[Goose]

Anybody's guess how much of Shaw's departure was his decision or Stanford's. I did always think that if Shaw were fired, it would be presented to the public as though it was his decision.

I did find interesting his comment about how two weeks ago it wasn't even something he was contemplating. Did he suddenly have an epiphany or was it a notice from the University?

Would Shaw choose to retire rather than be fired to save the school the cost of the rest of his contract?  (Assuming he had more years on it, I honestly don't know.)  I suppose there's being selfless and there's giving up millions upon millions of dollars, so maybe that's a bit too much.

I don't think Shaw would retire rather than being fired to save Stanford the buyout money. If they are ready to fire him, they are ready to pay the cost. I do think it entirely possible he would do so to avoid the drama, stigma to his "legacy", and damage to the program's image that would result from him being fired. However, under those circumstances I doubt that Stanford would forgo paying him at least most of the buyout in any case. Not worth the potential bad blood. What actually happened, we may never know. Then again, it may all come out next week, especially is it was truly a "mutual decision". I can't believe Shaw was looking forward to next year with all the issues his team has and the seat scorching hot, even if that was an option.

[Goose]

Anybody's guess how much of Shaw's departure was his decision or Stanford's. I did always think that if Shaw were fired, it would be presented to the public as though it was his decision.

I did find interesting his comment about how two weeks ago it wasn't even something he was contemplating. Did he suddenly have an epiphany or was it a notice from the University?

Would Shaw choose to retire rather than be fired to save the school the cost of the rest of his contract?  (Assuming he had more years on it, I honestly don't know.)  I suppose there's being selfless and there's giving up millions upon millions of dollars, so maybe that's a bit too much.

I don't think Shaw would retire rather than being fired to save Stanford the buyout money. If they are ready to fire him, they are ready to pay the cost. I do think it entirely possible he would do so to avoid the drama, stigma to his "legacy", and damage to the program's image that would result from him being fired. However, under those circumstances I doubt that Stanford would forgo paying him at least most of the buyout in any case. Not worth the potential bad blood. What actually happened, we may never know. Then again, it may all come out next week, especially is it was truly a "mutual decision". I can't believe Shaw was looking forward to next year with all the issues his team has and the seat scorching hot, even if that was an option.