11-21-2021, 06:45 AM
At any institution that cared, David Shaw's post game press availability after the Cal game would be his "Waterloo." I know the video of it was posted and commented on in another thread, but I thought it deserved its own to call out to memorialize how truly awful it was.
My Stanford friends, that was one of the most embarrassing displays from a leader I have ever seen. First of all, Shaw appeared for what, 5 minutes? It's really not possible to show how unimportant you think something is than to spend just 5 minutes after getting humiliated by your rival who you usually beat, and taking what, two questions? And FFS, what are the reporters there for if not asking even one hard ones?
Anyway, the content...
1. Not apologizing to his bosses, fans, and players.
How can you get stomped on like that in a game against Cal, and not apologize? "Congratulations to Cal. We had our opportunities..." I didn't watch the game, but it sure seemed to me from the comments Shaw suggested after the first couple failed drives it was totally out of his hands. Where are the adjustments? Where is the encouragement to breathe life into the team after moving the ball early, even tho not scoring?
2. Commenting about being too aggressive inside the 5 yard line.
"Everyone knows what we are going to do there. We're going to use our big receivers..." ya, I think we know coach. We all know how truly unimaginative your offense is inside the 10 yard line, and how little you work on executing the most important plays in the sport.
You lost 41-11. You were outgained on the ground 330-40, and your take away is "I was too aggressive on 4th down." A Y F K M ?!?!?! And let's not lose sight of the fact this was a passive aggressive statement. What Shaw was really doing was saying "I hear all these people say I'm not aggressive enough, so I went against my gut, was aggressive, and it didn't work, so it's not really my fault. I did what the critics want me to do and it didn't work, whaaa..."
No, aggressive is not simply going for it on 4th down. It's everything you do that establishes an aggressive mindset everywhere in the program. No, Shaw wasn't being aggressive, he was acting out of desperation. If he can't tell the difference, ugh.
3. The brevity
As I was watching, wondering what other questions might be asked, Shaw gets up and walks away. I literally said out loud "that's it???" No reporter thought to ask about rush differential of 10-1, how that happens to a program that was for a decade known as one of the most physical teams in the country, and has "I will" plastered in its football facilities?
It's over folks. No coach will ever recover from this level of soft. He is soft. His coaches are soft. His bosses are soft. And any player who signs up for this is by definition soft too. The only way it changes is if soft people in charge are replaced with tough people. Period.
My Stanford friends, that was one of the most embarrassing displays from a leader I have ever seen. First of all, Shaw appeared for what, 5 minutes? It's really not possible to show how unimportant you think something is than to spend just 5 minutes after getting humiliated by your rival who you usually beat, and taking what, two questions? And FFS, what are the reporters there for if not asking even one hard ones?
Anyway, the content...
1. Not apologizing to his bosses, fans, and players.
How can you get stomped on like that in a game against Cal, and not apologize? "Congratulations to Cal. We had our opportunities..." I didn't watch the game, but it sure seemed to me from the comments Shaw suggested after the first couple failed drives it was totally out of his hands. Where are the adjustments? Where is the encouragement to breathe life into the team after moving the ball early, even tho not scoring?
2. Commenting about being too aggressive inside the 5 yard line.
"Everyone knows what we are going to do there. We're going to use our big receivers..." ya, I think we know coach. We all know how truly unimaginative your offense is inside the 10 yard line, and how little you work on executing the most important plays in the sport.
You lost 41-11. You were outgained on the ground 330-40, and your take away is "I was too aggressive on 4th down." A Y F K M ?!?!?! And let's not lose sight of the fact this was a passive aggressive statement. What Shaw was really doing was saying "I hear all these people say I'm not aggressive enough, so I went against my gut, was aggressive, and it didn't work, so it's not really my fault. I did what the critics want me to do and it didn't work, whaaa..."
No, aggressive is not simply going for it on 4th down. It's everything you do that establishes an aggressive mindset everywhere in the program. No, Shaw wasn't being aggressive, he was acting out of desperation. If he can't tell the difference, ugh.
3. The brevity
As I was watching, wondering what other questions might be asked, Shaw gets up and walks away. I literally said out loud "that's it???" No reporter thought to ask about rush differential of 10-1, how that happens to a program that was for a decade known as one of the most physical teams in the country, and has "I will" plastered in its football facilities?
It's over folks. No coach will ever recover from this level of soft. He is soft. His coaches are soft. His bosses are soft. And any player who signs up for this is by definition soft too. The only way it changes is if soft people in charge are replaced with tough people. Period.
