winflop Wrote:The question I have going forward is can Shaw sustain the level of excellence of his first five years on the job, and I'm skeptical.
The answer is almost certainly "no, Shaw will not maintain an all time winning percentage equal to his first five years on the job."
At least if he stays here long enough.
While in general I think it would take a coach of super-human skill to do so, further investigation shows Shaw isn't that far away. His winning percentage in his most recent "tough years" is only 9 points below those first five, and all time only 3 points lower. So, just maybe.
In those first five years, Shaw won 79% of games played.
In the next three that dipped to 70%.
Overall, that puts Shaw at 76%.
Other top Stanford coaches were:
Pop Warner: 78%
Tiny Thornhill: 57%
Clark Shaughnessy: 84% (but only lasted two seasons)
Chuck Taylor: 58%
John Ralston: 60%
John Ralston (best 5 years): 69%
Denny Green: 47%
Bill Walsh: 59%
Bill Walsh I (only): 71% (but only lasted two seasons)
Jim Harbaugh: 58%
Jim Harbaugh (at Michigan): 73%