[BostonCard]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...d-cardinal

After playing receiver his first two seasons at Stanford, Sherman approached Shaw, then the Cardinal's offensive coordinator and receivers coach, about making the switch to defense. He was rebuffed.

Stanford's offense was short on playmakers, and in Sherman, Shaw saw a guy with big-play potential.

"We thought it was advantageous to have one guy on offense [who], if he touches the ball in the right spot, he can score," Shaw said. "With him, we didn't have to go four yards at a time. It was hard for me for to tell him to go play defense because I didn't have anyone else I thought could go do that. Richard was the only one. I told him, 'I just can't do it, Rich. We need you on offense.'"

But after he missed most of the 2008 season due to injury, Sherman again went to Shaw with his desire to move to defense. It was no secret Sherman had a contentious relationship with Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, but Shaw said his discussion with Sherman wasn't about getting away from Harbaugh.

"The conversation between Richard and I was about his mentality," Shaw said. "He told me, 'Coach, I have a defensive player's mentality. I just do.' So I said, 'OK, Richard. The last thing is you have to call Coach Harbaugh and get the OK from him, and he called Jim right after he got off with me. Then I got a text message back from Richard, 'He said OK.'"

So I wasn't exactly right about why, but it is clear that Sherman was the one who wanted to go to defense.

By the way, I didn't know about the note from Sherman to Shaw...

"Thank you Coach Shaw for being a father to me at Stanford and teaching me how to play the game the right way. You have helped me on and off the field more than you will ever know! I will forever be indebted to you! Thank you, Coach Shaw. Love, R. Sherman."

BC

[BostonCard]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...d-cardinal

After playing receiver his first two seasons at Stanford, Sherman approached Shaw, then the Cardinal's offensive coordinator and receivers coach, about making the switch to defense. He was rebuffed.

Stanford's offense was short on playmakers, and in Sherman, Shaw saw a guy with big-play potential.

"We thought it was advantageous to have one guy on offense [who], if he touches the ball in the right spot, he can score," Shaw said. "With him, we didn't have to go four yards at a time. It was hard for me for to tell him to go play defense because I didn't have anyone else I thought could go do that. Richard was the only one. I told him, 'I just can't do it, Rich. We need you on offense.'"

But after he missed most of the 2008 season due to injury, Sherman again went to Shaw with his desire to move to defense. It was no secret Sherman had a contentious relationship with Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, but Shaw said his discussion with Sherman wasn't about getting away from Harbaugh.

"The conversation between Richard and I was about his mentality," Shaw said. "He told me, 'Coach, I have a defensive player's mentality. I just do.' So I said, 'OK, Richard. The last thing is you have to call Coach Harbaugh and get the OK from him, and he called Jim right after he got off with me. Then I got a text message back from Richard, 'He said OK.'"

So I wasn't exactly right about why, but it is clear that Sherman was the one who wanted to go to defense.

By the way, I didn't know about the note from Sherman to Shaw...

"Thank you Coach Shaw for being a father to me at Stanford and teaching me how to play the game the right way. You have helped me on and off the field more than you will ever know! I will forever be indebted to you! Thank you, Coach Shaw. Love, R. Sherman."

BC