[BostonCard]

Thanks, as always, for the “must read” post-mortem on Shaw’s departure.  Glad you didn’t spend too much work on breaking down the BYU game, which was pretty much over after two possessions for each tema (two BYU touchdowns, one Karty field goal for Stanford, and we were down 14-3 and that was that).

I have many thoughts, but I wanted to give you credit for putting forth the idea that Shaw would leave rather than further hurt his legacy.  I thought it was a bit of wishcasting on your part, but it turned out to be right (and I recognize that the “decision” could have ranged anywhere from an ultimatum from Muir to quit or be fired to a 100% pure Shaw decision, to, most likely, something in between, but regardless of the palace intrigue aspect, it’s done).

I look forward to your deep dive on future coaches.  I will note that since I’ve been a fan (my freshman year was 1993), the year after a coach has been fired or retired when things weren’t working out (Walsh II to Willingham, Teavens to Harris, and Harris to Harbaugh), the team has improved an average of 2 2/3 wins, which is expected just due to reversion to the mean. The average improvement in winning percentage with such a change has been about .109 (1.3 wins per 12 games), almost all of it due to the Harris to Harbaugh transition.

BC

[BostonCard]

Thanks, as always, for the “must read” post-mortem on Shaw’s departure.  Glad you didn’t spend too much work on breaking down the BYU game, which was pretty much over after two possessions for each tema (two BYU touchdowns, one Karty field goal for Stanford, and we were down 14-3 and that was that).

I have many thoughts, but I wanted to give you credit for putting forth the idea that Shaw would leave rather than further hurt his legacy.  I thought it was a bit of wishcasting on your part, but it turned out to be right (and I recognize that the “decision” could have ranged anywhere from an ultimatum from Muir to quit or be fired to a 100% pure Shaw decision, to, most likely, something in between, but regardless of the palace intrigue aspect, it’s done).

I look forward to your deep dive on future coaches.  I will note that since I’ve been a fan (my freshman year was 1993), the year after a coach has been fired or retired when things weren’t working out (Walsh II to Willingham, Teavens to Harris, and Harris to Harbaugh), the team has improved an average of 2 2/3 wins, which is expected just due to reversion to the mean. The average improvement in winning percentage with such a change has been about .109 (1.3 wins per 12 games), almost all of it due to the Harris to Harbaugh transition.

BC