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Mental exercise: Let's make a list of active college coaches with more impressive head coaching resumes then David Shaw:

1. Nick Saban
2. Urban Meyer
3. Dabo Sweeney
4. You could make an argument for Chris Peterson due to his impressive run of overachieving at Boise St. and turning UW into an ascendant program.

I'm struggling to think of anyone else that comes close to making the list.  Franklin at Penn St? He looks good now but his overall resume is less impressive. Jimbo Fisher?  Maybe, but not looking so good this year. Gary Anderson? Impressive what he's done at TCU, but very inconsistent year to year. Jim Harbaugh? A great turn around artist, but has never shown that he can sustain a high level of success.

Then for all of the above coaches (perhaps Peterson excepted), you could make a strong argument about why they are a poor fit for Stanford, whether they would not represent the University well, would not maximize its' unique potential on the recruiting trail, or would bolt for greener pastures more or less instantly.

I'm not saying Shaw is perfect or should be above criticism. I personally felt that not bringing in Costello against OSU was one of the dumbest in-game management decisions I've seen in a while. But we are extremely lucky to have him.

[gocard14]

Mental exercise: Let's make a list of active college coaches with more impressive head coaching resumes then David Shaw:

1. Nick Saban
2. Urban Meyer
3. Dabo Sweeney
4. You could make an argument for Chris Peterson due to his impressive run of overachieving at Boise St. and turning UW into an ascendant program.

I'm struggling to think of anyone else that comes close to making the list.  Franklin at Penn St? He looks good now but his overall resume is less impressive. Jimbo Fisher?  Maybe, but not looking so good this year. Gary Anderson? Impressive what he's done at TCU, but very inconsistent year to year. Jim Harbaugh? A great turn around artist, but has never shown that he can sustain a high level of success.

Then for all of the above coaches (perhaps Peterson excepted), you could make a strong argument about why they are a poor fit for Stanford, whether they would not represent the University well, would not maximize its' unique potential on the recruiting trail, or would bolt for greener pastures more or less instantly.

I'm not saying Shaw is perfect or should be above criticism. I personally felt that not bringing in Costello against OSU was one of the dumbest in-game management decisions I've seen in a while. But we are extremely lucky to have him.