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SMQ: Are alma maters really the best destinations for head coaches?

By Zach Bigalke

ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 01: Michigan Wolverines head football coach leads his team onto the field prior to the start of the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated Wisconsin 14-7. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 01: Michigan Wolverines head football coach leads his team onto the field prior to the start of the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan defeated Wisconsin 14-7. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)
(Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images) /

David Shaw and the Stanford Cardinal

  • YEARS AT STANFORD AS PLAYER: 1991-1994
  • YEARS AT STANFORD AS COACH: 2011-present

During his time as a player at Stanford, David Shaw helped the Cardinal win 10 games as a sophomore, though that success wasn’t sustained over his upperclassmen years. Playing for Dennis Green and Bill Walsh, Shaw caught 57 passes for 664 yards and scored five touchdowns over his four seasons in Palo Alto.

As a coach, Shaw served as a quarterbacks coach in the NFL before joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Division II San Diego. He moved with Harbaugh back to his alma mater when he landed the Cardinal job, and helped rebuild the school to Pac-10/Pac-12 prominence.

Once Harbaugh bolted for his NFL opportunity with the San Francisco 49ers, Shaw was named the new head coach in 2011. Since that time, he has built upon and improved Stanford’s standing. When Harbaugh left, the school was just beginning to become a Pac-12 North powerhouse. Now it is a perennial contender for the division and conference title thanks to Shaw.

Over his first six years at the helm, Stanford won three conference titles and a share of another in 2011. He has taken the Cardinal bowling every year, including a 2-2 record in New Year’s Six contests. Under Shaw, Stanford is once again in the hunt for a conference title in 2017 if it gets a little help from a Washington team it knocked off earlier in the year.

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