David Shaw has a winning percentage of .778, managed to win two Rose Bowls as well as coached and developed some of the best players in the NFL today. But in the world of college football, in his own conference and perhaps even at his own school, he continually gets overlooked.
Stanford’s head football coach has been one of the most successful football coaches in Pac-12 history and at Stanford. But when it comes to Cardinal football, fans still tend to think of Jim Harbaugh or Bill Walsh before Shaw comes to mind.
He’s been more successful than Chip Kelly, Mike Riley, and a handful of other Pac-10/12 coaching greats. The laundry list of accomplishments in enormous and includes being a two-time conference coach of the year for 2011 and 2012, the 2012 Bear Bryant Award finalist and an Eddie Robinson Award finalist. Shaw has been able to do all these things in just five years as the “Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.”
And unlike a lot of institutions, Stanford graduates the vast majority of their athletes and football is no exception. Shaw’s job is also the more difficult job because he can’t recruit just anyone. Stanford doesn’t bend their own academic standards in order to let in the superstar athlete. Shaw has to sift through the high schools to not only find the athlete that can qualify into the university, but is also a player who can play at the Division I level and who can perform at a high level.
It’s hasn’t always been that way. The Cardinal hasn’t always been a football power. Some coaches just can’t recruit the specific player that Stanford look for. Harbaugh was able to turn the Cardinal around, but Shaw has able to maintain the high level of success. He also was able to keep Stanford a national power even after Andrew Luck left for the NFL. Again, not every school can rebound so quickly after a star quarterback has moved on. Ask Oregon how hard it is to keep the level of play at the same level after the superstar quarterback has moved on.
The 2012 season is just an example of how great Shaw can be. It was his second year as the head coach and the Cardinal had to move on without Luck. Kevin Hogan wasn’t even named the starter at the beginning of the season. Josh Nunes was named the starter and after he faltered against Washington State, a game Stanford still won, Hogan came in the next week and stomped Colorado 48-0. Starting then, Hogan was the starter for the next four years.
Hogan was still a redshirt freshman and the jury was still out on whether he could be the permanent starter. Shaw was able to coax the best possible performance from his young signal caller. The Cardinal went to Autzen Stadium, usually a graveyard for opposing quarterbacks, and were able to pull off a huge upset over the top-ranked Ducks.
It was that game that solidified Shaw as the head coach at Stanford and Hogan as the next great quarterback, following in the footsteps of Luck and John Elway. Harbaugh wasn’t able to defeat the Ducks in Eugene. Stanford was able to complete a 12-2 season with a Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin. The players have been great, but it’s been Shaw who brought in those players and coached them to success.
Perhaps Shaw doesn’t get the recognition he deserves because Stanford isn’t one of those teams with the flashy uniforms, the huge stadium and space-age facilities. Stanford is as old school as you can possibly be. The uniforms have stayed the same and only thing that quirky about the Cardinal is their band. Shaw plays a style of football that resembles the sport back in the 1950s. It’s smash mouth, hard-nosed football. The offense is about as vanilla as an ice cream cone. Media isn’t doing a breakdown on the innovative offense every five minutes. It’s offensive linemen pushing their weight, literally, around.
Shaw is proving that old school works just as well as the new school. In today’s football, selling student body left and student body right to a high school kid who wants the flash has to be one of the toughest selling jobs in football. But he always somehow gets it done.
Stanford will be picked as low as fourth in the Pac-12 North this season. It will have a new quarterback. If history has taught us anything, it’s that it doesn’t matter if the Cardinal will be breaking in a new guy under center. As long as Shaw is calling the shots, Stanford will have a chance at a title.
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