believe it, but Shula is a very good coach and he's finally landed in a great situation. As Jacksonville's quarterbacks coach, Shula has been a driving force behind the emergence of David Garrard.
Shula's been given a bad rap because a lot of people think he rode being Don Shula's son to becoming Tampa Bay's offensive coordinator and the University of Alabama's head coach without paying his dues. But that's just not accurate.
Anyone who's coached with Shula will tell you he's very good at what he does. He's got a great work ethic and pays uncommon attention to detail. Shula landed in a bad situation in Tampa Bay and got an undeserved reputation for being too conservative with his play calling. But Shula didn't have much to work with (Trent Dilfer was the quarterback and receivers Jacquez Green and Reidel Anthony were huge busts) and he was under orders from coach Tony Dungy to keep the ball on the ground.
Shula wound up being a scapegoat for the Bucs. At Alabama, where its impossible to follow in Bear Bryant's footsteps, Shula was thrown into the job after the Mike Price fiasco and had some bad luck with injuries to key players.
But Shula's luck has changed. He's never been one to seek the spotlight and he stays totally out of it in Jacksonville. That's not going to last, though. Garrard is for real and will only continue to get better. That's going to start drawing credit and attention to Shula and his name's going to start popping up for jobs as an offensive coordinator or head coach.
At 43, Shula's got a reputation within the league for being a good coach and a very solid human being. The Dolphins interviewed Shula before hiring Cam Cameron in 2007, but Shula was coming off the Alabama firing.
Going to Jacksonville was just what Shula needed to get ready for the next time around somewhere else. The time out of the spotlight is good for now, but every Garrard completion next year will put Shula one step closer to being a coordinator or head coach. This time around, he'll be more than ready.
