Mario Cristobal shares how Don Shula, Miami Dolphins impacted him as a coach

As a Miami native, Mario Cristobal has great respect for the Dolphins’ legendary 1972 season under coach Don Shula. Miami completed a perfect season with a Super Bowl win against Washington that year, and is still the only NFL franchise to ever do so.

With the Dolphins celebrating the 50th anniversary of that season this year, they are set to wear commemorative jerseys for Sunday night’s primetime matchup against the Steelers. That led to Cristobal being asked about Shula’s impact on both him and other coaches in the South Florida region in a Wednesday press conference.

“He’s the best of the best,” the Hurricanes head man said. “Back then, you only talk about three coaches, right? Don Shula, Chuck Noll and Tom Landry. Those were the dudes. Something about the ’72 team that always stuck out to me — I forget where it was quoted and I hope it’s accurate — I think that year the number of mental mistakes they had as a team was in the low teens or something like that. Just an unbelievably synchronized organization from top to bottom starting with the head guy.

“You’re talking about not only a master as a teacher, but just an organizational incredible CEO that did it at the highest level for such a long, long time and impacted everybody. He impacted coaching globally. Not only here in South Florida, Miami and the community, but everywhere. When you say that name, and I know his family really, really well, it’s powerful because of work done and time invested. We’re all very grateful and thankful for his contributions, his guidance and his mentorship and leadership.”

Mario Cristobal was only two years old in 1972, but got to watch Don Shula lead the Dolphins for several years before Shula retired in 1995. Shula is the winningest coach in NFL history with 347 victories across his 33 seasons.

Cristobal, a former Hurricanes player who won national titles with Miami in 1989 and 1991, is in his first season as head coach of his alma mater. He has them off to a 3-3 start at the halfway point this year, and will hope to rebuild the winning tradition going forward.

As he attempts to do so, he’ll take inspiration from Shula’s Dolphins teams for the discipline they displayed while he was watching. The Hurricanes next face Duke at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Miami.