University of Minnesota Athletics
Staff Directory
Mike Shula
- Title:
- Offensive Assistant
- Email:
Mike Shula joined the University of Minnesota football staff as an Offensive Assistant in March 2026.Â
Shula came to Minnesota from South Carolina where he spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He was the Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Coach in 2025. He joined South Carolina in March 2024 as an Offensive Analyst and then was named a Senior Offensive Assistant prior to the start of fall camp in 2024.Â
In his two years at South Carolina, he worked with talented quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year in 2024.Â
Prior to South Carolina, he was the Senior Offensive Assistant for the Buffalo Bills for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Shula spent most of his entire coaching career in the NFL. The lone exception was when he served as the Head Coach at his alma mater, Alabama, from 2003-06. Shula was also the starting quarterback for Alabama from 1984-86.Â
He began his coaching career as an Offensive Assistant with Tampa Bay (1988-90), before spending two years as a Defensive Assistant with Miami (1991-92) and three in Chicago as the Bears’ Tight Ends Coach (1993-95).
Shula’s first stint as an Offensive Coordinator came on Minnesota alum Tony Dungy’s staff in Tampa Bay from 1996-99. He returned to Miami as the Dolphins Quarterbacks Coach from 2000-02 before going to Alabama in 2003. At the time, he was the second-youngest coach in Division I-A football at age 38.
Shula returned to the NFL in 2007, beginning a four-year stint as the Quarterbacks Coach in Jacksonville. He oversaw David Garrard’s development from becoming a full-time starter in 2007 to making the Pro Bowl in 2009.
He joined the Carolina Panthers in 2011 and served as the Panthers’ Quarterbacks Coach for two seasons before being promoted to Offensive Coordinator, a position he held from 2013-17. In 2011, he helped quarterback Cam Newton earn Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year after passing for more than 4,000 yards and accounting for 35 touchdowns.Â
Under Shula’s tutelage, Newton broke the record for most passing yards in a player’s first two seasons, held by Peyton Manning. Shula was named Offensive Coordinator of the Year by Pro Football Focus during the 2015 NFL season after Newton won the NFL MVP award and the Panthers reached the Super Bowl.
Shula served as the New York Giants Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach from 2018-19, then spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons in Denver as the Broncos’ Quarterbacks Coach before his two-year run in Buffalo
Shula was hired as head coach at Alabama in May 2003. At the time of his arrival, the program was in turmoil and had received NCAA sanctions. His best season came in 2005 when Alabama went 10-2 with a victory in the 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic against the Mike Leach-led Texas Tech Red Raiders, climbing as high as number 3 in the polls. They finished that season ranked eighth in the nation.
Born June 3, 1965, in Baltimore, Md., he is the son of the late Don Shula, the NFL’s all-time winningest coach, the younger brother of Dave Shula, former head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, and the uncle of Chris Shula, the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.Â
He attended high school at Christopher Columbus High in Miami where he earned all-state honors and led his team to the state championship game in 1982.Â
Shula graduated from the University of Alabama in 1987 with a degree in labor relations. As the starting quarterback from 1984-86, he logged a 24-11-1 mark during three seasons. He was the 1985 first-team All-SEC quarterback and was selected in the 12th round, the 313rd overall pick, in the 1987 draft by Tampa Bay.
He has three daughters, Samantha, Brooke and Ryan.
Shula came to Minnesota from South Carolina where he spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons. He was the Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Coach in 2025. He joined South Carolina in March 2024 as an Offensive Analyst and then was named a Senior Offensive Assistant prior to the start of fall camp in 2024.Â
In his two years at South Carolina, he worked with talented quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year in 2024.Â
Prior to South Carolina, he was the Senior Offensive Assistant for the Buffalo Bills for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Shula spent most of his entire coaching career in the NFL. The lone exception was when he served as the Head Coach at his alma mater, Alabama, from 2003-06. Shula was also the starting quarterback for Alabama from 1984-86.Â
He began his coaching career as an Offensive Assistant with Tampa Bay (1988-90), before spending two years as a Defensive Assistant with Miami (1991-92) and three in Chicago as the Bears’ Tight Ends Coach (1993-95).
Shula’s first stint as an Offensive Coordinator came on Minnesota alum Tony Dungy’s staff in Tampa Bay from 1996-99. He returned to Miami as the Dolphins Quarterbacks Coach from 2000-02 before going to Alabama in 2003. At the time, he was the second-youngest coach in Division I-A football at age 38.
Shula returned to the NFL in 2007, beginning a four-year stint as the Quarterbacks Coach in Jacksonville. He oversaw David Garrard’s development from becoming a full-time starter in 2007 to making the Pro Bowl in 2009.
He joined the Carolina Panthers in 2011 and served as the Panthers’ Quarterbacks Coach for two seasons before being promoted to Offensive Coordinator, a position he held from 2013-17. In 2011, he helped quarterback Cam Newton earn Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year after passing for more than 4,000 yards and accounting for 35 touchdowns.Â
Under Shula’s tutelage, Newton broke the record for most passing yards in a player’s first two seasons, held by Peyton Manning. Shula was named Offensive Coordinator of the Year by Pro Football Focus during the 2015 NFL season after Newton won the NFL MVP award and the Panthers reached the Super Bowl.
Shula served as the New York Giants Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach from 2018-19, then spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons in Denver as the Broncos’ Quarterbacks Coach before his two-year run in Buffalo
Shula was hired as head coach at Alabama in May 2003. At the time of his arrival, the program was in turmoil and had received NCAA sanctions. His best season came in 2005 when Alabama went 10-2 with a victory in the 2006 Cotton Bowl Classic against the Mike Leach-led Texas Tech Red Raiders, climbing as high as number 3 in the polls. They finished that season ranked eighth in the nation.
Born June 3, 1965, in Baltimore, Md., he is the son of the late Don Shula, the NFL’s all-time winningest coach, the younger brother of Dave Shula, former head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, and the uncle of Chris Shula, the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.Â
He attended high school at Christopher Columbus High in Miami where he earned all-state honors and led his team to the state championship game in 1982.Â
Shula graduated from the University of Alabama in 1987 with a degree in labor relations. As the starting quarterback from 1984-86, he logged a 24-11-1 mark during three seasons. He was the 1985 first-team All-SEC quarterback and was selected in the 12th round, the 313rd overall pick, in the 1987 draft by Tampa Bay.
He has three daughters, Samantha, Brooke and Ryan.
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