David Shaw Named Stanford Coach

Stanford has its new football coach. And he's a familiar face.

Cardinal athletic director Bob Bowlsby went in-house, hiring David Shaw to replace Jim Harbaugh, who left the program last Friday to accept the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers.

Shaw has been on the Stanford staff since Harbaugh arrived in 2007. He served as offensive coordinator and running backs coach.

The search to replace Harbaugh reportedly included an overture to Boise State's Chris Petersen and interviews with in-house candidates Shaw, associate head coach Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, as well as former Stanford player and current Yale coach Tom Williams.

Shaw, 38, was endorsed by several Stanford players, who want to continue the program's momentum after a 12-1 season that culminated with an Orange Bowl victory over Virginia Tech. The Cardinal finished a best-ever No. 4 in the national rankings.

Just days after that win, star quarterback Andrew Luck, the runner-up in the Heisman vote, announced he would return for another year of school and football.

Shaw's hiring is a nod to continuity in a program that is experiencing some of the best days in its history.

It's also a bit of a risk considering that Shaw has never been a college head coach.

Shaw is a Stanford alum and Bay Area native with plenty of ties to the Bay Area football community. His father, WIllie, was an assistant coach at Stanford during two separate tenures and is a veteran NFL assistant coach. Willie Shaw was a finalist for the Stanford job in 1992 when Bill Walsh ended up returning to coach the program.

David Shaw has eight years experience as an NFL coach, including working as quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders in 2001 and Baltimore Ravens from 2002-2005.

Shaw joined Harbaugh as his lead assistant at the University of San Diego in 2006 and returned to his alma mater with Harbaugh in 2007.