[stupac2]

I don't have time to read the whole thread, but I think a large part of what's gone wrong is a general shift in college football that massively disadvantages Stanford. We've touched on this before, but the 2011 NFL CBA that created the rookie wage scale made early entry smart for basically every player who can make a roster. It took a few seasons for everyone to realize that, but eventually they did. Additionally, the nationalization of the sport has made going to all but a few blue bloods unattractive. It used to be that the non-BCS games were roughly on par with the championship in prestige, but now they are very much afterthoughts in the media. So why go anywhere but one of the ~10 schools that can actually make the CFP?

I don't think Shaw has handled this well, as other people have covered. He's clearly not adapting to the new landscape and he still makes the same stupid conservative mistakes. Those used to be minor annoyances because the program was otherwise so excellent, but when you're a perpetual underdog you need to act like it and play aggressively.

Can he change? At this point, I honestly don't know. Stanford has the resources to throw a bunch of money at an OC who can be more creative, but I'm not sure the offense is really the problem. Our defense has been mediocre-to-bad for years now, and I'm not sure it has the same injury excuse the offense has. Costello playing a bit off after missing a game is one thing, but Adebo being a liability in coverage is ridiculous. What are the coaches doing?

Anyway, I don't know what to think, but I hope Shaw has a plan. It doesn't really seem like it right now.

[stupac2]

I don't have time to read the whole thread, but I think a large part of what's gone wrong is a general shift in college football that massively disadvantages Stanford. We've touched on this before, but the 2011 NFL CBA that created the rookie wage scale made early entry smart for basically every player who can make a roster. It took a few seasons for everyone to realize that, but eventually they did. Additionally, the nationalization of the sport has made going to all but a few blue bloods unattractive. It used to be that the non-BCS games were roughly on par with the championship in prestige, but now they are very much afterthoughts in the media. So why go anywhere but one of the ~10 schools that can actually make the CFP?

I don't think Shaw has handled this well, as other people have covered. He's clearly not adapting to the new landscape and he still makes the same stupid conservative mistakes. Those used to be minor annoyances because the program was otherwise so excellent, but when you're a perpetual underdog you need to act like it and play aggressively.

Can he change? At this point, I honestly don't know. Stanford has the resources to throw a bunch of money at an OC who can be more creative, but I'm not sure the offense is really the problem. Our defense has been mediocre-to-bad for years now, and I'm not sure it has the same injury excuse the offense has. Costello playing a bit off after missing a game is one thing, but Adebo being a liability in coverage is ridiculous. What are the coaches doing?

Anyway, I don't know what to think, but I hope Shaw has a plan. It doesn't really seem like it right now.