Pride of Detroit
An in-depth look at David Shaw’s coaching history, success, failures, and what it means for the Detroit Lions.
Our 2025 Detroit Lions new coaching profile series continues with new pass game coordinator David Shaw. While he may not have the biggest role on the team, he has one of the most impressive resumes, having spent 12 years as Stanford’s head coach.
And as you may expect from a person who was a Power 5 head coach for a dozen years, there is a ton of public information on him. So let’s get to know Shaw a little better with an extensive profile of the veteran coach.
Previous coaching profiles:
Playing career:
1991-94 — Stanford — WR
Shaw’s playing career isn’t anything particularly notable. However, Stanford had two iconic NFL coaches in the making leading the team during Shaw’s time there: Dennis Green (1991) and Bill Walsh (1992-94).
The other thing notable about his game was that as a receiver his best trait was... as a blocker, something we know the Lions value. Here’s how he described his playing career at Stanford. Seem like a fit?
“I was also one of those receivers that wasn’t the fastest guy, but I was a good blocker. So I was being put in the game to help the running game. I was being put in to crack linebackers and do all of that. It was just a mentality thing that we were going to be a complete offense.”
Coaching start:
1995 — Western Washington — OLB coach
1996 — Western Washington - TE coach
It would be silly to give Shaw the majority of the credit, but it’s certainly worth noting that Western Washington’s best two records in program history remain the 1995 (9-1) and 1996 (11-2) seasons. (Their football program was dissolved in 2009).
Jon Gruden era:
1997 — Philadelphia Eagles — Quality control coach
1998-2000 — Oakland Raiders — Quality control coach
2001 — Oakland Raiders — QB coach
In between seasons at Western Washington, Shaw interned with the Eagles for a summer. Apparently, “his ability to integrate technology into preparation” impressed then-Eagles offensive coordinator Jon Gruden. So Gruden recruited him to a full-time position in Philly the next year.
Shaw followed Gruden to the Oakland Raiders in 1998—where Gruden also hired Shaw’s father (Willie Shaw) as the team’s defensive coordinator.
During this time, Shaw also overlapped with new Lions offensive coordinator John Morton, who served as the Raiders wide receiver coach before sharing the title of quality control coach with Shaw in 2000.
It’s worth noting that during this time Shaw was working closely with veteran quarterback Rich Gannon. Prior to his time with the Raiders, Gannon had a relatively unremarkable 11 seasons split between Minnesota, Kansas City, and Washington. In his six seasons (1999-2004) with the Raiders, Gannon made four Pro Bowls, was first-team All-Pro twice, and earned the league’s MVP in 2002 (the year after Shaw...
