[81alum]

IMHO, Harris failed at Stanford not because he couldn't coach football but because dark things were going on in his personal life and he brought darkness, insecurity, and mean-spiritedness to Stanford, which was toxic. Maybe if Harris got the team Teevens inherited from Willingham and Teevens got the team Harris inherited from Teevens they each would have done better. No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man. Teevens and Harris weren't right for Stanford when they coached there, but that doesn't mean neither could coach football. That's how I feel about Shaw now. To me failed coaches who get to Fiesta Bowls (Harris and Shaw), Rose Bowls (Willingham and Shaw), and numerous Ivy League championships at a non-power (Teevens) aren't inherently bad coaches. But for everything there's a season (and 2006 was not Harris' and 2021-2022 are not Shaw's!).

How do you think Harris and Teevens would have done in an alternate universe in which Robin Mamlet never becomes Director of Admissions and Rick Shaw is appointed 5 years earlier than he actually was?

Mamlet 2000-2005
Rick Shaw 2005-present

Teevens 2002-2004
Harris 2005-2006

I submit that SHAW is the single most important reason for Stanford football success since the bad old days.  Of course, it is a different Shaw than most people think.

[81alum]

IMHO, Harris failed at Stanford not because he couldn't coach football but because dark things were going on in his personal life and he brought darkness, insecurity, and mean-spiritedness to Stanford, which was toxic. Maybe if Harris got the team Teevens inherited from Willingham and Teevens got the team Harris inherited from Teevens they each would have done better. No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man. Teevens and Harris weren't right for Stanford when they coached there, but that doesn't mean neither could coach football. That's how I feel about Shaw now. To me failed coaches who get to Fiesta Bowls (Harris and Shaw), Rose Bowls (Willingham and Shaw), and numerous Ivy League championships at a non-power (Teevens) aren't inherently bad coaches. But for everything there's a season (and 2006 was not Harris' and 2021-2022 are not Shaw's!).

How do you think Harris and Teevens would have done in an alternate universe in which Robin Mamlet never becomes Director of Admissions and Rick Shaw is appointed 5 years earlier than he actually was?

Mamlet 2000-2005
Rick Shaw 2005-present

Teevens 2002-2004
Harris 2005-2006

I submit that SHAW is the single most important reason for Stanford football success since the bad old days.  Of course, it is a different Shaw than most people think.