Mike Shula
Mike Shula went 26–23 on the field as a head coach, 2003–2006, at Alabama; 10–23 officially, after the NCAA vacated 16 wins (2005 and 2006). Share
- Record
- 10–23 official; 26–23 on the field
- Seasons
- 4
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Best season
- 2004 6–6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Alabama | 4–9 | 5th (Western) | |||
| 2004 | Alabama | 6–6 | 3rd (Western) | Music City Bowl L | ||
| 2005 | Alabama | 10–2 (0–2 official) | 3rd (Western) | Cotton W (vacated) | 8 | |
| 2006 | Alabama | 6–6 (0–6 official) | 4th (Western) | Independence (not coached) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 18 | 4–14 | 22% |
| Against top-10 teams | 8 | 1–7 | 13% |
| Against rivals | 23 | 8–15 | 35% |
| Conference games | 32 | 13–19 | 41% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 20 | 6–14 | 30% |
| At home | 30 | 20–10 | 67% |
| On the road | 17 | 5–12 | 29% |
| At neutral sites | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 33 | 23–10 | 70% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 16 | 3–13 | 19% |
His own 49 games on file, 2003–2006, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Nutt 2003–2006 | 1–3 | Arkansas | 4 | |
| Phillip Fulmer 2003–2006 | 1–3 | Tennessee | 4 | |
| Tommy Tuberville 2003–2006 | 0–4 | Auburn | 4 | |
| Jeff Bower 2003–2005 | 3–0 | Southern Miss | 3 | |
| Sylvester Croom 2004–2006 | 2–1 | Mississippi State | 3 |
Mike Shula’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Ole Missseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Mississippi Stateseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Arkansasseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Tennesseeseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Auburnseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| LSUseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Southern Missseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Kentuckyseries | 2 | 2–0 |
Other roles
- Team captain, Alabama 1986
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988–90 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL | Offensive assistant | |
| 1991–92 | Miami Dolphins NFL | Coaches’ assistant | |
| 1993–95 | Chicago Bears NFL | Tight ends coach | |
| 1996–99 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2000–02 | Miami Dolphins NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2003–06 | Alabama | Head coach | |
| 2007–10 | Jacksonville Jaguars NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2011–12 | Carolina Panthers NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013–17 | Carolina Panthers NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2018–19 | New York Giants NFL | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2020–21 | Denver Broncos NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2022–23 | Buffalo Bills NFL | Senior offensive assistant | |
| 2024–25 | South Carolina | Senior offensive assistant | |
| 2025 | South Carolina | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2026–present | Minnesota | Senior offensive assistant |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Ray PerkinsTampa Bay Buccaneers
- Richard WilliamsonTampa Bay Buccaneers
- Dave WannstedtChicago Bears, Miami Dolphins
- Pat ShurmurNew York Giants
- Vic FangioDenver Broncos
- Shane BeamerSouth Carolina
- P.J. FleckMinnesota
Assistants who became head coaches
- Chris BallNorthern Arizona
- David RaderTulsa
- Joe KinesArkansas, Alabama
- Sparky WoodsSouth Carolina, App State, VMI
- Gabe GiardinaAlbany State, Charleston Southern
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Perkins | Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL | 1988–90 | Offensive assistant | |
| Richard Williamson | Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL | 1990 | Offensive assistant | |
| Dave Wannstedt | Chicago Bears NFL | 1993–95 | Tight ends coach | |
| Dave Wannstedt | Miami Dolphins NFL | 2000–02 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Pat Shurmur | New York Giants NFL | 2018–19 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Vic Fangio | Denver Broncos NFL | 2020–21 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Shane Beamer | South Carolina | 2024–25 | 2024–25: senior offensive assistant; 2025: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| P.J. Fleck | Minnesota | 2026 | Senior offensive assistant |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Ball | Alabama, 2003–06: defensive backs coach | Northern Arizona | |
| David Rader | Alabama, 2003–06: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Tulsa | |
| Joe Kines | Alabama, 2003–06: defensive coordinator | Arkansas, Alabama | |
| Sparky Woods | Alabama, 2003–06: running backs coach | South Carolina, App State, VMI | |
| Gabe Giardina | Alabama, 2004: student assistant; 2005–06: graduate assistant | Albany State, Charleston Southern |
Other assistants under him (2)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Charlie Harbison | Alabama, 2003–06: wide receivers coach | |
| Paul Randolph | Alabama, 2003–05: defensive ends coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Alabama | head coachbonuses up to $875,000 | $1,766,853 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Shula’s teams went for it on 14% of fourth downs and on 25% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 44% of plays and took 27.7 seconds a play, 2004–2006.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 11 g | 12 of 88 14% | 24% | 34% | 26.1 | −0.10 | |
| 2005 12 g | 14 of 106 13% | 29% | 47% | 27.9 | −0.10 | |
| 2006 12 g | 13 of 93 14% | 21% | 51% | 29.0 | −0.10 | |
| All 35 g | 39 of 287 14% | 25% | 44% | 27.7 | −0.10 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.