David Shaw has established himself as one of the best coaches in college football. Would the Colts be smart to target him as their next head coach this offseason?
Andrew Luck Connection
Like Jim Harbaugh, David Shaw has a great relationship with franchise quarterback Andrew Luck.
Shaw was the offensive coordinator during Luck’s first two seasons at Stanford before taking over as head coach after Harbaugh left for the 49ers. Luck was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and finished second in Heisman voting with Shaw as the offensive coordinator in 2010, and he had a repeat performance in 2011 in Shaw’s first year as a head coach.
Andrew Luck would love to play under his old coach again in Indianapolis.
Résumé
Shaw has sustained success at Stanford after Luck moved on to Indianapolis winning 8+ games every year including three Rose Bowl appearances and four top-15 finishes.
He also has a bevy of experience working in the NFL.
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Shaw was a quality control coach for the Eagles and Raiders from 1997-2000 before being promoted to quarterbacks coach in Oakland. He held that job for one season before moving to Baltimore in 2002 where he was the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach until 2005.
That NFL experience is evident in Shaw’s game plan at Stanford where they employ a power run game paired with deep shots on play action passes. His offensive system is tailor-made for a quarterback like Andrew Luck, which explains why he had so much success with Shaw at Stanford.
David Shaw has a pretty great job at Stanford where he gets to work with really smart kids, he has total control of the roster, and he can consistently compete for division titles each and every year. However, Indianapolis would be the perfect spot for Shaw to make a return to the NFL, and he would definitely have the blessing of the franchise’s cornerstone player in Andrew Luck.