Stanford makes it official — Shaw new football coach

Jan. 13, 2011

STANFORD PAGE

David Shaw Named Bradford M. Freeman Director of FootballHead Coach

Shaw Has Served as Stanfords Offensive Coordinator the Last Four Seasons

STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanfords Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics Bob Bowlsby has appointed David Shaw 95 to the position of Bradford M. Freeman Director of FootballHead Coach.

Shaw, 38, becomes the 34th head coach in Stanford history and the first alum to lead the program since Paul Wiggin (1980-83).

David Shaw is exactly the right person to lead our football program at this time, said Bowlsby. David has the experience, intellect, coaching skills and organizational abilities to be a tremendous head coach. He understands and embraces the combination of world class academics and world class athletics that is required at Stanford.

David has made a substantial contribution to the recent success of our program and our team has great confidence in him. I could not be more excited to work with David and to assist him and his staff in leading our football program to high achievement in the years ahead.

As the teams offensive coordinator the last four seasons, Shaw played an instrumental role in the resurgence of the Stanford program which has established school scoring records each of the last two seasons.

Stanford was the ninth-highest scoring team in the nation this season, averaging 40.31 points a game, scoring a school-record 524 points during its 12-1 season which culminated with a victory over Virginia Tech in the 2011 Orange Bowl. The point total surpassed the previous record of 461, established by the 2009 team.

During Shaws tenure as offensive coordinator, the Cardinal scored 40 or more points in 11 games since the 2007 season, including 10 times over the past two campaigns.

Even though it was Stanfords passing game that drew most of the attention this past season, the Cardinal running game flourished under Shaws tutelage. Despite the loss of consensus All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart, Stanford averaged 213.77 yards on the ground, which ranked second in the Pac-10 and 17th nationally. The Cardinal amassed 2,779 yards on the ground this season, which was the second-highest rushing total in school history.

Shaw tutored five running backsStepfan Taylor, Anthony Wilkerson, Tyler Gaffney, Usua Amanam and Jeremy Stewartthat combined to rush for 2,063 yards in 13 games, an average of 158.6 yards a game. Last season, Gerhart averaged 143.9 yards per game while Stanford as a team averaged 218.2 yards on the ground.

Taylors final rushing total of 1,137 yards was the second highest total in school history, trailing only Gerharts senior total of 1,871.

Shaw joined the Stanford coaching staff in 2007 as the teams offensive coordinator after serving in the same capacity at the University of San Diego. In 2006, the Toreros led the nation in total offense en route to capturing the Pioneer League championship and NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major national title.

The 2006 squad finished 11-1 overall and led all NCAA Division I-AA teams in passing offense (293.3 ypg), total offense (494.25 ypg) and scoring offense (42.83 ppg). 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, co-leader), points responsible for (24.33 ppg) and total offense (336.7 ypg), while throwing for 3,320 yards to also lead the country and running for another 721 on the ground. He added 11 rushing touchdowns and even caught one TD pass.

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

Shaw's most recent 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 a 2003 campaign that reaped an AFC North title and a 10-6 regular season record. Derrick Mason set a new franchise record with 86 receptions under Shaw's tutelage in 2005 when he also posted the third-biggest season to date in terms of receiving yards with 1,073. 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 and finished the regular season with a 10-6 mark. Quarterback Rich Gannon made the NFL Pro Bowl for the second straight season and ended up as the game's MVP. Gannon had the third-most prolific campaign of his 16-year pro career during the 2001 regular season, throwing for 3,828 yards on 361-of-549 passing (65.8).

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

Shaw began his coaching career at Western Washington, where he coached the 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. He was also on the Cardinal's 1992 Blockbuster Bowl winning squad coached by Bill Walsh that had a 10-3 overall mark. Shaw finished his Stanford career with 57 catches for 664 yards and five touchdowns.

Davids father, Willie, was an assistant coach at Stanford from 1974-76 and again from 1989-91. He coached for a total of 33 seasons, including 15 in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and St. Louis Rams.

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

A native of Union City, Calif., David and his wife, Kori are the parents of three children, Carter, Keegan and Gavin.
Courtesy of Stanford media relations.