If Stanford Loses at Utah, Should They Fire Head Coach David Shaw?

Stanford Football, think about the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that name. I know I go straight to John Elway, Andrew Luck the list could go on for the players that come to mind. The one thing that doesn't go away is Stanford Cardinal Football wins. I know the Cardinal to be winners, teams that show up and dominate the trenches all game long with energy. 

The David Shaw-led Cardinal as of late don't represent that, at least to me. Many others watching Stanford have expressed their emotions on social media. The fans don't like this brand of football. Even if an opponent outmatches you, you still need to be fighting, and Stanford hasn't.

Stanford recently hosted Washington State, which was a fairly even matchup. Stanford got blown out at home 52-14. That was a hard loss to swallow. Now looking ahead to Utah. Stanford is outmatched, they are facing a really good Utah Utes. The Utes are ranked 12th in the nation and the game is on ESPN at 7 at night. This is going to be interesting. 

Stanford on national television where the entire nation is watching. Stanford got away with the nation not watching last weekend due to being on the Pac-12 Network. Now they're going to be playing in front of many many eyes. If Stanford shows up with the same effort against WAZZU, they will get blown out again. If they show some fight they will lose badly, but it shouldn't look as bad. What happens if Stanford loses?

It all depends on how they lose. Do they get blown out and look awful in every aspect of the game, do they compete and lose late in the game due to talent? If Stanford gets blown out they should fire Head Coach David Shaw. Yes, you are probably thinking "wow he really thinks this is the proper route." Yes, I do and I will explain. If Stanford loses, which is very likely, then they will be 14-24 over the past 4 seasons under Shaw. That is hard to see as a fan, player, coach, and school. David Shaw is paid as a top-10 coach making roughly 9 million. When you pay a coach like that you expect winning. 

David Shaw does a great job leading men, he's a great leader that's no question. A great man that's no doubt. The only problem is those traits have not amounted to wins, and that's the end goal. It'll be hard to fire a coach with the track record he has, looking at his first 8 seasons. If you are going to move on it's now especially if Stanford loses in Utah. It would give the program two weeks to get ahead and start looking for a new head coach. Why wait until the end of the season, get ahead of the game, and find who you want to make the next head coach. Getting a head start can mean getting the best head coach available for the program or having to settle for the next best. 

Truly you can not have a coach with a 14-24 record over the past few seasons, the other sports programs are winning championships, and landing amazing recruits to prepare to win. while Stanford Football is losing games by 40 points, which is unacceptable in terms of the school sports culture. So, yes Stanford should fire David Shaw if they show absolutely no life in Utah. If they compete and show fight and some "Pride" as David Shaw stated multiple times in his press conference following the WAZZU loss, then you may give him another week. If the coaching staff comes out and there are no changes schematically, and they get blown out, fire them for being too prideful. The scheme hasn't worked, if it's not working something needs to change, but David Shaw again stated they wouldn't change anything schematically. The outcome of this game and how it happens will dictate David Shaws' job with Stanford, if he chooses to have a bit too much pride in his systems and gets blown out back-to-back weeks, then he should be fired.