Chargers interview David Shaw (relevant to Harbaugh timeline)
The Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to conduct at least two in-person interviews with minority candidates. Until today, the Chargers had only conducted one such interview (Leslie Frazier). Although they had interviewed two other minority candidates (Patrick Graham and Steve Wilks), those interviews were conducted virtually and don't count toward the Rooney Rule (*). The Shaw interview puts the Chargers in compliance with the Rooney Rule, so now they are free to hire Harbaugh at any time without breaking any league rules.
The fact that it was Shaw is also significant, given that he and Harbaugh have a long relationship dating back to their time at the University of San Diego and Stanford. It's tempting to 'connect the dots' and surmise that Shaw agreed to take part in a sham interview either as a favor to Harbaugh or in exchange for an assurance that he would have a spot on Harbaugh's future Chargers staff.
In any case, things just got interesting. I think the likelihood that Harbaugh stays just took a hit. On the other hand, from here on out, every day that passes without a Harbaugh-to-the-Chargers announcement increases the likelihood that he comes back.
(*) - . The reason we know the Graham and Wilks interviews were virtual is that both are currently employed as coordinators with playoff teams. Another arcane NFL rule prohibits teams from conducting in-person interviews with any coach currently employed by an NFL team whose season is ongoing, until January 22 at the earliest.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:38 PM ^
Nobody knows anything
January 18th, 2024 at 3:44 PM ^
Um...have you checked with The Shadow?
January 18th, 2024 at 3:51 PM ^
I did, but he only knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.
January 18th, 2024 at 4:03 PM ^
The Shadow?
January 18th, 2024 at 6:15 PM ^
He has the power to clouds men's minds so they cannot see him.
January 18th, 2024 at 4:54 PM ^
But what about The Knowledge??
January 18th, 2024 at 8:22 PM ^
I believe The Knowledge is flying too high to be summoned related to NFL coaching topics at this time.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:38 PM ^
Sure, but if our experience here at Michigan is any indication, it takes several months to actually finalize a contract with Harbaugh.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:56 PM ^
He must have a lot of contract clauses to add about buyout in case he leaves the Chargers and goes back to the Glorious Big House Sidelines.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:38 PM ^
Interviewing Vrabel and Quinn cuts the other way though
January 18th, 2024 at 3:46 PM ^
For team that has a laughingstock defense, I can see them over correcting with a Def focused head coach hire.
January 18th, 2024 at 6:12 PM ^
I think that would be surprising considering they probably feel Herbert is their greatest asset, and they went with a defensive-minded hire with the last guy (who, obviously, was just fired.)
January 19th, 2024 at 8:18 AM ^
should have googled! I totally thought he was a McVay/Lafleur/Shanahan Offensive wunderkind.
January 18th, 2024 at 9:37 PM ^
They just fired their defense focused head coach.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:39 PM ^
I'm torn.
On the one hand this is an incredibly well thought out post with factual references, an embedded tweet, and nice formatting.
On the other hand it reports something I don't like... So I'm forced to neg you.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:47 PM ^
I concur
January 18th, 2024 at 4:19 PM ^
Yes, yes we should kill the messenger.
January 18th, 2024 at 6:01 PM ^
That's a major factor in this blog. I got 37 negs (and counting) for daring to say that if Harbaugh goes there's a good chance he will take 1 or more of the staff with him.
January 18th, 2024 at 6:06 PM ^
Just negged you
January 18th, 2024 at 7:27 PM ^
I just upvoted your neg.
January 18th, 2024 at 6:58 PM ^
Well written with facts but the conclusions from those facts are technically baseless other than opinion.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:40 PM ^
Maybe it's just a coincidence that they interviewed him for HC (and to satisfy the Rooney Rule), but it won't be a surprise to many if he's the OC for Harbaugh in Los Angeles.
January 18th, 2024 at 4:16 PM ^
Man, I can see a lot of stuff. But I can't imagine Harbaugh's pitch for running an NFL offense in the year of some people's lord 2024 was hiring David Shaw as OC.
January 18th, 2024 at 9:16 PM ^
Book still out on Herbert - is he a Stafford type who has all the arm talent but needs everything perfect around him? Or is he a "him" as the kids say wasted away by Staley.
But Harbaugh/Shaw running the ball 38 times a game and giving Herbert 21 passes a game would be a waste IMO.
January 18th, 2024 at 8:11 PM ^
I mean, you could be certain that Shaw would run the Harbaugh offense because that's what he did for years at Stanford
January 18th, 2024 at 3:41 PM ^
Obligatory
January 18th, 2024 at 4:22 PM ^
grace!
January 18th, 2024 at 4:30 PM ^
9 times?
January 18th, 2024 at 5:12 PM ^
Grace? She's been dead for 30 years! "THE BLESSING!!"
January 18th, 2024 at 5:16 PM ^
Different movie, but equally as awesome!
January 18th, 2024 at 5:49 PM ^
All the upvotes for Ferris references! (and 1 use of Christmas vacation)
January 18th, 2024 at 3:44 PM ^
I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about someone blatantly saying, "They only interviewed the black guy so they can hire the white guy, and the black guy was cool with it because that's his buddy, and he did it as a favor."
If it was anyone other than Harbaugh, it would make me sick because it could be true.
Clarification: I do not believe for one second that Harbaugh asked Shaw to interview as a favor, and in return, he would make him his OC. What makes me sick is that. We still live in a world where people assume that the only reason a minority was interviewed is because they had to fill a quota. But what makes me even sicker is that they aren't lying either.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:52 PM ^
It's a sign of the times. I started my own company in Illinois several years ago. The state will give early stage companies some subsidies if we hire POC. We got lucky because we hired a Muslim dude (not because he was Muslim, but rather we thought he was a good sales person), and got several subsidies out of it. $$$$
January 18th, 2024 at 4:05 PM ^
Anyone who would downvotes you for being honest is a douche.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:52 PM ^
I think it might not be as simple as that. This interview kills multiple birds with one stone for them. Shaw has been OC for Harbaugh before at Stanford. Shaw was out of coaching entirely for the last year and has never been a HC in the NFL before. For an interview with Shaw to be conducted by the same team that just interviewed Harbaugh seems like a not so great coincidence for us.
If I were to guess, Harbaugh has spoken with Shaw about his interest in being OC when/if the Chargers offer him the HC job. So the Chargers fulfill Rooney rule, further vet Harbaugh, and get to hire Harbaugh as HC and Shaw as OC all in one shot with this interview. Again, I hope I’m entirely wrong about this…but Shaw interviewing there doesn’t seem random to me.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:54 PM ^
It could also just be that they needed to fulfill the in-person interview requirement and Shaw lives in the area.
January 18th, 2024 at 3:55 PM ^
I really want to believe this…so I will until informed otherwise!
January 18th, 2024 at 4:23 PM ^
spot on buckeyekiller, right where my head was at, nice post
January 18th, 2024 at 3:57 PM ^
I was hoping this wouldn't veer into politics, but perhaps that was inevitable given the particular rule at issue.
Having said that, I don't think anything good can come of delving into the issues you've raised here in this thread, so let's just agree that the Rooney angle to this saga is really unfortunate and leave it at that.
January 18th, 2024 at 4:04 PM ^
Perhaps Harbaugh did recommend Shaw but the issue is that people see Shaw's name and know how his tenure ended at Stanford. Seeing him as a serious candidate for the Chargers is a leap, so then it becomes a question of why was he interviewed.
January 18th, 2024 at 5:01 PM ^
It's not a leap. Shaw's name was seriously thrown around last year for NFL positions and he interviewed for the Broncos (unlike Harbaugh, he didn't just take a call). He's well respected and was long on NFL radars. He turned down many overtures in the past. His coaching issue is it is hard to sustain recruiting and winning at Stanford. That's it. There is no such issue in the NFL which has structures for more parity. He also has NFL assistant experience. Basically, he is thought of as an NFL coach who happened to successfully coach at Stanford.
It's more likely that Harbaugh recommended they interview Shaw. Harbaugh seems like the kind of person who would be furious if the Chargers only interviewed him to satisfy the Rooney Rule, and he would turn down the job if he learned that was the case, because he knows that black coaches and David Shaw deserve better.
January 18th, 2024 at 7:35 PM ^
Get a grip Sod.
January 18th, 2024 at 4:08 PM ^
I've been told on good authority that the majority of NFL teams have a Rooney Rule process already in place, in that the Rooney Rule would rarely (if ever) get in the way of current hiring practices. In short, blaming the Rooney Rule on anything is short-sighted.
January 18th, 2024 at 4:13 PM ^
Jim Caldwell would have been a better and more serious choice. My guess is he wants to be retired from head coaching but if not he should be a coach somewhere.
Dan Campbell embodies the values of Detroit and is a good hire but letting go of Caldwell for Matt Patricia was disappointing.
January 18th, 2024 at 5:36 PM ^
Hindsight is 20/20. Caldwell started with an 11-5 season and then went 7-9,9-7,9-7. Lost both playoff games. Didnt win the division. The team had talent and people thought they shouldve been better. Patricia/Quinn combo at the time seemed like a slam dunk coming from the Pats. Also hiring a "Defensive coach" seemed like it would help with defensive issues. They had Stafford so the offense would be fine.
Hard to predict some Patriot organization guys would be such trash.
January 18th, 2024 at 7:08 PM ^
I appreciate your comment. I am compelled to ask how anyone would consider Patricia as a worthwhile defensive mind when the Patriots were last in defense (I forget which measure, but dead last the season before the Lions hired him) and could not force Philidelphia to punt in the Super Bowl. I was excited for a Belichick disciple until I checked his numbers.
January 18th, 2024 at 7:22 PM ^
Caldwell is still the winningest coach in Lions history
Firing him was Minnesota-firing-Glenn-Mason-level stupidity. Everything you put in your comment has to be taken with the context that it’s THE LIONS we’re talking about
Further, Belichik’s coaching tree is a stump
You didn’t need hindsight to know it was a terrible move. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Caldwell was so maligned in one of the most segregated metro areas in the US
That said, I love Dan Campbell and am glad he’s here along with Brad “Almost As Maligned As Jim Caldwell Gee I Wonder Why” Holmes. This team rocks.