David Shaw

David Shaw
Born	David Shaw
Nationality	American
Occupation	Football coach
Known for	Head coach at Stanford University; NFL coaching career with the Detroit Lions

David Shaw is an American football coach who served as the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal football program and has held coaching positions in the National Football League (NFL). Shaw succeeded Jim Harbaugh as Stanford's head coach and led the program for over a decade before transitioning to professional football coaching roles. As of 2025, Shaw served as the passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions, a position that connected him to a personal and professional history with the franchise, where his father had also coached. Shaw's coaching career has spanned both the collegiate and professional levels, and he has drawn interest from multiple NFL teams for coordinator-level positions. In early 2026, the Lions stripped Shaw of his passing game coordinator title, reassigning it to Mike Kafka, a move that signaled an uncertain future for Shaw within the organization.

Early Life

David Shaw grew up in a football family. His father was a professional football coach who worked for the Detroit Lions, among other teams. This connection to Detroit would later become a significant thread in Shaw's own coaching career. According to reporting by the Detroit Football Network, Shaw's opportunity with the Lions in 2025 "connects David Shaw to his past," referencing his father's tenure coaching in Detroit and the personal significance the city held for the Shaw family. Shaw's upbringing in and around professional football environments provided him with early exposure to the strategic and organizational aspects of coaching at the highest levels of the sport.

Career

Stanford Cardinal

David Shaw served as the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal football program, one of the most prominent positions in college football. He succeeded Jim Harbaugh, who had built Stanford into a nationally competitive program before departing for the NFL. Shaw continued and, in many respects, sustained Stanford's success during his tenure as head coach. As noted by JoeBucsFan.com, "David Shaw succeeded" Harbaugh at Stanford, inheriting a program that had been elevated to national prominence. Shaw's time at Stanford established his reputation as a coach capable of operating at an elite academic institution while fielding competitive football teams within the Pac-12 Conference.

During his years at the helm of the Stanford program, Shaw became one of the most recognized names in college football coaching. His offensive philosophy and ability to develop quarterbacks and other skill-position players drew attention from NFL franchises. After departing Stanford, Shaw transitioned to professional football, seeking opportunities at the coordinator level in the NFL.

Detroit Lions

Shaw joined the Detroit Lions coaching staff, taking on the role of passing game coordinator. The position represented a return to Detroit for the Shaw family, given his father's previous coaching tenure with the franchise. A May 2025 profile by the Detroit Football Network detailed how the Lions opportunity connected Shaw "to his past and ambitions put on hold, and best friend," describing his football life as consisting of "circles within circles" with "the latest loop" bringing him "back to Detroit, where his father coached."

Shaw's tenure with the Lions as passing game coordinator placed him within one of the NFL's most potent offensive units. However, in February 2026, the Lions made a significant organizational change that directly affected Shaw's role. The team officially stripped Shaw of the passing game coordinator title and reassigned it to Mike Kafka. Detroit Jock City reported that this title change left Shaw with "1 foot out" the Lions' door, suggesting that his future with the franchise was in question. The reassignment of the title to Kafka, who had been brought in as part of the Lions' coaching staff restructuring, indicated a shift in the team's offensive coaching hierarchy.

Offensive Coordinator Candidacy

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his role in Detroit, Shaw remained a figure of interest to other NFL teams for higher-ranking coaching positions. In January 2026, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers interviewed Shaw remotely for their open offensive coordinator position. The Buccaneers officially announced that both "Israel Woolfork & David Shaw both met with the Buccaneers remotely on Saturday regarding the team's open offensive coordinator job." The interview demonstrated that Shaw's credentials as a former Power Five head coach and his NFL experience made him a viable candidate for coordinator roles across the league.

The candidacy also prompted commentary from NFL media figures who questioned what specifically made Shaw an attractive candidate for such roles. JoeBucsFan.com wrote that "one of these days, someone is going to have to sit down and explain to Joe in detail what the appeal of David Shaw is," while acknowledging his background as Harbaugh's successor at Stanford. This commentary reflected a broader conversation within football media circles about how Shaw's collegiate record translated to NFL coaching competence and whether his experience at Stanford, a program that often operated under different recruiting and competitive constraints than other elite college programs, adequately prepared him for the demands of NFL play-calling and offensive coordination.

Shaw's interview with Tampa Bay did not result in his hiring for the position, and as of February 2026, his coaching future remained uncertain given the title change in Detroit.

Personal Life

Shaw has deep personal ties to the city of Detroit and the Lions organization through his father's coaching career with the franchise. The Detroit Football Network's profile emphasized that the Lions opportunity was not merely a professional one for Shaw but also carried significant personal meaning, connecting him to family history and to close personal relationships forged during his father's time with the team. The profile described how the opportunity connected Shaw to "his past" and to his "best friend," underscoring the intertwined nature of Shaw's personal and professional lives within the football world.