[ColoradoTree]

[quote author=ThePassionOfTheChryst link=topic=12951.msg131358#msg131358 date=1443416581]
[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]

TPOTC, I agree with your high regard for the transformational impact of Jim Harbaugh.  I think most people here do.  But it does not have to be either/or.  I think the intensity of your enthusiasm for Harbaugh places blinders on you about Shaw.

It is similar to how 49er fans idolized Joe Montana and ultimately lamented his departure.  Many of them could not become Steve Young fans because, somewhere deep inside, I think they felt it would dilute their love of Joe Cool.  Young's normal miscues then became fodder for many to deride him as not as talented as Montana.  I felt bad for those people, because they missed the incredible gifts that Steve Young provided for the fans.  9er fans had perhaps the most remarkable consecutive QB's ever in the history of the NFL (although I'm confident that BC or WIM will correct me)

Shaw is the right coach for Stanford football.  He has confused me and frustrated me at times, but I love his demeanor, his character, his values and I hope he breaks Paterno's record for longevity (even if there is another coach other than Paterno with greater longevity somewhere in the annals of NAIA-football history  ;D).
[/quote]

CornFed, is that a thinly veiled shot at the great John Gagliardi, owner of 489--489!--career college coaching wins?  The man who started his college coaching career at the age of 22 and continued it until he was 85, winning all the while?  The genius whose "no"-based coaching philosophy (no tackling drills, no calisthenics, no sprints, no playbooks--just running plays over and over again, at full speed, for the entire practice) was mocked until it led to four national titles (the first in 1963 and the last in 2003)?  The guy who, as a high school junior whose football season was threatened with cancellation because his coach had been called into WWII, went to the priests in charge of his parochial school and saved the program by saying some of the players were considering transferring to the public school?  The namesake for the Gagliardi Trophy, awarded annually to the best player in Division III? 

BECAUSE IF IT IS, then you and I are going to have problems. 

(I may or may not be a bit too invested in the success of St. John's football, given that my dad was a professor there, I grew up a stone's throw from campus, and went to most of those games on crisp fall Saturday afternoons.)

In all seriousness, given all of this fuss over what makes a good major college football coach, here is a link to an article written many moons ago in Sports Illustrated about Gagliardi and the St. John's program: http://www.si.com/vault/1992/08/31/12705...ty-happy.  At a minimum, it'll put a smile on your face. 

And if you're looking for more detail--as I'm certain you are by this point--SI's Austin Murphy wrote the book on St. John's football.  No, a real book, called "The Sweet Season." 

Go Johnnies, forever and ever. Amen. 

[ColoradoTree]

[quote author=ThePassionOfTheChryst link=topic=12951.msg131358#msg131358 date=1443416581]
[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]

TPOTC, I agree with your high regard for the transformational impact of Jim Harbaugh.  I think most people here do.  But it does not have to be either/or.  I think the intensity of your enthusiasm for Harbaugh places blinders on you about Shaw.

It is similar to how 49er fans idolized Joe Montana and ultimately lamented his departure.  Many of them could not become Steve Young fans because, somewhere deep inside, I think they felt it would dilute their love of Joe Cool.  Young's normal miscues then became fodder for many to deride him as not as talented as Montana.  I felt bad for those people, because they missed the incredible gifts that Steve Young provided for the fans.  9er fans had perhaps the most remarkable consecutive QB's ever in the history of the NFL (although I'm confident that BC or WIM will correct me)

Shaw is the right coach for Stanford football.  He has confused me and frustrated me at times, but I love his demeanor, his character, his values and I hope he breaks Paterno's record for longevity (even if there is another coach other than Paterno with greater longevity somewhere in the annals of NAIA-football history  ;D).
[/quote]

CornFed, is that a thinly veiled shot at the great John Gagliardi, owner of 489--489!--career college coaching wins?  The man who started his college coaching career at the age of 22 and continued it until he was 85, winning all the while?  The genius whose "no"-based coaching philosophy (no tackling drills, no calisthenics, no sprints, no playbooks--just running plays over and over again, at full speed, for the entire practice) was mocked until it led to four national titles (the first in 1963 and the last in 2003)?  The guy who, as a high school junior whose football season was threatened with cancellation because his coach had been called into WWII, went to the priests in charge of his parochial school and saved the program by saying some of the players were considering transferring to the public school?  The namesake for the Gagliardi Trophy, awarded annually to the best player in Division III? 

BECAUSE IF IT IS, then you and I are going to have problems. 

(I may or may not be a bit too invested in the success of St. John's football, given that my dad was a professor there, I grew up a stone's throw from campus, and went to most of those games on crisp fall Saturday afternoons.)

In all seriousness, given all of this fuss over what makes a good major college football coach, here is a link to an article written many moons ago in Sports Illustrated about Gagliardi and the St. John's program: http://www.si.com/vault/1992/08/31/12705...ty-happy.  At a minimum, it'll put a smile on your face. 

And if you're looking for more detail--as I'm certain you are by this point--SI's Austin Murphy wrote the book on St. John's football.  No, a real book, called "The Sweet Season." 

Go Johnnies, forever and ever. Amen.