Don Shula wasn’t fan of Patriots’ Bill Belichick’s rule-breaking

Don Shula is the NFL’s all-time winningest coach. Bill Belichick ranks third. But the Dolphins legend, who died Monday at the age of 90, didn’t believe he shared much in common with the greatest coach of another generation. “He called Belichick, ‘Beli-cheat,’ ” former Miami safety Dick Anderson said on CBS Sports Radio’s “The DA …

Don Shula is the NFL’s all-time winningest coach. Bill Belichick ranks third.

But the Dolphins legend, who died Monday at the age of 90, didn’t believe he shared much in common with the greatest coach of another generation.

“He called Belichick, ‘Beli-cheat,’ ” former Miami safety Dick Anderson said on CBS Sports Radio’s “The DA Show.” “[Shula] was straightforward. He was, ‘This is how we have to do it, and these are the rules, and this is what we’re going to follow.’ He didn’t like, I think, the people that didn’t follow the rules, and he did.”

While Shula’s two Super Bowl titles can’t compete with the record six won as a head coach by Belichick — who won another two as Giants defensive coordinator — the 1993 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year said in 2016 that he didn’t want his legacy to be defined by his 347 wins as a head coach.

“I want them to say, ‘He won within the rules,’ ” Shula said. “That he had players that took a lot of pride in playing within the rules. I want them to say that we did it all the right way. Always the right way.”

Shula’s greatest professional achievement came as the leader of the only undefeated team in NFL history (17-0) back in 1972. When the Patriots appeared set on matching the feat upon entering Super Bowl 42 at 18-0, Shula believed New England shouldn’t be put in the same category as the Dolphins.

“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished,” Shula said that season. “I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home run record.”

Belichick, 68, could still break Shula’s all-time wins record. Belichick, who has won double-digit games every season since 2003, needs 44 wins to surpass Shula. The legends met twice when Belichick was coaching the Browns in the 1990s, with Shula winning both battles.

“Don Shula is one of the all-time great coaching figures and the standard for consistency and leadership in the NFL,” Belichick said this week. “I was fortunate to grow up in Maryland as a fan of the Baltimore Colts who, under Coach Shula, were one of the outstanding teams of that era. My first connection to coach Shula was through my father, whose friendship with coach Shula went back to their days in northeast Ohio. I extend my deepest condolences to the Shula family and the Dolphins organization.”