[81alum]

No doubt our collective expectations are high these days, perhaps too high.

We've had a lot of nail biters over the past couple of years, most of which we have found a way to win. This year we seem to be finding a way to lose. Hope we can get it turned around. I do know there is too much talent on offense to score as few points as we have against the good teams we have played. If Shaw is as good a coach as we like to think he is (well, most of us anyway) he needs to come up with some answers.

I agree with that, but I do not expect a change of scheme to happen or produce any answers until next season.  Shaw is not that kind of coach. 

What we could do immediately is to bring in a truly excellent quarterback coach to work with Hogan and perhaps give some help to Bloomgren on the offense.  This is the role that Bill Walsh used to play in his coach emeritus days--with no Walsh around Shaw needs to find someone who has wisdom and experience to help Hogan.  Tavita is too junior and too inexperienced for that role.  Someone who has worked with pro quarterbacks, who can give Hogan some confidence, can get him to look at both sides of the field. 

There was one extremely bad coaching decision, though, and I am not sure our receivers should forgive Shaw and our receivers coach for it.  (The receivers coach is Pritchard, too.)  The announcers claimed that Stanford did no work in preparation for wet conditions--did not catch wet balls, etc.  The weather report was for wet conditions for days.  Why on earth didn't Ty and Cajuste practice with wet balls?  Why didn't Hogan?  It might well have made the difference in the game.

I have felt for a few years now that while Harbaugh was willing to go outside for talented coaches, Shaw has basically promoted from within and kept his circle narrow.  Sometimes it has worked, but it has now resulted in a couple of coaches being promoted above their experience/talent levels.  The most important thing a head coach does is to pick all the other coaches.  It is now clear that Shaw has made some errors with his offensive staff, which goes a long way to explaining why our very talented offense is underachieving.  Bloomgren and Pritchard both seem to me to be good people and talented in certain roles--but they were pushed up the ladder too fast.

[81alum]

No doubt our collective expectations are high these days, perhaps too high.

We've had a lot of nail biters over the past couple of years, most of which we have found a way to win. This year we seem to be finding a way to lose. Hope we can get it turned around. I do know there is too much talent on offense to score as few points as we have against the good teams we have played. If Shaw is as good a coach as we like to think he is (well, most of us anyway) he needs to come up with some answers.

I agree with that, but I do not expect a change of scheme to happen or produce any answers until next season.  Shaw is not that kind of coach. 

What we could do immediately is to bring in a truly excellent quarterback coach to work with Hogan and perhaps give some help to Bloomgren on the offense.  This is the role that Bill Walsh used to play in his coach emeritus days--with no Walsh around Shaw needs to find someone who has wisdom and experience to help Hogan.  Tavita is too junior and too inexperienced for that role.  Someone who has worked with pro quarterbacks, who can give Hogan some confidence, can get him to look at both sides of the field. 

There was one extremely bad coaching decision, though, and I am not sure our receivers should forgive Shaw and our receivers coach for it.  (The receivers coach is Pritchard, too.)  The announcers claimed that Stanford did no work in preparation for wet conditions--did not catch wet balls, etc.  The weather report was for wet conditions for days.  Why on earth didn't Ty and Cajuste practice with wet balls?  Why didn't Hogan?  It might well have made the difference in the game.

I have felt for a few years now that while Harbaugh was willing to go outside for talented coaches, Shaw has basically promoted from within and kept his circle narrow.  Sometimes it has worked, but it has now resulted in a couple of coaches being promoted above their experience/talent levels.  The most important thing a head coach does is to pick all the other coaches.  It is now clear that Shaw has made some errors with his offensive staff, which goes a long way to explaining why our very talented offense is underachieving.  Bloomgren and Pritchard both seem to me to be good people and talented in certain roles--but they were pushed up the ladder too fast.