11-06-2022, 04:26 PM
In my view, Shaw's main issue is that he probably never fully understood why he was on the mountain to begin with. If you truly understand why you are succeeding, then it stands to reason that you can take corrective action when things are sliding south. Did he fully grasp what he inherited from Harbaugh and why the program was in such monumentally good shape when the 2011 season kicked off? He probably understood some of the key elements, but certainly not all of them.
Over the years, we have watched:
1) an erosion of the coaching staff.
2) a decline in player development.
3) an increase in susceptibility to injury.
4) a decay in football fundamentals.
5) an overall down-tick in the quality of recruiting.
6) a deterioration in toughness.
7) the loss of a clear football identity.
Somehow, Shaw must have been observing and registering all this, but he stayed the course. He kept the same staff, tweaked it when there was attrition and had the audacity at the start of the season to claim that his team was a "snake in the grass". And that after a 3-9 season in 2021 and seven straight losses to end the campaign. Really?
That's why my empathy for him is not sizable. He inherited everything a coach could hope for, made good use of it for a number of years and then haplessly stood by watching while it crumbled around him. He must have believed that his infallible leadership was the secret sauce to success, that he could hire any warm bodies on the coaching staff and that the result would be multiple 10-win seasons. And that indicates that he never really understood why he was so massively successful in 2011-2015. I will always be grateful for those seasons; but Shaw clearly did not understand how to sustain that success, which means he never fully grasped the particulars that led to all those wins and bowl games and conference titles. Ultimately, success (or failure) stems from the people you surround yourself with and your ability to lead them. And the downfall of Stanford football is a simple failure of leadership.
Over the years, we have watched:
1) an erosion of the coaching staff.
2) a decline in player development.
3) an increase in susceptibility to injury.
4) a decay in football fundamentals.
5) an overall down-tick in the quality of recruiting.
6) a deterioration in toughness.
7) the loss of a clear football identity.
Somehow, Shaw must have been observing and registering all this, but he stayed the course. He kept the same staff, tweaked it when there was attrition and had the audacity at the start of the season to claim that his team was a "snake in the grass". And that after a 3-9 season in 2021 and seven straight losses to end the campaign. Really?
That's why my empathy for him is not sizable. He inherited everything a coach could hope for, made good use of it for a number of years and then haplessly stood by watching while it crumbled around him. He must have believed that his infallible leadership was the secret sauce to success, that he could hire any warm bodies on the coaching staff and that the result would be multiple 10-win seasons. And that indicates that he never really understood why he was so massively successful in 2011-2015. I will always be grateful for those seasons; but Shaw clearly did not understand how to sustain that success, which means he never fully grasped the particulars that led to all those wins and bowl games and conference titles. Ultimately, success (or failure) stems from the people you surround yourself with and your ability to lead them. And the downfall of Stanford football is a simple failure of leadership.