Virginia Tech fans continue to speculate on who their school’s next head coach will be. There has been plenty of conversation about bringing Shane Beamer back to Blacksburg. The former Blacksburg High and Tech player says he is not considering that move.
But the new coach could be on the road from Columbia, South Carolina. He just isn’t Beamer.
The perfect candidate lies just down the sidelines from Shane, and this person would be a perfect choice for Virginia Tech.
Mike Shula is the offensive coordinator for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He played college football as a quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide and was the school’s head coach from 2003 to 2006. He was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 to 1999, the Carolina Panthers from 2013 to 2017, and the New York Giants from 2018 to 2019.
Of course, his lineage is another reason to think he would work in Blacksburg.
He is the son of Don Shula, the NFL’s all-time winningest coach, and the younger brother of Dave Shula. Shula attended high school at Christopher Columbus High School, in Miami, Florida, where he won all-state honors and led his team to the state championship game in December 1982. He then started at quarterback for three seasons where he had a 24–11–1 record.
With stints in both college and the NFL, he was hired in 2022 by South Carolina Gamecocks as Offensive Analyst and promoted last year to Offensive Coordinator.
His father, Don served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his career, Shula is the NFL’s winningest head coach at 347 career victories and 328 regular season victories. He is regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time.
Mike could also bring his brother in to help the Virginia Tech program. David Shula served as the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1992 to 1996.
Yes, Tech fans the road to Blacksburg runs through South Carolina.
