Detroit Lions Coordinator Admits to Turning Down NFL Interviews While at Stanford

Hired by the Detroit Lions earlier this offseason, former Stanford Cardinal head coach, David Shaw, is officially back on an NFL sideline after two decades away, spending a majority of his career at the college level.

But now back in the coaching world as the Lions passing game coordinator, Shaw revealed that he had plenty of chances to make the jump while back at Stanford, but turned down multiple NFL interviews per season during his time on The Farm.

"I had a great job and I wanted to get the most out of it," Shaw said to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "So that was the thing for me was I always wanted to go back to the NFL, but so much of it is about timing and I loved what I was doing. I loved where I was doing it and I loved who I was doing it with."

During the early part of Shaw's tenure, and for the majority of it, the Cardinal were one of the top college football programs in the country, winning five bowl games and ending a season ranked inside the top 10 three times--ranked as high as No. 3 during the 2015 season.

While it could have been easy for Shaw to leave for the next level during that time, he was adamant about sticking it out and seeing just how far he could take the program.

"And for a decade, we were a top-10 winning team, which not only Stanford but no academically high-ranking team has ever had a run like that," Shaw told Pro Football Talk. "And I wanted to finish that run, knowing that whatever was next was going to be next."

Then came his final four seasons, where after helping Stanford stay in the upper echelon of the college football world, the program started to struggle, eventually resulting in two straight 3-9 seasons in 2021 and 2022--leading to Shaw's firing ahead of the 2023 campaign.

But what came next for Shaw was another shot with an NFL organization, taking a job as a senior personnel executive with the Denver Broncos for the 2024 season.

Now that he is officially back with his coaches' cap on, Shaw is excited for what is in store with Detroit and is ready to begin the next chapter of Lions' football.

With former offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, gone after taking over as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Shaw will help the franchise establish a new identity on offense while working with new offensive coordinator, John Morton, who Shaw considers a very close friend.

"We’re not saying we’re going to come back and do a carbon copy of last year," Shaw said. "Last year’s dead. It’s gone. It’s in the history books. We got a chance to write another chapter, so we’re not going to be ogling at what happened last year.

"We’re also not going to be held to it, either. Brand new year, different players, different coaches, different opponents. So it’s really taking stock in who we have and what we have and make sure that we get the most out of everybody in the building. Coaches, players, everybody."

The Lions will begin their OTAs on May 28, and will conduct six sessions before breaking ahead of mandatory minicamp that runs from June 10-12. After that, teams get over a month off for summer break before returning to their respective facilites towards the end of July to begin training camp. The Lions will have a lot to prove this season after coming up short in the playoffs the previous two years.