 Shell in 2006 | |||||||||
| No. 78 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Offensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1946-11-26)November 26, 1946 (age 78) Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Bonds-Wilson (North Charleston, South Carolina) | ||||||||
| College | Maryland State (1964–1967) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1968: 3rd round, 80th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career AFL/NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Regular season | 56–52 (.519) | ||||||||
| Postseason | 2–3 (.400) | ||||||||
| Career | 58–55 (.513) | ||||||||
| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||
Arthur Lee Shell Jr.[1][2] (born November 26, 1946) is an American former professionalfootball player and coach. He played as anoffensive tackle in theAmerican Football League (AFL) and later in theNational Football League (NFL) for theOakland /Los Angeles Raiders. He playedcollege football at Maryland State College—nowUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore—and was drafted by the Raiders in the third round (80th overall) of the1968 NFL/AFL draft. He was later a twicehead coach for the Raiders. He holds the distinction of becoming the second African American head coach in the history of professional football and the first in the sport's modern era. Shell was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Shell was born on November 26, 1946, inCharleston orNorth Charleston, South Carolina.[3] He was the oldest child of Arthur Lee Shell Sr., a machine set operator, and Gertrude Shell, who died when Shell was 15. After her death, Shell took on added responsibility caring for his siblings. Shell attended the segregatedBonds-Wilson High School, which no longer exists, graduating in 1964. He was coached by James Fields and Eugene Gray. He made all-state teams in both basketball and football.[4][5][6][7]
In 2015, Shell was inducted into theSouth Carolina Football Hall of Fame.[6]
Shell went to college at Maryland State College,[8] now theUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), an historically black college inPrincess Anne, Maryland. He was coached byRoosevelt "Sandy" Gilliam, and played offensive tackle and defensive tackle on the football team. He was named aLittle All-America his senior year in 1967, All-Conference in three seasons, and was named All-America by thePittsburgh Courier andEbony magazine in 1967. Shell's teams were 20–8–1. Future College Football Hall of Fame and NFL running backEmerson Boozer[9] was one of his teammates. He graduated in 1968 with aBachelor of Science degree inindustrial arts.[4][5][7] Shell is a member ofAlpha Phi Alpha fraternity.[1]
Shell was drafted in the third round by the American Football League'sOakland Raiders.[10] Playingoffensive tackle, Shell participated in 23 postseason playoff contests in the AFL and NFL,[11] including eight AFC or AFL championship games, a loss inSuper Bowl II, and victories inSuper BowlsXI andXV. He was a four time All-Pro (two times first-team and two second-team), and was named to eightPro Bowls.[7][12][11][4]
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He played 15 seasons for the Raiders. He was a top special teams player his first two years, and then moved to offensive line in his third year, becoming equally adept at pass and run blocking.[7] Shell played 156 straight games for the Raiders until he suffered a preseason injury in 1979, and after he recovered, Shell played another 51 straight games until he was injured again in 1982, his final season. Shell played next to Hall of Fame and100th Anniversary All-Time teammate guardGene Upshaw in three different decades.[7][13][14] He was also offensive linemates with Hall of Fame and 100th Anniversary All-Time teammateJim Otto and Hall of Fame offensive tackleBob Brown.[15][14][16][17]
Shell was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.[7] In 2019, he was named to theNFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.[14] In 1999, he was ranked number 55 onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.[18] In 2021,The Athletic listed Shell as the 76th greatest player ever.[12] He was also a member of the 1970s All-Decade Team and the Super Bowl Silver Anniversary Team (1990).[7]
He was inducted into the UMES Hall of Fame in 1984,[5]Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Hall of Fame in 2006,[19] the Black College Hall of Fame in 2011,[20] and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.[5] Since 2000, Shell has held the UMES Celebrity Golf Classic, a celebrity golf tournament.[5]
Shell was an offensive line coach with the Raiders from 1983 to 1988.[21] In 1989, the Raiders ownerAl Davis hired Shell as his head coach to replaceMike Shanahan, becoming the first black head coach in modern NFL history, and the first sinceFritz Pollard in 1925.[22][23]
ThroughAl Davis, Shell is a member of theSid Gillmancoaching tree.[24][25] As coach of the Raiders from 1989 to 1994 (at the time located in Los Angeles), Shell coached 12 games in 1989, and 16 games/year from 1990 to 1994, compiling a record of 54 wins and 38 losses.[26] Shell was namedAFCCoach of the Year in 1990, when the Raiders won theAFC West division with a 12–4 record, and advanced to theAFC championship game in the playoffs,[27] becoming the first African-American coach to lead the team to the Conference Championship game.[23][21] Shell also received theMaxwell Club's coach of the year award (theGreasy Neale Award),[28] andPro Football Weekly's NFL Coach of the Year Award.[29]Al Davis, owner of the Raiders, fired Shell after a 9–7 season in 1994,[30] a move Davis later called "a mistake."[31]
After leaving the Raiders, Shell went on to coaching positions with theKansas City Chiefs (offensive line coach 1995-1996) andAtlanta Falcons (offensive line coach for four years before resigning in early 2001),[21] before serving as a senior vice president for the NFL, in charge of football operations. In 2004, Shell became the NFL's Senior Vice President over football operations, supervising all football operations and development.[4][19]
Shell was working for the NFL when he was officially re-hired by the-then Oakland Raiders as head coach on February 11, 2006.[23] After leading the team to its worst record (2 wins, 14 losses) since 1962, despite having one of the best defenses, Shell was fired for the second time as head coach of the Raiders on January 4, 2007.[32]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| RAI | 1989 | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 3rd in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| RAI | 1990 | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 1st in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toBuffalo Bills inAFC Championship Game |
| RAI | 1991 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3rd in AFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toKansas City Chiefs inAFC wild card game |
| RAI | 1992 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4th in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| RAI | 1993 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 2nd in AFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toBuffalo Bills inAFC Divisional Game |
| RAI | 1994 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3rd in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| OAK | 2006 | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 4th in AFC West | — | — | — | — |
| Total[33] | 56 | 52 | 0 | .518 | 2 | 3 | .400 | |||
Shell is the father of Billie Dureyea Shell, the author of theUnfaithful book trilogy, and the great-uncle ofBrandon Shell, an offensive lineman who was drafted in 2016 by theNew York Jets.[34][4]