Without Don Shula, There’s No Eleven
By Rick Horrow
On the Monday evening after Super Bowl LIV, luminaries from the South Florida sports and business community gathered at the University of Miami to reflect on the game, the region’s remarkable Super Bowl hosting run (11!), and the long runway to future events Miami’s international reputation as the sporting event host city with the most has paved.
Among those gathered in Coral Gables for the event I moderated, “SportBusiness 50: Lessons and Leadership from Legends of the Game,” were Super Bowl Host Committee Chairman Rodney Barreto; Miami Dolphins President Tom Garfinkel; NFL Hall of Fame President David Baker; RISE Co-Chairman Diahann Billings-Burford; UHealth President Lee Kaplan; UofM Athletic Director Blake James; former PGA of America President Joe Steranka; Marlins broadcaster Tommy Hutton; international television exec Jim Ganley; and key executives from HSBC Bank, with whom I am collaborating on a national series of similar events.
Don Shula wasn’t in the room that evening, but our conversation wouldn’t have happened without him. Nor would Inter Miami CF, kicking off in 10 days. Or the 2021 Miami Grand Prix. Or the brand new Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.
The evening’s highlight was the reveal of the Top 10 Moments in South Florida Sports History, as evaluated and announced by the New York University Preston Robert Tisch School of Global Sport. Professors Lee Igel and Elizabeth Haas developed 50 national “breakthrough moments” in sports as part of The Sport Business Handbook: Insights from 100+ Leaders Who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry, the anthology I edited last year with contributions from the likes of Jack Nicklaus, former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Steve Ross, and Shula.
The Moments were defined as events that “drive changes in perception and expectation,” and South Florida’s regional list came first in honor of Super Bowl LIV. Shula leading the Dolphins to an AFC Wild Card in 1970, three straight AFC Championships in 1971, 1972, and 1973, and two Super Bowl victories was at the top of that list, with good reason.
The NYU report concluded, “The national media coverage and attention (because of the Shula hiring) also changed. The Dolphins and Shula brought Florida into the world of major league professional sports, and professional respect in sports changed the economics of Florida. Sports had not been previously associated with professional winning in Florida. The Dolphins and Shula changed that. Sports in Miami have never been the same. With it came a pride, respect, and a community that keeps growing. Today, South Florida rules the football world.”
To open the evening, I referenced Shula’s Sport Business Handbook chapter, Cultivating a Winning Edge. “If you’re honest and true to yourself about your skill level, about your preparation level, about your goal, then you are more likely to see winning not as conquering another but getting the most out of what you bring to competition,” the great Shula said. “You keep the bigger picture in mind, don’t dwell on mistakes, and rise about things. That mindset will get you through some difficult times when perhaps winning is not happening as often as expected. If you are tasked with turning around a struggling organization, don’t forget that.”
And South Florida never did.
Sport business pioneer Rick Horrow, also known as The Sports Professor, is a native Miamian and lifetime Florida sports fan.