[CTcard]

[quote author=washingtonismoney link=topic=15706.msg171855#msg171855 date=1474288460]
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.

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 Under Stanford Control (again); 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.
[/quote]

I'd go with a healthy dose of #2, though probably #4 carries more weight.

As much as old time football folks like tough smash-mouth offense, strong don't-give-up-the-big-play defense, and risk-averse approach to decisions - most of fandom doesn't.

Even when Stanford has a fantastic offense, they don't put up the biggest numbers in yards and points. It's easy to talk about total yards and points, and it's easy to make highlight reels from teams throwing the ball 40+ times per game.

Case in point last year. Stanford ranked #40 in the country in offense by the commonly quoted yards per game (see Teejers). However, on a per drive basis, Stanford was #1 in the country in yards gained.* Less extreme, Stanford was #18 in scoring offense based upon points per game. In points per possession, Stanford was #2 behind only Group of Five Western Kentucky.

Right at the moment, for example, Stanford has the fewest pass attempts per game in the country of any team NOT running an option offense. The next fewest pass attempts by a notable team is Michigan State - and they are 5 throws per game higher than Stanford. Even many Stanford fans hate this. Whether this has led to winning, or simply happening at the same time as winning is not completely clear, but it doesn't promote Shaw as the hot thing.


* The stat is from cfbtoys and is called OAY for Offense: Available Yards (percentage). That means taking each drive and calculating the fraction of the distance towards a touchdown that the offense manages to cover, i.e. if you start at your own 25 and end up kicking a FG from the opponent's 5 yard line you got 70/75 = 93% of available yards. On the season last year, Stanford got 65% of all available yards.)
http://www.bcftoys.com/2015-ofei/

[CTcard]

[quote author=washingtonismoney link=topic=15706.msg171855#msg171855 date=1474288460]
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.

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 Under Stanford Control (again); 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.
[/quote]

I'd go with a healthy dose of #2, though probably #4 carries more weight.

As much as old time football folks like tough smash-mouth offense, strong don't-give-up-the-big-play defense, and risk-averse approach to decisions - most of fandom doesn't.

Even when Stanford has a fantastic offense, they don't put up the biggest numbers in yards and points. It's easy to talk about total yards and points, and it's easy to make highlight reels from teams throwing the ball 40+ times per game.

Case in point last year. Stanford ranked #40 in the country in offense by the commonly quoted yards per game (see Teejers). However, on a per drive basis, Stanford was #1 in the country in yards gained.* Less extreme, Stanford was #18 in scoring offense based upon points per game. In points per possession, Stanford was #2 behind only Group of Five Western Kentucky.

Right at the moment, for example, Stanford has the fewest pass attempts per game in the country of any team NOT running an option offense. The next fewest pass attempts by a notable team is Michigan State - and they are 5 throws per game higher than Stanford. Even many Stanford fans hate this. Whether this has led to winning, or simply happening at the same time as winning is not completely clear, but it doesn't promote Shaw as the hot thing.


* The stat is from cfbtoys and is called OAY for Offense: Available Yards (percentage). That means taking each drive and calculating the fraction of the distance towards a touchdown that the offense manages to cover, i.e. if you start at your own 25 and end up kicking a FG from the opponent's 5 yard line you got 70/75 = 93% of available yards. On the season last year, Stanford got 65% of all available yards.)
http://www.bcftoys.com/2015-ofei/