[MV72018]

4-8 now looking like the most likely result, and even Cal could give us trouble.

BC

I'd like to see someone say with conviction that David Shaw deserves to be the head football coach of the Cardinal going forward. FORGET ABOUT IT!

Ok, I will say that David Shaw deserves to be the head football coach of the Stanford Cardinal going forward.

BC

Then, in my opinion, you don't care much about Stanford playing winning football. The naming of Tavita Pritchard as O coordinator really tells one all one needs to know about choosing competent assistants, personal accountability, arrogance, and being able to adapt on the fly. The running game might as well not even exist.

No, I realize that if we fire Shaw, we have about a greater than even chance of winding up with a worse coach, and even if we wind up with a better coach, chances are he would bolt for greener pastures after a few years, and even if we had a better coach who stayed, chances are he’d at some point have a down year or two and people would be calling to have him fired.

Let’s rewind the last ten Stanford coaches, shall we?

Walsh (first tour): brilliant coaching mind who coached two successful seasons and then bolted for the NFL.
Dowhower: one year, and the definition of average: 5-5-1
Wiggin: he was given Elway, and all he could do as post a 16-28 record over four years.  Fired.
Elway: one winning season in five.  Fired.
Green: three seasons, improving each year, but bolted for the NFL at the first opportunity
Walsh 2: three seasons, two losing ones, retired after realizing he didn’t have the energy for college coaching any more.
Willingham: up and down coach, had three losing seasons in seven, and was still thought good enough to get hired away as Norte Dame’s head coach.
Teevens:  zero winning seasons in three, fired.
Wlat: zero winning seasons in two, fired.
Harbaugh: resurrected the program, but bolted for the NFL.

Shaw: his 9 winning seasons as many as his seven predecessors combined.

But sure, let’s go back to that treadmill of bad coaches who get fired after three or four years or good ones that leave to the NFL (or a better college job) after two or three.

BC

Those bad coaches were hired in the bygone era when Stanford wasn't paying decent money to its football coaches. Shaw gets between $4-6 million per year. Why is it clear, as you seem to think, that we would get a mediocre or lousy coach for that lofty money? I don't see that as inevitable at all.  

[MV72018]

4-8 now looking like the most likely result, and even Cal could give us trouble.

BC

I'd like to see someone say with conviction that David Shaw deserves to be the head football coach of the Cardinal going forward. FORGET ABOUT IT!

Ok, I will say that David Shaw deserves to be the head football coach of the Stanford Cardinal going forward.

BC

Then, in my opinion, you don't care much about Stanford playing winning football. The naming of Tavita Pritchard as O coordinator really tells one all one needs to know about choosing competent assistants, personal accountability, arrogance, and being able to adapt on the fly. The running game might as well not even exist.

No, I realize that if we fire Shaw, we have about a greater than even chance of winding up with a worse coach, and even if we wind up with a better coach, chances are he would bolt for greener pastures after a few years, and even if we had a better coach who stayed, chances are he’d at some point have a down year or two and people would be calling to have him fired.

Let’s rewind the last ten Stanford coaches, shall we?

Walsh (first tour): brilliant coaching mind who coached two successful seasons and then bolted for the NFL.
Dowhower: one year, and the definition of average: 5-5-1
Wiggin: he was given Elway, and all he could do as post a 16-28 record over four years.  Fired.
Elway: one winning season in five.  Fired.
Green: three seasons, improving each year, but bolted for the NFL at the first opportunity
Walsh 2: three seasons, two losing ones, retired after realizing he didn’t have the energy for college coaching any more.
Willingham: up and down coach, had three losing seasons in seven, and was still thought good enough to get hired away as Norte Dame’s head coach.
Teevens:  zero winning seasons in three, fired.
Wlat: zero winning seasons in two, fired.
Harbaugh: resurrected the program, but bolted for the NFL.

Shaw: his 9 winning seasons as many as his seven predecessors combined.

But sure, let’s go back to that treadmill of bad coaches who get fired after three or four years or good ones that leave to the NFL (or a better college job) after two or three.

BC

Those bad coaches were hired in the bygone era when Stanford wasn't paying decent money to its football coaches. Shaw gets between $4-6 million per year. Why is it clear, as you seem to think, that we would get a mediocre or lousy coach for that lofty money? I don't see that as inevitable at all.