WATCH: David Shaw describes his tenure at Stanford as 'magical' when reminiscing

Following the loss to BYU, us group of reporters made our way to the building where the post-game press conferences are held.

Being that the game start was at 8 pm, it was obviously starting to get a tad chilly in the room that is not fully enclosed at 11:15ish. As the reporters began to murmur, and wonder what was taking so long for head coach David Shaw to make his way to the podium, we al began to look around and notice how many people were there.

Throughout the season, it was typically the same suspects at the post-game pressers, and being that the team was struggling so much there weren't many of us. It was becoming seemingly clear that something was up, and when Shaw eventually meandered into the room a hour later and announced he was stepping down everyone pulled out our phones to post the news to Twitter. The questions naturally began to fly in from everywhere about everything from what moment led to this, transfer portal/NIL struggles, lack of staffing changes, and so much more.

I was the one who asked about his staff, and while he wasn't receptive and I believe that was the first time this year he had shut someone down as bluntly as he did, that was not my last question. Lost in the thick of all the speculation of when he knew it was his time, what he will do next, and the future of the program there was yet to be a question specially about how he viewed his time.

I saved this question for last knowing that it was probably going to make him think a little, but little did I realize that when I asked him for one word to describe his entire tenure that spanned 16 seasons with one word, that he would need to sleep on it. He expressed that he couldn't think of the right word at that time and would get back to me. So, on Monday when addressing reporters for what could have been the final time in while, he finally provided his one word, magical.

The winningest coach in his alma mater’s history. Congrats on a magical run, @CoachDavidShaw! #ThankYouCoachShaw pic.twitter.com/lLV7sF20ID
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) November 28, 2022