Late Saturday night, after a 36-25 loss to BYU, Stanford’s David Shaw announced that he was stepping down as the team’s head coach.
“After many prayers and multiple discussions with my wife, one phrase keeps coming to me – it’s time,” said Shaw. “There are not sufficient words to describe the love and gratitude I feel for my family, all of my former and current players, my staff, this administration and the entire Stanford family. Thank you all.”
Shaw leaves as the winningest coach in program history, amassing a record of 96-54 in his twelve seasons as Stanford’s head football coach. He led the Cardinal to three Rose Bowl appearances (2-1), eight bowls overall (5-3), and is the only coach to be named four-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
“I would like to thank David for his immense contributions to Stanford,” said Stanford Director of Athletics Bernard Muir. “David has represented Stanford football, as both a player and a coach, with unwavering grace, humility and integrity. He has cared tremendously for each and every student-athlete in his program while helping them pursue their full academic and athletic potential. David will forever remain a valued member of the Stanford football family and an integral part of the storied history of the program. I hope Cardinal fans everywhere will join me in thanking David and his family for their extraordinary years of service and wishing them all the best in their next chapter.”
During his tenure, he coached 43 future NFL draft picks, including Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey.
Even more impressively was the fact that the program had, according to Pac-12.com, “a nation-leading 15 Academic All-Americans since 2010, five more than any other program and 10 more than any Pac-12 school in that span, including Andrew Luck (2011) and Christian McCaffrey (2015) as Academic All-Americans of the Year.”
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