[OutsiderFan]

This is what I have been waiting for with Shaw. My greatest complaint about him has been that he has too often gone with what makes him comfortable as opposed to rolling the dice on growth that can happen when being uncomfortable. In a hyper-competitive enterprise like major college football, you have to reinvent yourself and change things up, and you must be willing to roll the dice on things you'd rather not do.

The greatest manifestation of this has been the pig-headed insistence on jumbo sets to run dives into a pile of bodies on 3rd and 4th and 1.  These are the greatest opportunities for big plays that exist in football, and Shaw has been more comfortable maintaining possession that making them.  

This season may not have gone the way he wanted, but if Shaw learns its lessons, he has the potential to be a better coach as a result.  My hope is he will assess other places in the program where he might grow from discomfort, like replacing Lance Anderson as DC.  Or maybe failing that, doing what Wilcox has done, simplify the offense a bit so they can devote more practice time to tackling*. Implement some RPOs into the offense so when the defense is charging to stop the run, make them pay by throwing a pass out of what was called a run. This may be hard for Shaw to do, but these are the things that he must do to grow and get better.

*Wilcox doesn't just have the defense participate in tackling drills. Everyone on the team participates in what he calls "team tackle" period. When a leader emphasizes something as important, that's what his charges will prioritize. Wilcox is building his program on tackling.  He may sacrifice some offensive efficiency due to taking more practice time for tackling than say reps on offense, but everything is a trade-off. Cal has become one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 in large measure due to its emphasis on tackling.

[OutsiderFan]

This is what I have been waiting for with Shaw. My greatest complaint about him has been that he has too often gone with what makes him comfortable as opposed to rolling the dice on growth that can happen when being uncomfortable. In a hyper-competitive enterprise like major college football, you have to reinvent yourself and change things up, and you must be willing to roll the dice on things you'd rather not do.

The greatest manifestation of this has been the pig-headed insistence on jumbo sets to run dives into a pile of bodies on 3rd and 4th and 1.  These are the greatest opportunities for big plays that exist in football, and Shaw has been more comfortable maintaining possession that making them.  

This season may not have gone the way he wanted, but if Shaw learns its lessons, he has the potential to be a better coach as a result.  My hope is he will assess other places in the program where he might grow from discomfort, like replacing Lance Anderson as DC.  Or maybe failing that, doing what Wilcox has done, simplify the offense a bit so they can devote more practice time to tackling*. Implement some RPOs into the offense so when the defense is charging to stop the run, make them pay by throwing a pass out of what was called a run. This may be hard for Shaw to do, but these are the things that he must do to grow and get better.

*Wilcox doesn't just have the defense participate in tackling drills. Everyone on the team participates in what he calls "team tackle" period. When a leader emphasizes something as important, that's what his charges will prioritize. Wilcox is building his program on tackling.  He may sacrifice some offensive efficiency due to taking more practice time for tackling than say reps on offense, but everything is a trade-off. Cal has become one of the best defenses in the Pac-12 in large measure due to its emphasis on tackling.