[oman]

I'm not crazy about David Shaw's penchant for effusively praising young players who've never proven much, if anything, in a game. How does it help Wayne Lyons, or the team, for Lyons to hear that his coach thinks he can be an All-American? Or for Andrus Peat and Kyle Murphy to hear that they're further along than a future first-round draft pick was at the same stage?

There's a way to provide positive reinforcement without going over the top. I hope Shaw learns this soon.

It's got to be a tough job, balancing the personalities of your players, etc.  I get the sense that both Harbaugh and now Shaw are pretty fair minded guys who are trying to maximize performance in a humane and still competitive way.  With younger, unjaded players, you probably try to get their spirits up as they are getting hit by some tough linebackers.  With older guys  you perhaps are more honest about the reality of the situaiton.  They are tougher, and they probably have a clearer picture of what "play" for performance means.

With Luck gone, the biggest story of this year was our recruting catch -- in order to keep that going, maybe Shaw feels he must send a message to potential recruits that new players are taken very seriously and have a shot to play early.  The older guys probably understand that.

[oman]

I'm not crazy about David Shaw's penchant for effusively praising young players who've never proven much, if anything, in a game. How does it help Wayne Lyons, or the team, for Lyons to hear that his coach thinks he can be an All-American? Or for Andrus Peat and Kyle Murphy to hear that they're further along than a future first-round draft pick was at the same stage?

There's a way to provide positive reinforcement without going over the top. I hope Shaw learns this soon.

It's got to be a tough job, balancing the personalities of your players, etc.  I get the sense that both Harbaugh and now Shaw are pretty fair minded guys who are trying to maximize performance in a humane and still competitive way.  With younger, unjaded players, you probably try to get their spirits up as they are getting hit by some tough linebackers.  With older guys  you perhaps are more honest about the reality of the situaiton.  They are tougher, and they probably have a clearer picture of what "play" for performance means.

With Luck gone, the biggest story of this year was our recruting catch -- in order to keep that going, maybe Shaw feels he must send a message to potential recruits that new players are taken very seriously and have a shot to play early.  The older guys probably understand that.