Don Shula Stadium is a

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

located on the campus of

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

University Heights, Ohio University Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,914 as of the 2020 Census. Located from downtown Cleveland, it is a suburb of the Cleveland metropolitan area. University Heights is closely tied to ne ...

, near

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. Don Shula Stadium is home to the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

Blue Streaks of John Carroll University and has an official capacity of 5,416 spectators. It also serves as a home for the school's soccer and lacrosse programs. The stadium is named for

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

coach and former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player,

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula ( ; January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player, coach and executive who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. He played seven s ...

, a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the Blue Streaks in the late 1940s and was drafted in the ninth round of the 1951 NFL draft.

History

Don Shula Stadium was built around the preexisting "Wasmer Field", which has been the home turf for the JCU Blue Streaks since 1968. The venue was opened in 2003 with the official dedication and opening event held on September 27 of that year in a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

game between the John Carroll Blue Streaks and the Polar Bears of

Ohio Northern University Ohio Northern University (Ohio Northern or ONU) is a private college in Ada, Ohio, United States. Founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871, ONU offers over 60 programs across five undergraduate and graduate colleges and is affiliated with the Unit ...

. left, 150px, The stadium was named after Don Shula (pictured) The stadium was named in honor of

, an alumnus of

and a retired

coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. Shula was the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

for the 1960–1962 seasons. He was also the head coach for both the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

(1963–1969) and the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

(1970–1995). In his 32 seasons as a head coach, Shula won fourteen Division titles, five

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the wo ...

s, two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s ( VII, VIII) and the

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

. He holds several NFL records including the record for most NFL regular season wins (328) and the Miami Dolphins' record for most career wins (257).Falleció Don Shula, el entrenador más ganador de la NFL
at ''Los Angeles Times'', 4 Nov 2020 The completion of Don Shula Stadium added new locker rooms and coaches' offices to the complex. It also replaced the old weight room with a new, state-of-the-art version and added an updated training room. A new press box and coaches booths were also added.

References

External links

* {{Ohio college football venues College football venues in Ohio Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States John Carroll Blue Streaks football Cleveland SC American football venues in Ohio Buildings and structures in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Soccer venues in Ohio Sports venues completed in 2003 2003 establishments in Ohio