[washingtonismoney]

Not to wade further into the meta-debates about Shaw, but one thing has always puzzled me: the centrality of Shaw's (alleged) tendency to stick to his pre-established game plan. More critical people might call it stubbornness, more supportive, a certain kind of fortitude, but basically everyone agrees that that character quality is Shaw's. (Shaw, too, agrees; he often talks about sticking to identity etc. etc.)

I also kind of agree which makes it weird that I'm writing this post. Nevertheless I think focusing on Shaw's cussedness obscures a lot about how his coaching works. For example, to generalize: most of the Shaw critics also think he plays true or redshirt freshmen too rarely. But I saw, and have seen, relatively little acknowledgement that starting Walker Little -- in a dramatic third-game shift -- is an example both of: a) a non-stubborn adjustment that worked and b) playing a true freshman. In other words, Shaw failed to live up to stereotype and no one really adjusted their mental models of him.

So I basically think Shaw, like all coaches, is constantly changing things and adjusting them. (I haven't counted, but would bet lunch that Stanford plays much more in shotgun than it did in 2011.)  I don't think he's changed quite as much as the average coach, but then again he also wins more than the average coach. Fewer losses are the result of fewer problems, and fewer problems means fewer changes.

[washingtonismoney]

Not to wade further into the meta-debates about Shaw, but one thing has always puzzled me: the centrality of Shaw's (alleged) tendency to stick to his pre-established game plan. More critical people might call it stubbornness, more supportive, a certain kind of fortitude, but basically everyone agrees that that character quality is Shaw's. (Shaw, too, agrees; he often talks about sticking to identity etc. etc.)

I also kind of agree which makes it weird that I'm writing this post. Nevertheless I think focusing on Shaw's cussedness obscures a lot about how his coaching works. For example, to generalize: most of the Shaw critics also think he plays true or redshirt freshmen too rarely. But I saw, and have seen, relatively little acknowledgement that starting Walker Little -- in a dramatic third-game shift -- is an example both of: a) a non-stubborn adjustment that worked and b) playing a true freshman. In other words, Shaw failed to live up to stereotype and no one really adjusted their mental models of him.

So I basically think Shaw, like all coaches, is constantly changing things and adjusting them. (I haven't counted, but would bet lunch that Stanford plays much more in shotgun than it did in 2011.)  I don't think he's changed quite as much as the average coach, but then again he also wins more than the average coach. Fewer losses are the result of fewer problems, and fewer problems means fewer changes.