Fouts, Steeg recount tales of fiery coach

To offer a glimpse into the relentlessly competitive nature of late Dolphins coach Don Shula, Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts drifted back to 1982.

On Jan. 2, Fouts and the Chargers survived 41-38 in overtime during the Epic in Miami — the unforgettable playoff game immortalized by drained tight end Kellen Winslow being helped off the field. The play that forced overtime came on a 9-yard touchdown pass to rookie James Brooks.

“I was obviously trying to get the ball to Winslow,” Fouts said Monday. “He was out of gas, couldn’t jump — he was done. So here comes James, flashing across. We ran that play 1,000 times in games and practices. The halfback was the fifth option. I can honestly tell you, the fifth option never got the ball once in those 1,000 times.

“I couldn’t believe it. Really smart play by James.”

A few weeks later at the Pro Bowl, Shula — the Hall of Famer who died Monday at age 90 — still smoldered.

“Shula coached our AFC team at the Pro Bowl,” Fouts said. “When I walked into the first meeting, he storms up to me with his jaw out, ‘You overthrew

Winslow, didn’t you?’ I said, ‘Well, Coach, who caught the ball?’ ”

The gamesmanship deliciously continued, long after the final whistle at the Orange Bowl. As Pro Bowl week rolled along, though, the icy stare melted. The pair of uncommon winners found common purpose, thanks to NFC coach John Mckay.

“Everything was very vanilla, all two backs and basic stuff, because you only had a couple of days to prepare for it,” Fouts said. “Mckay and Shula weren’t close. There was a rule in the Pro Bowl you could only play a three-deep zone or man to man (defense). Well,

Mckay is playing ‘Cover 2’ and Shula is losing his mind, yelling at officials and yelling at the other sideline.”

Fouts hatched a plan. His tactic flouted the rules, too.

“I went up and said to Shula, ‘Give me two tight ends and we’ll win this,’ ” Fouts said. “I had Ozzie Newsome and Kellen Winslow and boom, boom, boom, we went down the field and scored.

“Any time I’d see Shula at a Hall of Fame gathering or whatever, we’d joke about it. We were breaking the rules, but they broke the rules first.”

Shula carved out a special path in the NFL, winning two Super Bowls while making history as the architect of the league’s only perfect season in 1972.

Fouts said the legacy also includes unique adaptability. He pointed to the fingerprints Shula left on a trio of Hall-bound quarterbacks in Johnny Unitas, Bob Griese and Dan Marino.

“You’ve got one throwing 11 passes in a Super Bowl (Griese) and another who’s the first to throw for 5,000 yards in a season (Marino),” he said. “What that tells me is his ability to adjust to personnel. That’s why he’s the winningest coach of all time.”

Shula grew into a close friend of Jim Steeg, the former business manager of the Dolphins who later became COO of the Chargers.

Football so consumed Shula that it was not unusual for him to expose his comical disconnect with pop culture. When introduced to actor Don Johnson of “Miami Vice,” the coach thanked him for his work with the city.

“One time, Don ran into Glenn Frey in a hotel lobby,” Steeg said. “He said, ‘Coach, I’m Glenn Frey of the Eagles. I just wanted a chance to meet you and say hello.’ Don responded, ‘You

here to play one of those preseason games?’ ”

Steeg chuckled at the memory of attending his first league meeting in the mid-1970s at the Hotel del Coronado. The 20-something front office employee was floored when Shula instructed him to meet at the tennis courts the following morning.

The two began to play when a distinctive voice knifed through the silence.

“Someone was bellowing from a balcony,” Steeg said. “It was Howard Cosell calling the match between Shula and this kid, point by point.”

Steeg won, seemingly at his own professional peril.

“It’s like Don was two different people,” Steeg said. “During the season he was driven, focused and all the things you’d think. In the offseason, you couldn’t have had a better friend.”

The relationship deepened over time. Shula tried to coax Steeg to become president of the Dolphins, but the former tennis rival ended up leading the Chargers instead.

“He always wanted me to come back in the ’90s, but the timing didn’t work out,” Steeg said.

Steeg, an accountant by trade, handled Shula’s taxes for a couple years.

“He was extremely conservative with his money,” Steeg said. “I joked that I could open up his closets and see the cash stacked up. The last time I talked to him, a few months ago before the virus came out, he was joking about getting another residual check for ‘Ace Ventura.’

“I told him, ‘If I didn’t put Flipper (the Dolphins mascot) back in the end zone, you never would have been in that movie.’ ”

Shula remained prime time, by anyone’s definition.