[BostonCard]

I would say so. Not that I would trade Shaw. I don't think either coach would be as successful if they switched places. But I would project that UW will have a better record and better chance at getting into the CFP under Peterson than Stanford under Shaw. The fact that he turned that program around so quickly is remarkable. And he's got a long track record of sustained success.

I don't know how much of a "turnaround" Petersen really accomplished.  In Steve Sarkisian's last year, the Huskies went 9-4 (8-4 under Sark before he took the USC job).  Petersen definitely built upon what his predecessor had accomplished, and nobody will talk about the Sarkisian/Petersen dynasty, but let's not confuse Petersen with Harbaugh.  Because it's not like Petersen became coach in 2009 after TW led UW to an 0-12 season the year before.  Petersen took over that 9-4 team and proceeded to go 8-6 in 2014, 7-6 in 2015 before finally breaking through and going 12-2 last year, and 8-2 this season (with 3 likely left to play).  He's won one Pac-12 championship in 3 years (likely to be 1 in 4), versus Shaw who has won 3 in 6 and has a better chance to go 4 in 7 than Petersen has to go 2 in 4 (ironically, it would be a Petersen win that would enable this).  Obviously getting to the playoffs is a big accomplishment for Petersen that Shaw has not yet accomplished, but Shaw does have the highest final ranking (#3 in 2015 versus Petersen, who was #4 in 2016).

I don't want to denigrate what Petersen has accomplished; he has definitely taken UW to the next level of success, and if you throw in his stint at Boise State, Petersen is an elite coach.  But I think it was a bit premature to say that he has overtaken Shaw, and I think that assertion was buttressed by a) recency bias and b) a projection that this UW team was going to be as good or better than last year's, which hasn't borne out.

For the moment, Shaw is 3-1 against Petersen.

BC

[BostonCard]

I would say so. Not that I would trade Shaw. I don't think either coach would be as successful if they switched places. But I would project that UW will have a better record and better chance at getting into the CFP under Peterson than Stanford under Shaw. The fact that he turned that program around so quickly is remarkable. And he's got a long track record of sustained success.

I don't know how much of a "turnaround" Petersen really accomplished.  In Steve Sarkisian's last year, the Huskies went 9-4 (8-4 under Sark before he took the USC job).  Petersen definitely built upon what his predecessor had accomplished, and nobody will talk about the Sarkisian/Petersen dynasty, but let's not confuse Petersen with Harbaugh.  Because it's not like Petersen became coach in 2009 after TW led UW to an 0-12 season the year before.  Petersen took over that 9-4 team and proceeded to go 8-6 in 2014, 7-6 in 2015 before finally breaking through and going 12-2 last year, and 8-2 this season (with 3 likely left to play).  He's won one Pac-12 championship in 3 years (likely to be 1 in 4), versus Shaw who has won 3 in 6 and has a better chance to go 4 in 7 than Petersen has to go 2 in 4 (ironically, it would be a Petersen win that would enable this).  Obviously getting to the playoffs is a big accomplishment for Petersen that Shaw has not yet accomplished, but Shaw does have the highest final ranking (#3 in 2015 versus Petersen, who was #4 in 2016).

I don't want to denigrate what Petersen has accomplished; he has definitely taken UW to the next level of success, and if you throw in his stint at Boise State, Petersen is an elite coach.  But I think it was a bit premature to say that he has overtaken Shaw, and I think that assertion was buttressed by a) recency bias and b) a projection that this UW team was going to be as good or better than last year's, which hasn't borne out.

For the moment, Shaw is 3-1 against Petersen.

BC