The first one was regarding the Stanford Orange Bowl game; the second about Jim Harbaugh to the San Francisco 49ers as their head guy, now this one was about Stanford's new head coach, David Shaw. But it had some spice to it.
Press Conference at 1:30pm PST to announce Coach Shaw as our next Head Football coach!!!! Soooo excited!!!!!!!
Those of you reading this who know the former Stanford Fullback, are aware that Dotterer can get excited over a full moon, but in all the years I've known him, this is the first time he's expressed that much joy over a new Stanford coach. But this is for good reason.
David Shaw, the now former Offensive Coordinator for the Stanford Cardinal, is a brilliant coach.
ESPN tried, for some weird reason, to toss water on his selection - and I will state that out of 66 NCAA Division 1 Football Programs, Shaw is just the sixth black head coach - but the truth is that anyone who's followed Stanford Football, and you can't be a Cal fan and not do so to some degree, knows it has been coach Shaw who developed the Stanford passing game. Plus, Shaw's title has been offensive coordinator for four years.
(Some reporters don't understand the difference between coordinator and coach. A coach - like offensive line coach - directs what the players do on a person-to-person basis. The coordinator is the overseer, who puts the players in positions to run the offense. That's what Shaw did.)
Shaw has been praised in this space at Zennie62.com many times. In Harbaugh's first two years, Shaw was recognized as the Offensive Coordinator, and while the run blocking was different, the passing game was, and has always been, lethal. The only difference between 2007 - 2008 and 2009 to 2010 was the installation of zone blocking by Assistant Head Coach Greg Roman, who joined the staff in 2009.
That's what sprang loose Stanford Running Back Toby Gerhart, now with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.
It's no trick for form a passing game around such a scheme, and that's what Shaw did. It's also not rocket science to teach zone blocking, and Shaw was able to learn from Roman, who came to Stanford from the Baltimore Ravens. So, yes, it can be said that Shaw's the heart-and-soul of what remains at Stanford after Harbaugh. Will he do well?
Cal aside, and for obvious reasons, if Shaw sets his objective as the National Championship, the answer's yes. Considering where Stanford has been in 2010 (the Orange Bowl and losing just one game), that's the next logical step.
Stay tuned.
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