Gordy Shaw Would Have Done Better

[BrewsterBooster]

Too bad Gordy burned some bridges with Brewster. He was an excellent OL coach under two Gopher coaches, Wacker and Mason. He is obviously adaptable because Wacker ran a wide open, pass-first offense and Mason ran a record-breaking run-the-ball-first attack. With middling talent punctuated with a few stars, Gordy's OL was consistently good in both systems.

I think, if we are honest here, Brew made a mistake by firing Shaw. The Gophers did not generally get the big road grader power linemen, so Gordy drew the best he could from the talent he had, generally smaller guys with great cohesiveness and high morale. He took some of these smaller guys and helped mold them into elite, award-winning players. And the great Mason running attack would not have happened without Shaw's refined technique and zone blocking schemes.

This is water under the bridge, but you can't help but wonder what might have been. Davis has got to be an upgrade from Meyer. You could see the poor morale of the OL unit. There must have been a lot of negative energy flowing there. Go Gophers.

 

[The 12th Man]

I continue to be amazed by the love that Shaw gets here. Not saying he was bad, but are people completely discounting Mitch Browning's role in the run game (and as co-offensive coordinator)? Also, Shaw was a DL coach for at least part of his time coaching under Mason. If the guy is the guru everyone here is making him out to be, he would not have gotten moved.

Again, I am not saying he is a bad coach. I am just saying that maybe some folks are overestimating the role he played. The guy isn't Bill Braske.

 

[BrewsterBooster]

Well, Look at What Shaw Did This Season

I continue to be amazed by the love that Shaw gets here. Not saying he was bad, but are people completely discounting Mitch Browning's role in the run game (and as co-offensive coordinator)? The guy isn't Bill Braske.

Well, consider this. Shaw was the Offensive Coordinator this past season at the University of South Dakota. It was their first year in D1 football and with Gordy at the controls, they averaged around 240 yards a game rushing the ball. He might know just a little about o-line play and running the ball.

 

[Zales04]

Well, consider this. Shaw was the Offensive Coordinator this past season at the University of South Dakota. It was their first year in D1 football and with Gordy at the controls, they averaged around 240 yards a game rushing the ball. He might know just a little about o-line play and running the ball.

Who did they play?

 

[Honyocker]

DII Talent Playing a D1 Schedule

Who did they play?

Actually, this is pretty impressive. They moved up to D1 this year with a DII roster. While they did not play a Big Ten schedule, they played teams like Northern Iowa and Montana State. That is a big jump in competition for a DII school. 240 yards a game is pretty impressive. I think Gordy was a very good coach and so did his players. His players hauled down at lot of awards. He was NCAA assistant coach of the year once....that is pretty impressive.

Brew wanted his own team of coaches and it pretty clear Meyer was not as good a coach as Gordy. But Brewster got himself a new OL coach and things should get better. That is the way this business operates. Shaw may find this change was better for his career than staying at MN.

 

[soneillumn]

Gordy was the defensive line coach here, at least when Mason came to Minnesota, right?

 

[Honyocker]

Gordy Shaw Career History

Since 1971, Minnesota has had seven first team All-Americans and 11 total All-Americans. During that time Shaw has either coached or recruited six of them. Of those six players, Ben Hamilton, Greg Eslinger, Mark Setterstrom and Matt Spaeth have all gone on to careers in the NFL.

In the 123 years of football at Minnesota, the Gophers have had seven players receive national awards. Shaw coached or recruited three of the seven national award recipients. He coached Eslinger who won the Rimington Trophy (nation’s top center) and the Outland Trophy (nation’s best interior lineman). Shaw recruited Spaeth who won the John Mackey Award (nation’s top tight end).

In his time with Minnesota, Shaw guided one of the most productive offensive lines in school history. He was part of an offensive staff that made Minnesota the only school in the nation to pass and run for over 2,000 yards in eight straight seasons (1999-06). During his last six seasons with the Gophers he served as the team’s guards and centers coach and was the recruiting coordinator.

From 2002-06 the Gophers accomplished many firsts due to the production from the offensive line. They racked up over 300 yards of offense in a school record 31-straight games and compiled 300 yards of offense in 48 of 52 games. During that time frame, Minnesota also became the first school in NCAA history to have two running backs each run for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. Two of those running backs, Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney, have each gone on to successful careers in the NFL. Minnesota also became the first school in Big Ten history to have three consecutive 3,000 rushing season (2003-05). The offensive line also paved the way for two players to rush for 100 yards in the same game 16 times from 2002-06, the most in the nation during that time. The Gopher passing game also reached new heights as Bryan Cupito set school career records for passing yards, touchdown passes and pass efficiency.

The offensive line’s record-breaking production carried Minnesota to seven bowl berths in eight years and five-straight bowl bids starting in 2002. During that span the team won 38 games which is the most ever in the school’s history during a five-year span since 1903-07. In total, Shaw has coached in nine bowl games in his career.

Shaw coached the Minnesota defensive line from 1997-2000. His defensive line included All-Big Ten performer Karon Riley, who led the Big Ten in sacks twice and was drafted by the Chicago Bears. Shaw’s defensive line racked up 25 of the team’s 32 sacks in 2000 and ranked fourth in the Big Ten in pass defense. Minnesota also ranked first in the Big Ten in pass defense and second in scoring defense and pass defense efficiency.

In 2003, Shaw was honored by receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association for his contribution to Minnesota football on and off the field. In 1999 he was named the Nike Assistant Coach of the Year.

Prior to his tenure with the Gophers, Shaw coached at the University of Wyoming as a part of Joe Tiller’s staff, where he was the offensive line coach from 1990-92. In 1990 he led the team to a 9-4 record and a berth in the Copper Bowl.

 

[btowngopher]

It's hard to say that things would have been much better with Shaw. We will never know. Yes Shaw had some very good results, but he never coached this unit so we will never know what kind of a result he would have had. I'm sure coaching the o-line for Dunbar's offense would present some challenges for Shaw. I'm not a coach but I would think taking every snap out of shotgun would make for different offenisve line play then an offense that never snaps it out of shotgun. Not to mention the talent level on this line is not very high, at least not for this type of offense.

 

[diehard]

Holy Moly, Let's bring Mason back too. For pity's sake, our lines could never finish a last drive to win a game against anyone any good. They were gassed and out of the game in the 4th quarter. All the late game meltdowns were because we could never sustain drives late in the game. Just awesome. We didn't know how to die hard. I expect we are well on the way to have a real O line that can finish. Putting a handful of guys into the NFL is just a joke for a real D1 team, especially with a vaunted running game. Putting so few into the NFL just points out how futile Minnesota Football has been for the last 40 years. Thank goodness for Coach Brewster coming and Gordie moving on. Coach Davis will make things happen.

 

[tjgopher]

Shaw was the Offensive Coordinator this past season at the University of South Dakota.

If Shaw was as good as you say, why was the only place he could find work in Vermillion, South Dakota? He had a year to find something better, but apparently had no offers. Why do you suppose that is? I'm not trying to rip the guy or be a smart aleck. I'm genuinely interested in why he had to find work at a D-I startup in the middle of the nowhere if he was so good.

 

[nemosgold]

I'll take what Davis did at Wisconsin and USC to what Shaw helped do at Minnesota. Remember Miych Browning also coached the line.

 

[gopher7]

Don't underestimate the less than stellar reputation Mason's staff had within the state of Minnesota. Sure, Shaw probably had a good following in some places, but as a whole Mason was not well liked among the local prep scene. So when Brewster came in, I don't blame him one bit for cleaning house. He needed to get his guys in here to signify that this was a different era of Gopher football with a different attitude. Recruiting wise, I don't think you can blame the results so far, we're doing better in state recruiting (which I think Shaw mostly did) this year since we've done since probably 2000 or so. It'll just take a while to see whether or not our current coaches can get it done on the field or not.

 

[Schnoodler]

Shaw has family ties to the area. That's why he stays around.

I don't even know why this is an argument. Shaw is not Brews kinda guy. Really that's the end of the argument. He want's high energy guys that fly in his pattern not their own. It has nothing to do with Shaws ability.

 

[50PoundHead]

I don't know if Shaw could have done better with a line this inexperienced. The talent is probably there, but I don't think we would have had much more success given the fact--and here is my biggest gripe with the Mason era--is that the line was always seemed to be shifting around to get the five best guys on the field (good goal, don't get me wrong), but there never seemed to be much game-ready depth in Mase's last couple of years. The lack of experience is what seemed to do us in this year, especially when the injuries struck.

Brewster went out and recruited speed for his first class and probably could have opted for a bit more beef. I like what he's done thus far with this recruiting class, as we have at least 3 big OLs slated to come in and Carufel getting eligible. If we can Lewan to the mix this year (and Henderson next year), things should be looking up in the talent/depth department. Add this to an equation where folks will all have another season under their belt and I am confident the line will be better.