Late Saturday night, after a 36-25 loss to BYU, Stanford’s David Shaw announced that he was stepping down as the team’s head coach.
“After many prayers and multiple discussions with my wife, one phrase keeps coming to me – it’s time,” said Shaw. “There are not sufficient words to describe the love and gratitude I feel for my family, all of my former and current players, my staff, this administration and the entire Stanford family. Thank you all.”
Shaw leaves as the winningest coach in program history, amassing a record of 96-54 in his twelve seasons as Stanford’s head football coach. He led the Cardinal to three Rose Bowl appearances (2-1), eight bowls overall (5-3), and is the only coach to be named four-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
“I would like to thank David for his immense contributions to Stanford,” said Stanford Director of Athletics Bernard Muir. “David has represented Stanford football, as both a player and a coach, with unwavering grace, humility and integrity. He has cared tremendously for each and every student-athlete in his program while helping them pursue their full academic and athletic potential. David will forever remain a valued member of the Stanford football family and an integral part of the storied history of the program. I hope Cardinal fans everywhere will join me in thanking David and his family for their extraordinary years of service and wishing them all the best in their next chapter.”
During his tenure, he coached 43 future NFL draft picks, including Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey.
Even more impressively was the fact that the program had, according to Pac-12.com, “a nation-leading 15 Academic All-Americans since 2010, five more than any other program and 10 more than any Pac-12 school in that span, including Andrew Luck (2011) and Christian McCaffrey (2015) as Academic All-Americans of the Year.”
Shaw, 50, was also one of the premier Black head coaches in FBS college football, reining over a successful program while becoming an inspiration for many young Black aspiring head coaches.
He played wide receiver for Stanford from 1991-1994 and joined the coaching staff in 2007 as an offensive coordinator. He served in that role for four years and was promoted to head coach when Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL.
That’s a long time to be in one place, especially in an intense career like coaching.
“I am not burnt out,” he said. “I’m healthy; I feel good. But 16 years is a long time. … 16 years of running a program, 16 years of being responsible for everything and everybody catches up to you.”
Shaw now has the opportunity to contemplate his next move. It must be noted that he’s on the NFL’s list of vetted minority coaches, so he could pursue that route if he chooses.
And the college coaching ranks always have a revolving door at the start of the new year, so his name will definitely be among those circulated for big programs like Colorado, Auburn and other FBS programs.
But there’s no rush for Shaw and he stated that he has no desire to coach again in the immediate future.
In the meantime, Stanford will begin looking for their next head coach. Whoever they decide upon has to know that they have big shoes to follow.
