[BostonCard]

[quote author=Boston Card link=topic=12672.msg145691#msg145691 date=1449306548]
Funny how much more grown and mature Shaw seems after having won 10 games.  I'm not sure what Shaw has done differently since Northwestern other than win.

BC

Eh, I think OF (while overstating his case a bit, as is typical) is making some good points. Shaw seems way more likely to go for it on 4th and short and this year, which could be mostly tactical (defense isn't as good, Wright is a monster at short yardage), but it's still a change. It's a hard counterfactual to run but I think he's onto something about the WSU game being a sure loss in previous years, to take the gameplan and completely throw it out the window like that, I don't think we've seen it before.

Small things, but Shaw was already a really good coach, there are only relatively small things to fix.
[/quote]

We've gone for it on fourth down 11 times in 12 games; last year we went for it 10 times in 13 games.  That doesn't seem to be a meaningful difference to me, though one would have to look at the particular situations to be sure.  But at most there are only a couple of times over the course of the year where he went for it this year and wouldn't have gone for it last year... maybe.

I think mostly, though, winning fixes everything.  The same stubborn, idiotic coach after a loss is a brilliant determined coach after a win.  I doubt any of us are perceptive enough to detect a true change in the coach's attitude from the sidelines.  What we are detecting is a change in the coach's results. 

BC

[BostonCard]

[quote author=Boston Card link=topic=12672.msg145691#msg145691 date=1449306548]
Funny how much more grown and mature Shaw seems after having won 10 games.  I'm not sure what Shaw has done differently since Northwestern other than win.

BC

Eh, I think OF (while overstating his case a bit, as is typical) is making some good points. Shaw seems way more likely to go for it on 4th and short and this year, which could be mostly tactical (defense isn't as good, Wright is a monster at short yardage), but it's still a change. It's a hard counterfactual to run but I think he's onto something about the WSU game being a sure loss in previous years, to take the gameplan and completely throw it out the window like that, I don't think we've seen it before.

Small things, but Shaw was already a really good coach, there are only relatively small things to fix.
[/quote]

We've gone for it on fourth down 11 times in 12 games; last year we went for it 10 times in 13 games.  That doesn't seem to be a meaningful difference to me, though one would have to look at the particular situations to be sure.  But at most there are only a couple of times over the course of the year where he went for it this year and wouldn't have gone for it last year... maybe.

I think mostly, though, winning fixes everything.  The same stubborn, idiotic coach after a loss is a brilliant determined coach after a win.  I doubt any of us are perceptive enough to detect a true change in the coach's attitude from the sidelines.  What we are detecting is a change in the coach's results. 

BC