[Snorlax94]

The game was dreadful.  Recruiting seems down.  I never used to turn games off--for decades.  But I have done it several times in the last few years.  Hope springs eternal each season but the game has a grim way of encouraging reality to intrude.

Despite the awful results, Shaw remains the winning-est coach in Stanford football history, he is an ethical man, a wonderful role model, and an alum who truly understands academics at Stanford as no outsider ever will.  It is hard to give up on such a man.

I wonder, as an honest question, if there is an alternative hypothesis to the decline of Stanford football other than the coaching of David Shaw? 
...
Here is my prediction:  if Shaw is fired, we will run through several coaches as bad as our historical stable of losers before we find--if we ever do--someone with the EUTM to turn things around.  We might be in Div III by then.

I agree that Shaw has done incredible things for Stanford. I also care deeply about Stanford as an institution beyond sports wins and losses, and appreciate and respect that Coach Shaw has been an outstanding role model and representative of the university, and that these things matter a lot.

I'm also a bit slower to just fire a head coach. First, in general, I think fans on online fan boards would cycle through coaches too quickly. You might be able to get away with rapid churn at a place like USC, but at Stanford it could make things worse.

However, I'm a bit more optimistic than you on how Stanford *might* do in the post-Shaw era, whenever that may come.

For one, Stanford changed how it recruits and operates in a fundamental way, and to my knowledge, this happened under Coach Harbaugh. There was too much uncertainty in admissions, leading to a lot of lost candidates. Student athletes still need to earn admission, and they still don't know they're admitted until they're admitted, but to my understanding the process has been streamlined.

Also, Stanford, due to its success in 2009-2016, now has much more name recognition. A lot of athletes grew up watching great Stanford teams. EJ Smith looks up to CMac, and wanted to go to Christian's alma mater. The success also sparked many dreams and a wide appreciation that it's possible to play top-tier football and get a world-class education.

Now, if things continue to slide, Stanford will lose some of its luster.

But given Stanford's higher profile, I could see us having some good options if we ever find ourselves in a post-Shaw era and continue to be a dream school for a lot of young student athletes. 

For example, it did seem like Chris Petersen admired the university. He understood there were restrictions in recruiting, but also opportunities, especially when Stanford scooped Weddington and Sarell right out of his home state. Petersen may be permanently retired, or past his prime, but there are others.

As for the question, why is Shaw doing worse, and is it due to factors outside of his control. I personally don't believe that. 

For one, I think of pop music musicians. Why was Prince's best album Purple Rain? I think it's actually common that people have their best, most innovative ideas relatively early in their career. Football is such a dynamic field, a genius may peak at one point and may be unable to reproduce their "Purple Rain." (which is one of my favorite albums)

Also, being a Power 5 football coach is a grueling, grueling lifestyle. Look at Jim Harbaugh, flying out and having sleepovers with recruits and sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag. Back in the Walsh II era, Coach Walsh commented how demanding the recruiting side was, and how it wasn't appealing to him. He could play the chess game at the highest levels, but he found the recruiting side exhausting and unappealing. Shaw has now been doing this over a decade, making substantial millions each year. If he has saved $20-$30M (more if he invested in tech stocks), does he want to continue working the insane and unhealthy hours his opposing coaches are willing to work? If a hungry coach will work 100 hours a week to prepare for a game, and demand the same of his staff, what would Shaw do? And at his age, with his family commitments, with his healthy worldview, if there were a top recruit, would he write them a letter every day? 

There may come a time when Shaw isn't the best option for Stanford. I think it'd be a knee-jerk reaction to say that time is now. I have read in newspapers that when other programs have some bad years, the AD puts pressure on the coaches to make changes in the staff and coordinators to bring in fresh changes to help correct the course. If the whole season ends up like 2019, I could see that kind of pressure becoming appropriate.

Week 1 was a total disaster. It was one of the most hideous outings in the past 12 years. But it's week 1, and it's 1 game, and we shouldn't over-react. Let's see how the next few weeks go, although I admit, I think we're going to lose many of those games.

[Snorlax94]

The game was dreadful.  Recruiting seems down.  I never used to turn games off--for decades.  But I have done it several times in the last few years.  Hope springs eternal each season but the game has a grim way of encouraging reality to intrude.

Despite the awful results, Shaw remains the winning-est coach in Stanford football history, he is an ethical man, a wonderful role model, and an alum who truly understands academics at Stanford as no outsider ever will.  It is hard to give up on such a man.

I wonder, as an honest question, if there is an alternative hypothesis to the decline of Stanford football other than the coaching of David Shaw? 
...
Here is my prediction:  if Shaw is fired, we will run through several coaches as bad as our historical stable of losers before we find--if we ever do--someone with the EUTM to turn things around.  We might be in Div III by then.

I agree that Shaw has done incredible things for Stanford. I also care deeply about Stanford as an institution beyond sports wins and losses, and appreciate and respect that Coach Shaw has been an outstanding role model and representative of the university, and that these things matter a lot.

I'm also a bit slower to just fire a head coach. First, in general, I think fans on online fan boards would cycle through coaches too quickly. You might be able to get away with rapid churn at a place like USC, but at Stanford it could make things worse.

However, I'm a bit more optimistic than you on how Stanford *might* do in the post-Shaw era, whenever that may come.

For one, Stanford changed how it recruits and operates in a fundamental way, and to my knowledge, this happened under Coach Harbaugh. There was too much uncertainty in admissions, leading to a lot of lost candidates. Student athletes still need to earn admission, and they still don't know they're admitted until they're admitted, but to my understanding the process has been streamlined.

Also, Stanford, due to its success in 2009-2016, now has much more name recognition. A lot of athletes grew up watching great Stanford teams. EJ Smith looks up to CMac, and wanted to go to Christian's alma mater. The success also sparked many dreams and a wide appreciation that it's possible to play top-tier football and get a world-class education.

Now, if things continue to slide, Stanford will lose some of its luster.

But given Stanford's higher profile, I could see us having some good options if we ever find ourselves in a post-Shaw era and continue to be a dream school for a lot of young student athletes. 

For example, it did seem like Chris Petersen admired the university. He understood there were restrictions in recruiting, but also opportunities, especially when Stanford scooped Weddington and Sarell right out of his home state. Petersen may be permanently retired, or past his prime, but there are others.

As for the question, why is Shaw doing worse, and is it due to factors outside of his control. I personally don't believe that. 

For one, I think of pop music musicians. Why was Prince's best album Purple Rain? I think it's actually common that people have their best, most innovative ideas relatively early in their career. Football is such a dynamic field, a genius may peak at one point and may be unable to reproduce their "Purple Rain." (which is one of my favorite albums)

Also, being a Power 5 football coach is a grueling, grueling lifestyle. Look at Jim Harbaugh, flying out and having sleepovers with recruits and sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag. Back in the Walsh II era, Coach Walsh commented how demanding the recruiting side was, and how it wasn't appealing to him. He could play the chess game at the highest levels, but he found the recruiting side exhausting and unappealing. Shaw has now been doing this over a decade, making substantial millions each year. If he has saved $20-$30M (more if he invested in tech stocks), does he want to continue working the insane and unhealthy hours his opposing coaches are willing to work? If a hungry coach will work 100 hours a week to prepare for a game, and demand the same of his staff, what would Shaw do? And at his age, with his family commitments, with his healthy worldview, if there were a top recruit, would he write them a letter every day? 

There may come a time when Shaw isn't the best option for Stanford. I think it'd be a knee-jerk reaction to say that time is now. I have read in newspapers that when other programs have some bad years, the AD puts pressure on the coaches to make changes in the staff and coordinators to bring in fresh changes to help correct the course. If the whole season ends up like 2019, I could see that kind of pressure becoming appropriate.

Week 1 was a total disaster. It was one of the most hideous outings in the past 12 years. But it's week 1, and it's 1 game, and we shouldn't over-react. Let's see how the next few weeks go, although I admit, I think we're going to lose many of those games.