[Austroturf]

I have stated this before and will state it again: the current moribund condition of Cardinal football can be traced to a downward spiral in the coaching staff, with each new appointment being a downgrade on the prior coach.  Harbaugh amassed a really strong coaching staff (Shaw, Mason, Fangio, Hamilton, Taggart, etc.) that helped him recruit and develop excellent players.  That success and that staff began a virtuous circle of attracting excellent recruits with further excellent player development and these players having subsequent success in the NFL.  

Shaw inherited that staff, had success with it and has since overseen its complete degradation.  Would any top 25 team hire Pritchard away as OC?  Anderson as DC?  Alamar has had a good run on special teams, but he is already 60. There is not an individual among Shaw's current leadership team with head coaching potential; and if you only consider hires Shaw has made, his coaching tree consists of one individual who acceded to a head coaching job (Mike Bloomgren, Rice).

It is a truism that, as a leader, you are only as good as your people.  And in D1 football, that includes coaches AND players.  Excellent players want to be part of excellent programs and will look at the coaching staff to see what their chances are of having maximum success there.  Right now, Shaw's current staff does not consist of top flight coaches; and that will have a negative effect on recruiting and player development.  Any course correction in the current decline needs to begin with a revitalization of the coaching staff: Shaw needs to go out with a pile of money and hire some top flight assistants with upward potential -- coaches that could conceivably replace him or another D1 head coach.  Until this happens, nothing will change.

I don't want to be unfair, but Pritchard is the glaring example of how Shaw has failed to maintain an elite coaching staff.  Pritchard was already a questionable QB coach; and while many on this board were railing about this situation and imploring Shaw to get a top-flight QB coach on board, Shaw promoted Pritchard to OC when Bloomgren left.  Pure madness.  The anemic offense we all saw on Saturday was a direct result of this.  And there was no Bryce Love or Davis Mills to help mask the underlying issues with an exceptional individual performance.  A total of 39 yards rushing against K-State?  Really?

This makes a lot of sense to me.  Going back to Bill Walsh hiring Denny Green, Stanford's successful assistant coaches have been people with pro experience and upwards potential.  I've worried about the assistant coaches under Shaw.

It's really a no-brainer.  Harbaugh was able to build a successful team because he hired excellent coaches (including Shaw), who helped him recruit and develop excellent players.  As long as Shaw had key members of that staff (and the players they recruited and developed), he enjoyed a lot of success.  When the Harbaugh hires eventually moved on to bigger roles, Shaw did not replace them with coaches of equal talent and potential, and the downward slide began.

[Austroturf]

I have stated this before and will state it again: the current moribund condition of Cardinal football can be traced to a downward spiral in the coaching staff, with each new appointment being a downgrade on the prior coach.  Harbaugh amassed a really strong coaching staff (Shaw, Mason, Fangio, Hamilton, Taggart, etc.) that helped him recruit and develop excellent players.  That success and that staff began a virtuous circle of attracting excellent recruits with further excellent player development and these players having subsequent success in the NFL.  

Shaw inherited that staff, had success with it and has since overseen its complete degradation.  Would any top 25 team hire Pritchard away as OC?  Anderson as DC?  Alamar has had a good run on special teams, but he is already 60. There is not an individual among Shaw's current leadership team with head coaching potential; and if you only consider hires Shaw has made, his coaching tree consists of one individual who acceded to a head coaching job (Mike Bloomgren, Rice).

It is a truism that, as a leader, you are only as good as your people.  And in D1 football, that includes coaches AND players.  Excellent players want to be part of excellent programs and will look at the coaching staff to see what their chances are of having maximum success there.  Right now, Shaw's current staff does not consist of top flight coaches; and that will have a negative effect on recruiting and player development.  Any course correction in the current decline needs to begin with a revitalization of the coaching staff: Shaw needs to go out with a pile of money and hire some top flight assistants with upward potential -- coaches that could conceivably replace him or another D1 head coach.  Until this happens, nothing will change.

I don't want to be unfair, but Pritchard is the glaring example of how Shaw has failed to maintain an elite coaching staff.  Pritchard was already a questionable QB coach; and while many on this board were railing about this situation and imploring Shaw to get a top-flight QB coach on board, Shaw promoted Pritchard to OC when Bloomgren left.  Pure madness.  The anemic offense we all saw on Saturday was a direct result of this.  And there was no Bryce Love or Davis Mills to help mask the underlying issues with an exceptional individual performance.  A total of 39 yards rushing against K-State?  Really?

This makes a lot of sense to me.  Going back to Bill Walsh hiring Denny Green, Stanford's successful assistant coaches have been people with pro experience and upwards potential.  I've worried about the assistant coaches under Shaw.

It's really a no-brainer.  Harbaugh was able to build a successful team because he hired excellent coaches (including Shaw), who helped him recruit and develop excellent players.  As long as Shaw had key members of that staff (and the players they recruited and developed), he enjoyed a lot of success.  When the Harbaugh hires eventually moved on to bigger roles, Shaw did not replace them with coaches of equal talent and potential, and the downward slide began.