[BostonCard]

[quote author=Boston Card link=topic=12951.msg131352#msg131352 date=1443414150]
But although subsequent years included many important players signed by Harbaugh, let's face it, nobody expected the team to go to two Rose Bowls after Luck went to the NFL.  Harbaugh left a lot of pieces, but lesser coaches would have seen the team start reverting in 2012.

BC

Lesser coaches than Shaw, perhaps.  What would Harbaugh have done?

Besides, the Harbaugh effect goes beyond just the talent he left behind.  He established a culture here that has facilitated Shaw's success.
[/quote]

You might as well ask what would Vince Lombardi would have done.  Harbaugh was not an option for us; he left.  Harbaugh resuscitated the program from the depths of Buddy/Walt, but the deal was we knew he was going to leave after a few years.  If that wasn't clear when we hired him, it should have been clear when he almost left to coach Kansas.  So, Harbaugh was absolutely the wrong coach to sustain excellence, because he had no interest in sustaining the Stanford program.  I greatly admire Harbaugh for what he did, and am eternally thankful; this shouldn't be looked at as a dig.  There are few coaches who could have done what he did (and looks like he is doing, yet again, at Michigan).  But, unless he has found his happy place in Ann Arbor, he has demonstrated himself as an outstanding coach at turning programs around, but hasn't demonstrated one way or another any skill at sustaining them.

I don't know that Shaw would have been able to do what Harbaugh did in turning around a 1-11 program. But he is absolutely the right person for the current job.  And I would hapily "endure" 8-5 seasons to keep him.

BC

[BostonCard]

[quote author=Boston Card link=topic=12951.msg131352#msg131352 date=1443414150]
But although subsequent years included many important players signed by Harbaugh, let's face it, nobody expected the team to go to two Rose Bowls after Luck went to the NFL.  Harbaugh left a lot of pieces, but lesser coaches would have seen the team start reverting in 2012.

BC

Lesser coaches than Shaw, perhaps.  What would Harbaugh have done?

Besides, the Harbaugh effect goes beyond just the talent he left behind.  He established a culture here that has facilitated Shaw's success.
[/quote]

You might as well ask what would Vince Lombardi would have done.  Harbaugh was not an option for us; he left.  Harbaugh resuscitated the program from the depths of Buddy/Walt, but the deal was we knew he was going to leave after a few years.  If that wasn't clear when we hired him, it should have been clear when he almost left to coach Kansas.  So, Harbaugh was absolutely the wrong coach to sustain excellence, because he had no interest in sustaining the Stanford program.  I greatly admire Harbaugh for what he did, and am eternally thankful; this shouldn't be looked at as a dig.  There are few coaches who could have done what he did (and looks like he is doing, yet again, at Michigan).  But, unless he has found his happy place in Ann Arbor, he has demonstrated himself as an outstanding coach at turning programs around, but hasn't demonstrated one way or another any skill at sustaining them.

I don't know that Shaw would have been able to do what Harbaugh did in turning around a 1-11 program. But he is absolutely the right person for the current job.  And I would hapily "endure" 8-5 seasons to keep him.

BC