After several seasons of winning with dominant physicality, Stanford football regressed last year. Can David Shaw return the edge to the Cardinal?
It says a lot of David Shaw’s Stanford tenure that a 9-4 season with a 6-3 Pac-12 mark was disappointing. In his eight seasons as head coach, the lowest single-season mark for wins came in 2014 with eight victories. Never has Shaw had a losing season, and he’s reached double digits in five of those years.
However, never has a Shaw team faced more unknowns than now. For the first time in Shaw’s tenure, the old-school, power rushing attack wasn’t dominant. As 2019 approaches, the re-invigoration of the offense will be a key storyline.
Similarly, the defense lost its edge. When the Cardinal were playing in Pac-12 title games, this unit was elite. Much like on the offense, 2018 saw a sharp dip in production.
In 2019, Shaw’s mission will be to recapture the physicality and edge that made this one of the premier programs in the Pac-12.