MIAMI -- Miami Dolphin coach Don Shula said Monday he was tentatively offered $1 million a year to coach the USFL's New Jersey Generals, the same team that lured Heisman Trophy-winner Herschel Walker with a huge contract.
Shula said he received three telephone calls last week from representatives of the United States Football League team trying to determine whether he would be interested in taking the job in 1984.
'The calls weren't from the principal owner but from people who are close to the situation,' said Shula, one of the most successful coaches in National Football League history.
Shula said he was tentatively offered $1 million a year -- more than double the salary of any NFL coach.
Shula refused to say whether he was interested in the Generals' offer. His contract with the Dolphins runs out Feb. 28 unless he and team owner Joe Robbie reach agreement on a new one before then.
'At the present time, my contract here has not been settled,' he said. 'I'm certainly going to give Joe every opportunity to work it out here.'
Robbie could not be reached for comment.
Chuck Fairbanks, who formerly coached the New England Patriots, is the Generals' current head coach. A report by the Boston Globe Monday said Fairbanks would be fired this week.
The Generals, who lured Walker with a $16.5 million contract over three seasons, finished their season with a 6-12 record. Walker was regarded as the best collegiate back in the country when New Jersey talked him into leaving the University of Georgia one year before graduation.
This is not the first time Shula has been offered a chance to coach in the USFL. Earlier this year, Larry Csonka, a former Dolphin running back who is now a scout for the USFL Jacksonville Bulls, asked Shula if he would like to jump leagues. Shula said no.
Shula came to the Dolphins in 1970 after eight years with the Baltimore Colts. As of Monday, his record for regular and post-season games in Miami and Baltimore was 217-85-6. Shula has taken five teams to the Super Bowl, winning two championships.
Shula was the first coach in NFL history whose teams won more than 200 regular seaon games during his first 20 years in the league. He was also the only NFL coach to record a perfect season -- in 1972, when the Dolphins posted a 17-0 record.
