I've stayed out of the carping over this football season since I see some pretty extreme views being voiced--which I guess is what fan"atics" are expected to do when their team has a disappointing year.
On the one hand, I continue to believe that David Shaw is the best football coach we could reasonably expect to have here--given the unique opportunities and restrictions of football at Stanford University, which is a vastly different beast to coach than other universities.
At the same time, I do believe that there are many ways in which this team could be improved, and I hope that Shaw will show the flexibility to make the necessary changes. There is a fine line to be drawn between loyalty and stubbornness, and he needs to negotiate that line with his assistant coaches.
And as for the title of this thread--while I have always been a fan of David Shaw, I have always been willing to question some of his playcalling. As much as Shaw thinks of himself as a Walsh disciple, I have never felt that his playcalling was anything like Walsh's. In this particular case, I do wish he had used that third down opportunity to attempt a short pass that might have continued the drive rather than running into the teeth of the Cal running defense. (If we had shown evidence of a strong running game as of yesteryear then maybe I would feel otherwise.) I was a bit surprised to see that Nick Aliotti in post-game comments expressed the same view, so I wasn't alone in my opinion.
On the (third) hand, is it possible that there was a pass play called as one of the multiple options, and that Mills simply made the wrong read at the line? With Shaw I always wonder how many of his "bad" playcalls are actually due to the QB making a mistake in choosing the right play from the package of calls. Of course, other coaches don't give their QBs that kind of power, so it all indirectly points back to him, I suppose.
On the one hand, I continue to believe that David Shaw is the best football coach we could reasonably expect to have here--given the unique opportunities and restrictions of football at Stanford University, which is a vastly different beast to coach than other universities.
At the same time, I do believe that there are many ways in which this team could be improved, and I hope that Shaw will show the flexibility to make the necessary changes. There is a fine line to be drawn between loyalty and stubbornness, and he needs to negotiate that line with his assistant coaches.
And as for the title of this thread--while I have always been a fan of David Shaw, I have always been willing to question some of his playcalling. As much as Shaw thinks of himself as a Walsh disciple, I have never felt that his playcalling was anything like Walsh's. In this particular case, I do wish he had used that third down opportunity to attempt a short pass that might have continued the drive rather than running into the teeth of the Cal running defense. (If we had shown evidence of a strong running game as of yesteryear then maybe I would feel otherwise.) I was a bit surprised to see that Nick Aliotti in post-game comments expressed the same view, so I wasn't alone in my opinion.
On the (third) hand, is it possible that there was a pass play called as one of the multiple options, and that Mills simply made the wrong read at the line? With Shaw I always wonder how many of his "bad" playcalls are actually due to the QB making a mistake in choosing the right play from the package of calls. Of course, other coaches don't give their QBs that kind of power, so it all indirectly points back to him, I suppose.