Don Shula says he admires Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s lack of pretense.

The Journal / Andrew Dickerman

PROVIDENCE — Don Shula may be 77 years old, may have 16 grandchildren whose names and birthdays he remembers thanks to game ball-styled footballs in his office, may have a hitch in his step.

But how many 77-year-old grandfathers appear in a commercial with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z?

Even though he’s been out of coaching for nearly a dozen years, Shula still has juice. The Hall of Fame coach retired from the Miami Dolphins in 1995 after a record-setting 347 wins.

Shula was in Providence yesterday for the opening of his newest restaurant, Shula’s 347 Grill, at the downtown Hilton. It’s clear that while much of his time is devoted to his family and many business ventures — the Providence outlet is the 26th entry to his eponymous chain, and he also has a hotel and golf course near Miami — Shula is still very much plugged into what goes on with both the Dolphins and the NFL.

New England fans will be happy to know that Shula thinks that for game officials there is a “lack of emphasis on using common sense,” especially when it comes to the pass-interference penalty.

Shula, a former member of the NFL’s competition committee, said recently he does not think the yardage penalty for a pass-interference call should be changed from its current point-of-foul, he does think it should be called only when it is clear that one player has gained an advantage over the other — something that wasn’t the case when the Patriots’ Ellis Hobbs was whistled for interference on the Colts’ Reggie Wayne in the AFC Championship Game.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who followed Shula’s Baltimore Colts as a child growing up in nearby Annapolis, Md., gets praise from the two-time Super Bowl champion (1972, ’73) for his demeanor and the way in which he and Scott Pioli have built the team.

“I think he’s to be admired for what he’s done. There’s no pretense, just what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of coach, compared to the Jimmy Johnsons of the world,” Shula said, taking a swipe at the perfectly coiffed man who succeeded him in Miami. “I just really want to stand back and applaud his accomplishments.”

Shula finds the Pats’ three-titles-in-six-years run impressive, but wouldn’t say that such a run can’t be matched in this free-agent era.

“With all of the changes, somebody still figures it out. At the end of the year, there’s still a winner. And you want to be the coach that figures it out instead of the coach that complains about what all of the obstacles are, and I think Bill has figured that out,” he said.

Shula thinks Tony Dungy has it figured out as well, and said he sees Dungy, Peyton Manning and the freshly-minted champion Indianapolis Colts winning more Super Bowls.

It worries Shula, whose son, Mike, was recently hired as quarterbacks coach of the Jaguars, that so many of the league’s players are finding their way onto police blotters.

He believes commissioner Roger Goodell will devote a good deal of time to the issue.

“Roger is very concerned that so many instances” — the most recent the Las Vegas strip club shooting that Titans cornerback Pacman Jones may or may not have been involved in. “The secret to the NFL has been leadership, and the owners have always made intelligent decisions.”

Shula believes taking a more proactive approach and trying to find out what dangers might be out there, instead of a reactive one, could help.

Dolphins’ owner Wayne Huizenga, president Bryan Wiedmeier and general manager Randy Mueller sought Shula’s counsel when searching for a man to fill Miami’s head coaching vacancy after the embarrassing departure of Nick Saban.

With the hiring of former Chargers offensive coordinator Cam Cameron — the fifth man to serve as Dolphins head coach since Shula’s retirement — Shula said the Dolphins “finally got it right.”

“Marty [Schottenheimer, Cameron’s boss in San Diego] thinks the world of Cam. He’s an offensive coach, and he’s reunited with [offensive line coach] Hudson Houck [who was a member of the Chargers’ staff from 2002-04], and they have a great defensive coaching staff that they’re keeping intact.

“I liked him as an individual. He’s straight forward, no-nonsense. He’s what they needed.”

smanza@projo.com