Shula returns to coaching 22 years after being fired by Bengals
Dave Shula played receiver at Dartmouth, and will now coach receivers at his alma mater.
Shula returns to coaching 22 years after being fired by Bengals Dave Shula played receiver at Dartmouth, and will now coach receivers at his alma mater. Check out this story on cincinnati.com: https://cin.ci/2GvuxUv
Dave Clark, dclark@cincinnati.com Published 1:00 p.m. ET April 3, 2018
Marvin Lewis became the Cincinnati Bengals head coach in 2003. Lewis's tenure with the Bengals was the second longest in the NFL in 2017. Here is a look at where Lewis ranks in Bengals history.
Dave Shula takes responsibility for his role in the Bengals' struggles during his tenure as head coach, but realizes other factors also played a role.(Photo: Enquirer file)
Dave Shula hasn't coached in 22 years - since the Cincinnati Bengals fired him during the season in 1996 after a 19-52 record in five-plus years with the team.
The 58-year-old Shula is the new wide receivers coach at his alma mater, Dartmouth College - also the alma mater of Bengals owner Mike Brown and his daughter, Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn. (Mike Brown played quarterback for Dartmouth's football team in the 1950s.)
Shula played wide receiver at Dartmouth and graduated in 1981.
From Dartmouthsports.com:
"I appreciate the opportunity that Coach Teevens has given me," Shula said. "I am lucky to be married to a member of the Class of 1981, and our oldest son is an '06, so Dartmouth roots run deep. I look forward to helping Dartmouth continue its championship tradition."
In July of 2017, The Enquirer's Jim Owczarski interviewed Shula for a lengthy feature about his tenure as the Bengals' head coach. An excerpt:
"You think, 'what changed?' Well, you did," Shula laughed. "So it's hard not to think that you were a major cause of the problem, right?"
But as the years passed and the club continued to struggle, he realized perhaps the problems were greater than him.
"Over a five-year period they didn't show really much growth if any," he said. "I don't think they made the playoffs in any of those years. I'm not sure if they ever got over .500. So it kind of evened out over a period of time where I didn't feel quite as bad. So, yeah, now, with 20 years perspective looking back on it, you realize that maybe it wasn't all me.
"Certainly I had a role in it, but you can't blame everything on me, either."
Shula noted the litany of failed top draft picks, from Klinger to John Copeland to Dan Wilkinson to Carter.
"We made some decisions on players that didn't quite work out," Shula said. "And then we didn't get, as a coaching staff, we didn't get the guys that we had to perform as well as they could've. And that adds up to losing games and losing close games and unfortunate things."
Shula worked previously as Brand Ambassador of Shula's Steak Houses.
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