David Shaw viewed as a coach on the hot seat by
Four weeks into the college football season and things are only getting harder for Stanford.
They are in the midst of what I am calling the "death row" portion of the schedule, playing against three ranked teams in a row followed by two teams that will likely be ranked at some point. This stretch may very well make or break this team and what they are able to achieve this season, and so far, morale is not high.
The Cardinal are 1-2 and have not beaten an FBS team since last season when they upset Oregon. Their schedule is obviously tough so it isn't surprising they have struggled, but the matter in which they have struggled is what is alarming. They are playing undisciplined football, turning the ball over 11 times in three games, and they also have major flaws on both sides of the ball. The offense is put in compromising situations seemingly almost every play with play calls that highlight their many deficiencies, while the defense gives up too many big plays and can't take the ball away.
There are so many things going wrong for Stanford right now, which has led to outlets such as DraftKings even going as far to put head coach David Shaw on the hot seat joining coaches such as USF's Jeff Scott and Colorado's Karl Dorrell. A point that most Cardinal fan never imagined they would get to as he was an instant success after taking over for Jim Harbaugh, leading the program to three conference titles, four New Year's Six bowl games, and two Rose Bowls wins.
Stanford now feels far removed from that success, as not counting the Covid shortened season, the Cardinal have not had a winning season since 2018. It looks like they are on track to continue that trend, something that DraftKings thinks will be the final straw saying:
Stanford hasn’t had a winning season since 2018 (the 4-2 pandemic-reduced 2020 season doesn’t count) and Shaw doesn’t seem equipped to bring the Cardinal back to that level in the new college football landscape. The Pac-12 is becoming weaker and Stanford doesn’t have a clear path to California recruits like it previously did. The overall body of work is great but recent results might push Shaw out the door.
Stanford and Shaw are in survive now mode, it just may be extremely difficult to overcome what is ranked as one of the toughest remaining schedules in the country.
