Calling his decision the most logical step he could take, Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby introduced David Shaw as the next head coach of the Cardinal football team yesterday. Bowlsby said he interviewed four internal candidates and had serious conversations with three others from outside the program before choosing Shaw, a Stanford graduate and assistant to Jim Harbaugh for the last five seasons, including one at San Diego.
I couldn't agree more with the reaction to the hiring at Go Mighty Card. Here's the money quote from Shaw's press conference:
"Since the day I started coaching, this is the job I knew I wanted, and the day is finally there. ... I wanted this to be my last head-coaching interview ever."
It's not exactly "enthusiasm unknown to mankind," but it's an indication that Shaw is looking to continue to build a successful program at Stanford and maintain it for as long as he's welcome. That's one thing that separated him from Vic Fangio and Greg Roman.
"He's a Stanford man," Andrew Luck said. "I've known that since he was recruiting me coming out of high school -- a deep, abiding love and respect for Stanford. You can really tell that. He's going to do a wonderful job with this program and the players are behind him 100 percent."
A few more links after the jump...
When Shaw followed Jim Harbaugh from San Diego to Stanford, he told him, "Whenever you're done with it, I want to take it over." | Mark Purdy
Andrew Luck and Coby Fleener were named to ESPN.com's All-Bowl Team. | ESPN
As expected, Harbaugh announced the hiring of Greg Roman as his offensive coordinator. | Mercury News
Did you see the exciting finish to last night's basketball game?! No, you didn't, unless you happened to be at the game. Josh Owens scored 14 points, including the game-winning putback in the final minute, to lead Stanford to a 58-56 win over No. 17 Washington. | The Daily Axe
"I just tried to make a play," Owens said of his game-winning basket. | Stanford Daily
The Stanford women play at Washington tonight. | GoStanford.com