David Shaw steps down as Stanford football coach after 12 seasons following loss to BYU
David Shaw announced after Stanford's loss to BYU on Saturday that he is stepping down as head football coach at the Pac-12 school after 12 seasons.
"After many prayers and multiple discussions with my wife, one phrase keeps coming to me – it's time," Shaw said. "There are not sufficient words to describe the love and gratitude I feel for my family, all of my former and current players, my staff, this administration and the entire Stanford family. Thank you all."
Shaw leaves as the winningest head coach in program history, with a record of 96-54. In addition to guiding Stanford to three Rose Bowl Game appearances, Shaw is the only four-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
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Stanford has gone through a rough patch, winning 14 games over the last 4 seasons and not winning more than four in any of them.
Stanford is 3-16 in Pac-12 play the past two seasons, including consecutive losses to rival California.
Shaw arrived unusually late to his postgame news conference and said his decision only came in the last few days.
"It’s been great. It’s been a great run," he said. "But it’s time for me to step aside. It’s time for the next group to come in."
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Shaw, a California native who played receiver for Stanford in the early 1990s, replaced Jim Harbaugh as head coach in 2011. He had been offensive coordinator for Harbaugh from 2007-10.
Shaw spent nine seasons as an NFL assistant before joining Harbaugh's staff at the University of San Diego and then following him to Stanford.
He was part of a remarkable program turnaround under Harbaugh and then under his leadership Stanford became the premier program in the Pac-12 with a physical style dubbed Intellectual Brutality.
As the program declined, Shaw has remained steadfastly loyal to his assistant coaches. The staff has had few changes lately, with Shaw repeatedly saying he felt firing assistants was pushing the blame for the team's failures from himself to others.
Stanford is a private school that does not disclose contract terms with its coaches so it is unclear how many years Shaw had left on his deal.
He said he had no plans to pursue another job.
"I’m not burned out by any stretch of the imagination," Shaw said. "I’m kind of anti-employment right now."
Associated Press contributed to this report.