[Austroturf]

Yup, Shaw's terminal decline is obvious because the last time he won the Pac-12 coach of the year was *checks notes* last year.

I mean, how bad does a coach have to be to only win it in half the years he's been coaching at the school (I think it is a fair bet he doesn't get it this year).

BC

So we have the past record of an undeniably successful coach up against the equally undeniable stats that show a decline in fundamental units of the offense and defense.  These are not mutually exclusive.  I am no Shaw-basher, but until he has fixed the defects we see on the O-line and D-line, his number of Pac-12 COTY-awards will remain at 4.  

As an aside, I was very surprised he won last year.  Yes, there was the bad start (1-2) that Shaw was able to convert into a north division title at 9-3 by the end of the season.  So that's something.  Still, I was surprised they passed on Petersen and Helton.  For one, Petersen failed to get the award in the year he won the Pac-12 championship because McIntyre's miracle in Boulder (south division champs) was seen as more impressive (and rightly so).  But as a result of Coach Pete's miss in 2016, I thought he would get the nod for 2017 for the team's 10-3 record and New Year's Six Bowl against Penn State.  He has built a strong program at Washington and has yet to get the Pac-12 COTY award.  Helton won the conference title last year, beating Stanford twice.  Why he was snubbed remains a bit of a mystery. I don't know who does the voting and how it transpires; but Shaw's award last year, though very welcome, certainly surprised me.

[Austroturf]

Yup, Shaw's terminal decline is obvious because the last time he won the Pac-12 coach of the year was *checks notes* last year.

I mean, how bad does a coach have to be to only win it in half the years he's been coaching at the school (I think it is a fair bet he doesn't get it this year).

BC

So we have the past record of an undeniably successful coach up against the equally undeniable stats that show a decline in fundamental units of the offense and defense.  These are not mutually exclusive.  I am no Shaw-basher, but until he has fixed the defects we see on the O-line and D-line, his number of Pac-12 COTY-awards will remain at 4.  

As an aside, I was very surprised he won last year.  Yes, there was the bad start (1-2) that Shaw was able to convert into a north division title at 9-3 by the end of the season.  So that's something.  Still, I was surprised they passed on Petersen and Helton.  For one, Petersen failed to get the award in the year he won the Pac-12 championship because McIntyre's miracle in Boulder (south division champs) was seen as more impressive (and rightly so).  But as a result of Coach Pete's miss in 2016, I thought he would get the nod for 2017 for the team's 10-3 record and New Year's Six Bowl against Penn State.  He has built a strong program at Washington and has yet to get the Pac-12 COTY award.  Helton won the conference title last year, beating Stanford twice.  Why he was snubbed remains a bit of a mystery. I don't know who does the voting and how it transpires; but Shaw's award last year, though very welcome, certainly surprised me.