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The odd couple: Auburn’s Cam Newton and Bama’s Mike Shula make super team
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On the surface, other than having both been SEC quarterbacks, Carolina Panthers superstar Cam Newton doesn’t seem to have a lot in common with his offensive coordinator, Mike Shula.
But Newton, the former Auburn star, is on the verge of adding to his incredible story of redemption. And Shula, the former Alabama coach, is one step from completing his own trip down a similar road.
It couldn’t have been easy growing up in the shadow of one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, but somehow Mike Shula succeeded, landing at Alabama for four seasons in the mid-‘80s and starting at quarterback for the last three. A 12th-round draft pick of the Buccaneers in 1987, he spent one season in Tampa Bay, which amounted to his entire NFL playing career.
Shula then had five jobs with three NFL teams — including the Bucs — before landing the head coaching job with his alma mater in 2003, replacing Mike Price, who was fired before he ever coached a game for the Crimson Tide.
Shula went 10-15 over his first two years in Tuscaloosa before finishing 10-2 in 2005, including a Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech. After getting off to a 6-3 start the following season, the Tide lost its next three games, and Shula was notified that he would not be retained.
Getting let go by Alabama was one thing, but having 16 victories vacated due to sanctions stemming from textbook-related infractions might have been worse for Shula, who has not been a head coach since.
He landed on his feet in Jacksonville, where he coached Jaguars QBs for four seasons before serving in the same role with Carolina for two more. Promoted to his current position in 2013, Shula has teamed with Newton to become the most dynamic duo on offense in the NFL.
Much like Shula, Newton, 26, took a circuitous route to get to where he is today. After two seasons at Florida that were marred by an injury and an incident involving a stolen laptop, Newton transferred to Blinn College in Texas, which he led to the national junior-college championship in 2009. After transferring to Auburn, Newton carried Auburn to an incredible 2010 season that he capped by winning the Heisman Trophy as well as the BCS National Championship. He accomplished all this while dealing with an eligibility controversy for most of the season.
The NFL beckoned, and Carolina made Newton the top pick of the 2011 draft. With Shula as his quarterbacks coach, Newton set an NFL record for rushing TDs by a quarterback (14) on his way to earning rookie of the year honors that season. It’s taken Newton and Shula four more seasons to get here, but the two have helped the Panthers get within one win of the Lombardi Trophy while leading the NFL in scoring at 31.3 points per game.
The contrasts between Shula and Newton go beyond their alma maters.
The 6-5, 245-pound Newton is built like Superman, and this season he has played like him, too. During the regular season, he threw for 3,837 yards, 35 TDs, and 10 INTs. He also ran for 636 yards and 10 more scores. He’s the first NFL player to throw for at least 30 TDs and run for at least 10 in a season. On top of that, Newton’s 21,740 total yards over his first five seasons are the most by any NFL player over that span, so he’s been super for quite some time now, and he has Shula, among others, to thank for it.
Meanwhile, the 6-2, 200-pound Shula – who would look a lot like Clark Kent if you gave him a pair of wire-rimmed glasses and slicked back his hair – has stayed out of the headlines, quietly doing his job while emerging as perhaps the best offensive coordinator in the business. However, if there is a flaw in his game lately, it might be his marketing skills. Earlier this month, he seemed to take himself out of the league’s head-coaching market despite the fact that he would probably be one of the NFL’s most sought-after candidates.
Shula may have dropped the ball regarding his career path, but he doesn’t seem to have any regrets about not landing an NFL head-coaching gig this year.
“I really haven’t thought about it that much,” said Shula, who is the same age as Super Bowl 50. “It doesn’t bother me just because I’m happy with what I’m doing for a lot of reasons.”
He should be.
Shula and Newton are bona fide proof that “Roll Tide” and “War Eagle” can not only co-exist, but thrive to the point of being on the verge of an NFL title.
There have been stranger unions in sports, but this Alabama-Auburn connection seems unstoppable and will only get stronger if the Panthers polish off the Broncos on Feb. 7.
Stan Chrapowicki is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Alabama and Auburn.
