[teejers1]

It's BS that Shaw's success between 2011-15 is mostly attributable to Harbaugh. Shaw did inherit a loaded 2011 squad led by probably the best QB college football had seen in 25 years. A QB who, in addition to his physical tools, was astounding with his LOS decision-making. And to this day, I wonder how successful Harbaugh would have been at Stanford had he not been able to ink Luck. #12 was a program-changer for Stanford and a career-changer for Harbaugh.

2012 and 2013? It is true that Harbaugh left Shaw with a number a very good defensive players. Offense? Not so much. Take a look at the offensive personnel for those two CHAMPIONSHIP seasons and you'll discover pretty modest talent, with the exception being the TE position. Shaw made the decision to go with a RS freshman QB (His recruit) about midway through the season because the other QBs (Harbaugh's recruits) were not very good and Stanford was probably headed to a minor bowl with Nunes at the helm. 

In addition to having the balls to go with an inexperienced QB freshman at midseason, Shaw (and Pep Hamilton) made the very wise choice to emphasize a power running scheme that took full advantage of the basically average talent that they had. They took Power O to the next level, with 8-man OL sets, featuring 3 TEs, 295 lb. wingbacks, and stud fullbacks acting as crowbars. The QB was under center most of the time, which also set-up effective play-action passing...something Stanford fans have not seen for a few years.

Stanford won back-to-back titles, in a conference that was MUCH better than it currently is, because of very smart and decisive scheming offensively. Pretty? Crowd pleasing? No, but brutally effective. The only people who hated Stanford's offense more than the "I Want My Offense, I Want My Offense" crowd, were the coaches, players and fans of their opponents. Not so much because of what Shaw's offense did to their defense, but because of what it did to THEIR offense. Talented, high-powered offenses like Oregon, USC, and UCLA were forced to the sidelines for many minutes at a time, which not only kept Stanford's defense fresh and rested, but it also disrupted the pace and tempo of opposing offenses, offenses that thrived on playing fast and running 90+ plays p/g. Stanford slowed the game down to a snail's pace, physically punished opposing front-sevens, while frustrating and discombobulating their offenses. It worked beautifully, for the most part. Do I think Stanford would have gone to two straight Rose Bowls those years running any other kind of offense? HELL NO! Do I think Harbaugh would have led those teams to Pasadena? I doubt it. 

Harbaugh gets credit for Stanford's 2015 squad that finished #3? How? That team was 100% Shaw's players and coaching. Offensively, it was the ideal combination of ball control Power O, along with home run explosiveness from anywhere on the field. It remains "The Model" for Stanford's offense going forward, imo. Of course, it requires pursuing and inking the right kind of Jimmy and Joe to make it go. This is where Shaw is failing badly the past few years. Stanford used to be different, unique, offensively. Hard to prepare for. Since 2018 they're really running the same stuff as most of their opponents, to their detriment.

Recruiting and realigning is the way to reverse the program's fortunes.

Wow.  It's interesting how longtime fans can watch the same team over the same period of time and draw wildly different conclusions from what is seen on the field.  And I'll just leave it at that.

---

BC: What the hell, I'm gonna jump on the dog-pile here: Say what you will about Shaw's superior comparisons to what we slogged through in the WigginWagon-slash-PapaElway, et. al., years, but however much you feel the need to grasp at those straws in the wind just remember: This coach has shown absolutely no evidence, no temperament nor any shred of inclination to do whatever it will take to replenish what was gift-wrapped for him in 2011. Indeed, he is dismissive to the point of contempt whenever he catches a whiff of doubt about staying the course. The record is there for all to see: Left to his own devices after the last shred of ESPN confetti hit the ground after the Iowa Rose Bowl, the back-half of the Shaw era thus far has drifted (and now is accelerating) south: In the last 26 games he's 11-15. Arrow Down.

11-14 in the last 25 games (4-8, 4-2, 3-4).  Going 26 games back includes the 2018 Sun Bowl, which we won against Pitt.

Forgive gail.  I was at that Sun Bowl.  It certainly didn't feel like a W.

[teejers1]

It's BS that Shaw's success between 2011-15 is mostly attributable to Harbaugh. Shaw did inherit a loaded 2011 squad led by probably the best QB college football had seen in 25 years. A QB who, in addition to his physical tools, was astounding with his LOS decision-making. And to this day, I wonder how successful Harbaugh would have been at Stanford had he not been able to ink Luck. #12 was a program-changer for Stanford and a career-changer for Harbaugh.

2012 and 2013? It is true that Harbaugh left Shaw with a number a very good defensive players. Offense? Not so much. Take a look at the offensive personnel for those two CHAMPIONSHIP seasons and you'll discover pretty modest talent, with the exception being the TE position. Shaw made the decision to go with a RS freshman QB (His recruit) about midway through the season because the other QBs (Harbaugh's recruits) were not very good and Stanford was probably headed to a minor bowl with Nunes at the helm. 

In addition to having the balls to go with an inexperienced QB freshman at midseason, Shaw (and Pep Hamilton) made the very wise choice to emphasize a power running scheme that took full advantage of the basically average talent that they had. They took Power O to the next level, with 8-man OL sets, featuring 3 TEs, 295 lb. wingbacks, and stud fullbacks acting as crowbars. The QB was under center most of the time, which also set-up effective play-action passing...something Stanford fans have not seen for a few years.

Stanford won back-to-back titles, in a conference that was MUCH better than it currently is, because of very smart and decisive scheming offensively. Pretty? Crowd pleasing? No, but brutally effective. The only people who hated Stanford's offense more than the "I Want My Offense, I Want My Offense" crowd, were the coaches, players and fans of their opponents. Not so much because of what Shaw's offense did to their defense, but because of what it did to THEIR offense. Talented, high-powered offenses like Oregon, USC, and UCLA were forced to the sidelines for many minutes at a time, which not only kept Stanford's defense fresh and rested, but it also disrupted the pace and tempo of opposing offenses, offenses that thrived on playing fast and running 90+ plays p/g. Stanford slowed the game down to a snail's pace, physically punished opposing front-sevens, while frustrating and discombobulating their offenses. It worked beautifully, for the most part. Do I think Stanford would have gone to two straight Rose Bowls those years running any other kind of offense? HELL NO! Do I think Harbaugh would have led those teams to Pasadena? I doubt it. 

Harbaugh gets credit for Stanford's 2015 squad that finished #3? How? That team was 100% Shaw's players and coaching. Offensively, it was the ideal combination of ball control Power O, along with home run explosiveness from anywhere on the field. It remains "The Model" for Stanford's offense going forward, imo. Of course, it requires pursuing and inking the right kind of Jimmy and Joe to make it go. This is where Shaw is failing badly the past few years. Stanford used to be different, unique, offensively. Hard to prepare for. Since 2018 they're really running the same stuff as most of their opponents, to their detriment.

Recruiting and realigning is the way to reverse the program's fortunes.

Wow.  It's interesting how longtime fans can watch the same team over the same period of time and draw wildly different conclusions from what is seen on the field.  And I'll just leave it at that.

---

BC: What the hell, I'm gonna jump on the dog-pile here: Say what you will about Shaw's superior comparisons to what we slogged through in the WigginWagon-slash-PapaElway, et. al., years, but however much you feel the need to grasp at those straws in the wind just remember: This coach has shown absolutely no evidence, no temperament nor any shred of inclination to do whatever it will take to replenish what was gift-wrapped for him in 2011. Indeed, he is dismissive to the point of contempt whenever he catches a whiff of doubt about staying the course. The record is there for all to see: Left to his own devices after the last shred of ESPN confetti hit the ground after the Iowa Rose Bowl, the back-half of the Shaw era thus far has drifted (and now is accelerating) south: In the last 26 games he's 11-15. Arrow Down.

11-14 in the last 25 games (4-8, 4-2, 3-4).  Going 26 games back includes the 2018 Sun Bowl, which we won against Pitt.

Forgive gail.  I was at that Sun Bowl.  It certainly didn't feel like a W.