Some names don’t just belong to people; they belong to places. In Miami, “Shula” is one of them. So when reports surfaced that the Miami Dolphins requested an interview with Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula for their head coaching vacancy, it carried a certain poetic weight.
Is Chris Shula Related to Don Shula?
Yes, Chris Shula is the grandson of Don Shula, the Hall of Famer whose influence still lingers in South Florida like a familiar story everyone knows by heart.
Don served as head coach of the Baltimore Colts from 1963 to 1969, compiling a 73-26-4 record and guiding the team to three playoff appearances. He went on to lead the Miami Dolphins for 26 seasons from 1970 to 1995, overseeing the NFL’s only perfect season in 1972, when Miami finished 17-0 and captured victories in Super Bowls VII and VIII. Shula concluded his career with a league-record 347 wins across 526 games.
Here’s a fun one: The Dolphins have requested an interview with Rams DC Chris Shula for their head coaching job, per source.
Shula — the grandson of legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula — is eligible to interview next week after the Rams’ wild card game. pic.twitter.com/5Iaq4tcQbz
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 10, 2026
According to TheRams.com, Chris played linebacker at Miami (Ohio) from 2004 to 2008, where he was a teammate of Sean McVay, a connection that would quietly resurface years later in Los Angeles. At the time, Chris was learning the game from the inside, absorbing it the way linebackers do: patiently, instinctively, and with an eye for detail.
After his playing days ended, Chris chose the long road into coaching. He spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at Indiana University, working primarily with defensive backs. From there, he moved to Ball State as an assistant linebackers coach before earning his first opportunity to lead a defense at John Carroll University in 2014. That season, John Carroll reached the Division III playoff quarterfinals and finished among the nation’s top teams in scoring defense, a modest setting, perhaps, but a meaningful proving ground.
The NFL came calling in 2015, when Chris joined the Los Angeles Chargers as a defensive quality control coach. His arrival in Los Angeles in 2017, however, became the foundation of his professional identity. Over the next several seasons, he grew Reid into a trusted defensive voice for the Rams.
His influence was evident in the development of players year after year. Cory Littleton emerged as one of the league’s most productive linebackers in 2018. Leonard Floyd enjoyed a career-best season in 2020, when the Rams fielded the NFL’s top-ranked defense, finishing first in points allowed, passing yards allowed, and total yards allowed, and second in sacks.
That defensive standard carried through the Rams’ Super Bowl–winning 2021 season, when the development of rookie Ernest Jones became a defining storyline. In 2023, Jones set a franchise record with 145 tackles and ranked among the league’s top linebackers across multiple performance metrics while Shula served as linebackers coach and pass rush coordinator.
When Shula was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2024, the transition felt seamless, and the results followed. Now, as the Dolphins weigh what comes next, the question may no longer be whether Chris Shula is related to Don Shula. It may be whether Miami is ready to write a new chapter with a familiar name.