A college coach that may work : David Shaw
Early life and playing career
Shaw was born in
San Diego, California and moved with his family around the country following his father
Willie's career as an NFL coach.
[2] Shaw played high school football at
Rochester Adams High School in
Rochester Hills, Michiganwhile his father coached for the
Detroit Lions.
[3]
In 1989, Willie accepted a coaching job at
Stanford University and the family moved back to the Bay Area where David ultimately graduated from
James Logan High Schoolin
Union City, California.
[3][4]
He went on to attend
Stanford University, where he played
college football as a
wide receiver under head coaches
Dennis Green and
Bill Walsh.
[1] In his college career from 1991 to 1994, Shaw caught 57 passes for 664 yards and scored five touchdowns.
[2] Shaw was also on the
Stanford men's basketball and track teams while at the University before earning a
B.A. in
sociology in 1995.
[1]
NFL assistant coach
His coaching career began at
Western Washington University in 1995. In 1997, Shaw began a nine-year run as an
NFL assistant coach with stints for the
Philadelphia Eagles,
Oakland Raiders, and
Baltimore Ravens.
[2]
As the Raiders' quality control from 1998–2000 and quarterbacks coach in 2001, the team won two consecutive
AFC West titles and completed a 10–6 regular season.
[1]
Shaw was the
quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens from 2002–2004 and
wide receivers coach for the Ravens from 2002–2005, with the 2003 team finishing with a 10–6 regular season mark and winning the
AFC North. In 2005, Shaw coached wide receivers
Derrick Mason to a Ravens record of 86 receptions and 1,073 receiving yards (the third-highest Baltimore record) and
Mark Clayton to a Ravens rookie record of 44 receptions for 471 yards.
[1]
College assistant coach
In 2006, Shaw left the NFL for the
University of San Diego to join
head coach Jim Harbaugh's staff as passing game coordinator. The 11–1 Toreros' offense led the
NCAA Division I-AA in many statistical categories, including passing offense (293.3 ypg), total offense (494.25 ypg), and scoring offense (42.83 ppg).
[1][2]
When Harbaugh was hired as head coach of Shaw's
alma mater, Stanford, in 2007, he brought Shaw as
offensive coordinator. During his years as an assistant coach, Shaw also coached the Cardinal
wide receivers and
running backs.
[2]
Shaw's unit performed successfully during his years as coordinator, powered by 2010
Heisman Trophyrunner-up
Andrew Luck.
[2] They scored at least 40 points in 11 different games with Shaw as offensive coordinator, including 10 times in the
2009 and
2010 seasons. The Cardinal achieved a school-record 461 points in 2009 and broke the record again the following season with 524 points.
[1]
Despite the graduation of 2009
Heisman Trophy runner-up
Toby Gerhart, during Stanford's
2010 seasonwhen Shaw took over as running backs coach, the Cardinal running game was second in the conference and 17th in the nation with an average of 213.77 yards and a total of 2,779 yards, Stanford's second-highest rushing total ever.
[1]
Stanford head coach
In January 2011, Shaw was promoted to head coach after Harbaugh left to become head coach of the
NFL's San Francisco 49ers.
[5] Shaw is the first Stanford alumnus to serve as head football coach since
Paul Wiggin, who coached Stanford from 1980–1983.
[1]
In his first three seasons, Shaw led the team to three consecutive
BCS bowl games, including two
Rose Bowls. Shaw led the team to a
Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. The team returned to the Rose Bowl again the following year in the 2013 season, but lost a
heart-breaker to
Michigan State.
After a
rebuilding season in 2014, the
2015 season saw Shaw lead Stanford to its third Pac-12 championship in four years, and consequently, its third
Rose Bowl in four years, which the team won 45–16 over the
Iowa Hawkeyes. With the 2015 conference title, Shaw became the first Stanford coach in 80 years to win three conference titles and only the third ever in program history (after
Tiny Thornhill from 1933–1935 and
Pop Warner in 1924, 1926, and 1927). With the Rose Bowl victory over Iowa, Shaw became only the second Stanford coach to win two Rose Bowls (after
John Ralston who won the
1971 and
1972 Rose Bowls). That victory also resulted in Stanford being ranked #3 in the final
Coaches Poll, their highest final ranking in the history of that poll. They were similarly ranked #3 in the final
AP Poll, their highest final ranking in 75 years, following the
1940 national championship season.
With a win over Cal in 2017 Big Game at Stanford Stadium, Shaw set a new Stanford record for most wins by a football head coach (72 wins), breaking the record previously held by Pop Warner (71 wins from 1924 to 1932).
Shaw extended his perfect record in the Big Game to 8-0 with a win over Cal in the 2018 Big Game in Memorial Stadium.