Has Jim Harbaugh Begun a Dynasty? Stanford Smart To Hire David Shaw

Could Jim Harbaugh be to Stanford what Bo Schembechler was to Michigan? 1969 marked the first year of almost 40 straight years of winning seasons at Michigan. 

Jim Harbaugh took over Stanford in 2007and went 4-8. Three seasons later, his Stanford team won the Orange Bowl and finished in the AP top 5.

Harbaugh has since left for the NFL, and Stanford was in a precarious situation.  With the right hire, they could continue their winning ways, but with the wrong hire, they could recede back into sub-.500 winning percentage. 

Stanford got it right and hired the right person for the job; there was almost no question that it would be someone internally.

Nebraska and Michigan football history shows that once a program begins to win, it is better to hire from within to preserve continuity.  As I wrote previously in the Bleacher Report, I argued that the Nebraska dynasty started with the arrival of Bob Devaney.  

Devaney’s first year netted NU football a record of 9-2 and its first bowl win over Miami. This marked the beginning of 40 straight years of winning seasons at the University of Nebraska (similar to when Bo took over in 1969, Michigan never had a losing season until 2008).   

Devaney retired in 1972 and promoted Tom Osborne, who was already an assistant, to head coach.  Osborne brought fame to NU while also becoming its most winning coach and fifth most in NCAA history.  The Cornhuskers never won fewer than nine games under his leadership.

Osborne retired in 1997 and promoted Frank Solich in 1998 as head coach.  Solich also had early success.  He won two conference championships, as well as led the Huskers to the national championship game in 2001. 

But a 7-7 record in 2002 began to sour him with first-year athletic director Steve Pedersen.  After making coaching changes, his 2003 team went 9-3, but it was not enough and Steve Pedersen fired Solich and named Bo Pelini interim coach. 

Pelini won the bowl game and interviewed for the head coaching job but was not hired.  The job went to former Super Bowl and NFL coach Bill Callahan who would introduce the "football fad" of the time, the “West Coast offense.” 

Callahan coached Nebraska from 2004-2007 where his winning percentage was a dismal 55 percent compared with an overall winning percentage of 82 percent from 1962-2003 when Devaney passed on the head-coaching reins to a Nebraska man in Tom Osborne, and Osborne hired a Nebraska man in Frank Solich. 

Callahan could not come close and was fired, along with athletic director Steve Pedersen after the 2007 season.  Osborne took over as AD and knew he had to hire a Nebraska man. Bo Pelini would take over. 

The change happened almost immediately, and Nebraska football has come back.  Pelini’s winning percentage is about 71 percent, but it is clear that NU is on the up and becoming the Nebraska it once was.  Pelini has enjoyed so much success that his name has been mentioned as a possible replacement at Ohio State when Jim Tressel retires (but Ohio State would also be wise to hire an "Ohio State" man).

So Stanford was wise to hire David Shaw from within.  Not only is he familiar with how Harbaugh ran the team, he can continue doing things that Harbaugh has implemented and the players coming back next season will not have a new set of plays, schemes, etc., to learn. 

With Andrew Luck coming back, it was key to preserve an already strong offense and who better than David Shaw, the former offensive coordinator.  The staff turnover will be minimal and players will return next season with the ability to build on what they learned this season.  Stanford was smart to hire Shaw.  

Shaw himself has said there will be little to no change: “We’ve got a good football team. We’ve got a team that’s tough, that’s physical, that’s eager to pick up where we left off,” Shaw said at his news conference.

“Our schemes are going to be the same. It’s going to be very similar. We’re going to be aggressive on defense. We’re going to get after people on defense. We’re going to be aggressive on offense.” 

Look for Stanford to continue their winning ways.