Is Stanford Football Changing the World?

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Mikey
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Is Stanford Football Changing the World?

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I'm not too sure, but they're definitely kicking Kal's a$$.

http://www.coachingsearch.com/home/3500 ... world.html
Not many football coaches are invited to give a TEDx speech, but David Shaw and Stanford haven't been like most teams.

TED is a set of conferences about Technology, Entertainment and Design. A TEDx is an independent conference, and Shaw recently spoke at one at Stanford.

The topic of Shaw's speech was, "Is Stanford football changing the world?"

It started by looking back at the 2006 season, when Stanford went 1-11.

"Many people said Stanford should drop football completely, or at the very least, go to a lower level so they can compete, because there's no way we can compete against the football schools," Shaw said. "There's no way we can compete against the money that's spent. There's no way we can compete against other universities that took students of lesser academic ability to play great football.

"There's no way Stanford would ever allow themselves to take those students. There's no way Stanford would allow itself to have a lesser graduation rate just to be better in football, so we might as well just give up."

Shaw then said you will inspire a Stanford man by telling them they can't do something.

"Enter Jim Harbaugh," Shaw said. "Coach Harbaugh became the head coach in 2007. ... He was going to be the guy that rejuvenated Stanford football. I was with him down at the University of San Diego. He asked me a question because he knew I played football at Stanford. He knew we had some success when I was here. His question to me was, 'How did Coach Green do it?' He knew we had won a couple of bowl games.

"I said, Dennis Green had a lot of energy. Check, Coach Harbaugh. Extremely competitive. Check. Representing passing quarterbacks, a big offensive line, tough running game, big physical runner, good receiver play and a tough, physical defense. Jim said to me, 'Got it.' Here comes the phrase: We bow to no man, we bow to no program. We were going to be audacious. We were going to fight anybody, compete with anybody, anywhere, any time."

Stanford has done that, reaching three straight BCS bowl games, even when Shaw took over for Harbaugh when he left for the San Francisco 49ers.

Shaw's father, Willie, coached at Stanford from 1974-76 and 1989-91 and shared some wisdom with his son about coaching at the school.

"My dad told me something in 2007 I'll never forget," David Shaw said. "'David, what you have to remember is Stanford students are inherently competitive. They just are. The admission process ensures that. They are going to be competitive. The trick is to make sure that competitiveness that's there in the classroom is there on the football field and back to the classroom. That it exists everywhere on campus, including the football field. The practices, the weight rooms. It's going to be in the classroom, libraries. It's going to be around Stanford University. Make sure it exists in the football program.'"

Shaw doesn't like when coaches say it's their job to win games.

"I disagree," he said. "Our jobs are to teach young people how to do things that make them successful on the football field, in the classroom and after graduation. We can effect these other universities by saying maybe we won't make compromises anymore. Maybe we will find these great students that can be great football players and we will let them be biology majors.

"Search your favorite football teams all over the country, find what their players major in. It's fascinating. Think about this. One of the biggest things that happens in football is the NFL Draft. A year ago, two first-round draft picks from the same school that both have degrees in engineering. Andrew Luck and David DeCastro It never happened before. We can influence other universities to do what they do, but do it better. That's phenomenal."

So is Stanford football changing the world?

"The answer is yes, but along with that, is we have a responsibility to do so," Shaw said. "Every young man that leaves, I tell them the same thing: 'It is your responsibility with your experiences, with your knowledge, with the context you've accumulated here at Stanford University, all you've been through, positives and negatives, highs and lows, it's your job to leave here and change the world.'"
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Dinsdale
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Re: Is Stanford Football Changing the World?

Post by Dinsdale »

Sam missed the point of the article.

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MgoBlue-LightSpecial
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Re: Is Stanford Football Changing the World?

Post by MgoBlue-LightSpecial »

I'm not reading all that.

I have a lot of respeck for Stanford's program though. I was convinced they'd fall back off the map post-Harbaugh and Luck. No frillls, just a bunch of smart pasty white kids playing smashmouth football. What's not to like?
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R-Jack
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Re: Is Stanford Football Changing the World?

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Southerners hatred for reading, writing and/or arithmetic far outweighs any hatred over race.
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