[Austroturf]

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.

I think this is spot on, especially the last two sentences. It's all about leadership and surrounding yourself with the best people possible. He clearly hasn't done the latter. Arrogance, insecurity, complacency? Who knows, not that it matters at this point.

Agree that it does not matter at this point, but, in my view, early success leads to an overestimation of one's abilities and a sense of infallibility.  This can result in arrogance and/or complacency, and Shaw may be exhibiting both in his behavior.  As the history of Stanford football shows, it's tough to be a consistent winner on the Farm. You have to fight and scrap and push and make more out of the little you have.  Harbaugh knew that.  Shaw somehow never really understood that, or he concluded that his early success justified his more low-key demeanor and comfortable, family-style approach to the program.  Is that arrogance, complacency, obtuseness, or all three?  Hard to say, but the results are there.

And this reminds me of what Harbaugh said in his presser last year after the Ohio State game: "Some people find themselves on third base and think they hit a triple." This was a dig at Ryan Day at Ohio State, whose early success has resulted in a certain arrogance.  It's definitely easier to win at Ohio State, but let's see if arrogance eventually trips up Ryan Day, as well.  Early success can be a blinkering experience.

[Austroturf]

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.

I think this is spot on, especially the last two sentences. It's all about leadership and surrounding yourself with the best people possible. He clearly hasn't done the latter. Arrogance, insecurity, complacency? Who knows, not that it matters at this point.

Agree that it does not matter at this point, but, in my view, early success leads to an overestimation of one's abilities and a sense of infallibility.  This can result in arrogance and/or complacency, and Shaw may be exhibiting both in his behavior.  As the history of Stanford football shows, it's tough to be a consistent winner on the Farm. You have to fight and scrap and push and make more out of the little you have.  Harbaugh knew that.  Shaw somehow never really understood that, or he concluded that his early success justified his more low-key demeanor and comfortable, family-style approach to the program.  Is that arrogance, complacency, obtuseness, or all three?  Hard to say, but the results are there.

And this reminds me of what Harbaugh said in his presser last year after the Ohio State game: "Some people find themselves on third base and think they hit a triple." This was a dig at Ryan Day at Ohio State, whose early success has resulted in a certain arrogance.  It's definitely easier to win at Ohio State, but let's see if arrogance eventually trips up Ryan Day, as well.  Early success can be a blinkering experience.