[BostonCard]

Shaw suffers in public perception for a few reasons:

1) People don't credit sustaining success the same way they credit a turnaround, which is foolish.
2) He's not an offensive "genius" -- though Stanford offenses have been reasonably successful, they aren't flashy in a schematic sense.
3) His gameday coaching has its foibles (too many 4th down punts, etc.), and people overrate what coaches do on gameday while underrating literally everything else.
4) Personality-wise, he's just kind of calm: he doesn't offer entertainment in the same way a Harbaugh does.

Of course the real answer to most of these concerns is, "who cares?" But we're just describing rather than endorsing.

A) I completely agree with "who cares".  I'm tickled pink by having David Shaw as our coach; I don't need any external validation of that.  I think we can be secure enough that we have a winner that it doesn't matter what fans of other programs say.

B) As for why he suffers, I think it is largely #4.  He is just not into self-promotion and takes an understated approach to everything.  You don't get the antics of Harbaugh or the drama of USC; Shaw appears to be permanently in "coachspeak" mode, so you could never imagine him in a million years having a "what's your deal" moment like Harbaugh does.

BC

[BostonCard]

Shaw suffers in public perception for a few reasons:

1) People don't credit sustaining success the same way they credit a turnaround, which is foolish.
2) He's not an offensive "genius" -- though Stanford offenses have been reasonably successful, they aren't flashy in a schematic sense.
3) His gameday coaching has its foibles (too many 4th down punts, etc.), and people overrate what coaches do on gameday while underrating literally everything else.
4) Personality-wise, he's just kind of calm: he doesn't offer entertainment in the same way a Harbaugh does.

Of course the real answer to most of these concerns is, "who cares?" But we're just describing rather than endorsing.

A) I completely agree with "who cares".  I'm tickled pink by having David Shaw as our coach; I don't need any external validation of that.  I think we can be secure enough that we have a winner that it doesn't matter what fans of other programs say.

B) As for why he suffers, I think it is largely #4.  He is just not into self-promotion and takes an understated approach to everything.  You don't get the antics of Harbaugh or the drama of USC; Shaw appears to be permanently in "coachspeak" mode, so you could never imagine him in a million years having a "what's your deal" moment like Harbaugh does.

BC