David Shaw | Stanford Head Football Coach

David Shaw

Stanford Head Football Coach

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David Shaw
Biography

David Shaw enters his fourth season as the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football in 2014 following four seasons as Stanford's offensive coordinator.

A 1995 Stanford graduate who is the fifth alum to hold the position of head football coach, Shaw is the 34th head coach in Stanford history. He signed a long-term contract extension following the 2012 regular season.

In 2013, Shaw led Stanford to a second straight Pac-12 Conference title and the program's 14th trip to the Rose Bowl. He became one of just three coaches to ever lead his team to BCS bowl games in each of his first three years as head coach, punching the Cardinal's ticket to back-to-back Rose Bowl games in 2013-14 and the 2012 Fiesta Bowl game. Even more, Stanford became the only team to earn four consecutive BCS bowl bids during the Bowl Championship Series era.

After leading the team to a landmark 2013 regular season, Shaw received AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors and was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the national coach of the year.

Under Shaw's tutelage in 2013, Stanford was one of 13 FBS football schools and the only Pac-12 football program to earn a Division I Academic Progress Rate Public Recognition Award for posting multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads.

Through three seasons as the Cardinal head coach, Shaw holds a remarkable 34-7 (.829) career record and is 23-4 (.852) in Pac-12 play. He notched 30 wins in his first 35 games, which was the third-fastest among active coaches.

The 2013 season saw Stanford defeat five nationally-ranked opponents at home while winning 11 games despite playing the fifth toughest schedule nationally in the Sagarin ratings.

Stanford is among just three schools (Alabama and Oregon) with 10 or more wins in each season from 2010-13.

Stanford finished the 2013 campaign ranked fifth in the BCS standings, the fourth straight top 10 BCS ranking for the Cardinal. The team ranked sixth in the final 2012 BCS standings, following back-to-back No. 4 rankings at the end of the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

The 2013 team ranked among the nation's best in kickoff return average (1st), rushing defense (3rd), tackles for loss allowed (4th), sacks (t-7th), scoring defense (10th), kickoff coverage (10th), total defense (14th), sacks allowed (16th), red zone offense (16th), passing efficiency (17th) and red zone defense (19th).

Stanford had six players receive All-Pac-12 first team honors with 19 total all-conference selections in 2013. There were also eight different national awards that listed Stanford players as semifinalists and finalists. There were 25 players chosen to the Pac-12 All-Academic team and four were placed on the Capital One Academic All-District list, including Jordan Richards who was a second team All-America selection.

For the fifth straight year, Stanford had three or more players selected in the NFL Draft when Trent Murphy (second round - Washington), Cameron Fleming (fourth round - New England), David Yankey (fifth round - Minnesota), Ed Reynolds (fifth round - Philadelphia), Tyler Gaffney (sixth round - Carolina) and Ben Gardner (seventh round - Dallas) signed professional contracts after the 2013 season. The six draft picks in 2014 matched a program-best.

In 2012 Shaw guided the Cardinal to a 12-2 record and its first Pac-12 Championship in 13 years. The campaign culminated with Stanford's first Rose Bowl victory in over 40 years, a 20-14 win over Wisconsin in the 2013 edition of The Granddaddy of Them All.

Shaw was named the 2012 Pac-12 Conference Coach of the Year, becoming the second coach to earn the honor outright in consecutive seasons since the award's inception in 1975.
Stanford became the first school to defeat programs ranked No. 1 (Oregon) and 2 (USC) in the AP poll during the regular season and the Cardinal closed its season with five straight wins over as many ranked opponents.

Stanford's historic defensive output in 2012 broke single-season sacks record (57) and led the Pac-12 in scoring defense (17.21), total defense (336.21), rushing defense (97.0), sacks (4.07) and tackles for loss (9.00). The Cardinal ranked first nationally in sacks, second in tackles for loss, fifth in rushing defense and 11th in scoring defense.

Another first in 2012 saw Stanford became the first program to win both the AFCA Academic Achievement Award and a BCS bowl game in the same season.

Three Stanford players were selected in the 2013 NFL Draft -- Zach Ertz (second round - Philadelphia), Levine Toilolo (fourth round - Atlanta) and Stepfan Taylor (fifth round - Arizona).

Taylor, a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, set the Stanford record with 4,300 rushing yards and Ertz led Stanford pass catchers and all FBS tight ends in receiving yards (898) and total receptions (69), both school records for a tight end. Ertz was a John Mackey Award finalist and the seventh unanimous All-American in program history.

Stanford was one of five schools to have four or more players selected to the 2012 AP All-America teams, with Ertz earning the honor along with David Yankey (second team), Trent Murphy (third team) and Ed Reynolds (third team). Yankey was a consensus All-American.

Shaw's first season as head coach saw the 2011 Cardinal post an 11-2 record and make its second consecutive BCS appearance, falling to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl. Shaw became just the ninth major college head coach in history to post 11 or more wins in his first season, and the first since Chris Peterson (13-0) of Boise State and Bret Bielema (12-1) of Wisconsin accomplished the feat in 2006.

For his efforts, he earned 2011 Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors, becoming just the third head coach in Stanford history to earn the award, following Bill Walsh (1977) and Tyrone Willingham (1995, 1999). He was also named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year.

The Cardinal was ranked in the top 10 of both major polls for all 16 weeks of the season, peaking at No. 3 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the USA Today Coaches poll on Nov. 6.

Behind 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist Andrew Luck, Stanford averaged 43.2 points per game and established a school-record with 561 points. Stanford's 11 victories in 2011 came by an average of 27.4 points

Stanford's 2011 defense was ranked either first or second in the Pac-12 in six categories, including rushing defense (1st - 84.4), third-down conversion defense (1st - 31.1), scoring defense (2nd - 21.9), total defense (2nd - 337.6), sacks-per-game (2nd - 3.00) and opponent first downs (2nd - 17.5).

Luck was named Walter Camp Football Foundation National Player of the Year along with receiving the Maxwell Award as the nation's top player. He finished second in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy and was the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Year for a second straight season.

Right guard DeCastro was a unanimous All-America selection; left tackle Jonathan Martin landed spots on the Walter Camp and AFCA All-America squads; tight end Coby Fleener and outside linebacker Chase Thomas were both named All-Americans by Sporting News.

In all, 21 players earned All-Pac-12 honors in 2011, including six first teamers. Twelve players earned Pac-12 All-Academic team honors, including first-team selections Luck and Brent Etiz. Luck was also named the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Prior to his appointment as head coach, Shaw served as Stanford's offensive coordinator for four seasons, playing an instrumental role in the resurgence of the Stanford program which established school scoring records in 2009 and 2010 before setting another scoring mark in his first year as head coach.

During Shaw's tenure as offensive coordinator, the Cardinal scored 40 or more points in 11 games from 2007-10.

Stanford's balanced offense amassed a school-record 6,142 yards during the 2010 season, averaging 213.8 on the ground and 258.7 yards through the air.

In addition, Shaw's play calling in the red zone helped Stanford convert on a national-best 88.6 percent of its scoring opportunities (68.5 percent) inside the 20-yard line.

Prior to Stanford, Shaw served as the wide receivers and passing game coordinator at the University of San Diego during the 2006 season, winning the Division I-AA Mid-Major national title and the Pioneer League championship with the nation's top offense.

The Toreros led all NCAA Division I-AA teams in passing offense (293.3 ypg), total offense (494.25) and scoring offense (42.83). Quarterback Josh Johnson was one of four offensive All-Americans on the team and led all NCAA Division I-AA quarterbacks in passing efficiency (169.0 quarterback rating), touchdown passes (34), passing yards (3,320) and total offense (336.7).

Shaw's coaching resume also includes nine years of NFL experience with the Philadelphia Eagles (1997), Oakland Raiders (1998-2001) and Baltimore Ravens (2002-05).

Shaw's last coaching job in the NFL with Baltimore included a stint as the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach from 2002-04 before working solely with the wide receivers in 2005. His tenure included an AFC North title in 2003. Derrick Mason set a new franchise record with 86 receptions for 1,073 yards under Shaw's tutelage in 2005. Mark Clayton set a franchise rookie record for receptions in 2005 when he caught 44 balls for 471 yards.

After three seasons of quality control with the Oakland Raiders from 1998-2000, Shaw moved into the role of quarterbacks coach in 2001 as the Raiders won a second straight AFC West title. Quarterback Rich Gannon made the NFL Pro Bowl for the second straight season and was the game's MVP.

Shaw began his NFL coaching career as the quality control coach with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997.

He launched his coaching career at Western Washington, where he coached outside linebackers in 1995 and the tight ends in 1996.

A four-year letterwinner at Stanford from 1991-94 as a receiver, Shaw was a member of Stanford's 1991 Aloha Bowl team coached by Dennis Green that finished the season with an 8-4 mark and was the third-highest scoring team in school history at the time. He was also on the Cardinal team which went 10-3 and won the 1993 Blockbuster Bowl under the direction of head coach Bill Walsh. Shaw finished his Stanford career with 57 catches for 664 yards and five touchdowns.

He also competed in a varsity track meet and a varsity basketball game before graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in sociology.

Shaw's father, Willie, had two separate coaching stints at Stanford (1974-76, 1989-91) during his 33-year coaching career, which also included time with the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams.

Stanford announced in April of 2013 that its defensive coordinator position had been endowed by a generous gift from an anonymous donor, named in honor of Willie Shaw.
Shaw represents the Pac-12 on the AFCA Ethics Committee.

Born in San Diego, Calif., Shaw and his wife Kori are the parents of three children -- Keegan, Carter and Gavin.

David Shaw
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