Buck Shaw
Buck Shaw went 66–48–11 as a head coach, 1924–1957, at NC State, Nevada, Santa Clara, California and Air Force. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (1956, 6–2–1); by them his record is 72–49–12. Share
Six seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1924 at NC State; 1925–28 at Nevada; 1936 at Santa Clara (on file under another coach). They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 66–48–11 career
- Seasons
- 15
- Schools
- 5
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Hall of Fame
- 1972 inducted
- Best season
- 1937 9–0, No. 9
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | NC State * | 2–6–2 | 18th | |||
| 1925 | Nevada * | 4–3–1 | 2nd | |||
| 1926 | Nevada * | 4–4 | 2nd | |||
| 1927 | Nevada * | 2–6–1 | 5th | |||
| 1928 | Nevada * | 0–7–1 | 6th | |||
| 1929–35: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1936 | Santa Clara * | 8–1 | Sugar W | 6 | ||
| 1937 | Santa Clara | 9–0 | Sugar Bowl W | 9 | ||
| 1938 | Santa Clara | 6–2 | ||||
| 1939 | Santa Clara | 5–1–3 | 14 | |||
| 1940 | Santa Clara | 6–1–1 | 11 | |||
| 1941 | Santa Clara | 6–3 | ||||
| 1942 | Santa Clara | 7–2 | 15 | |||
| 1943–44: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1945 | California | 4–5–1 | 6th | |||
| 1946–55: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1956 | Air Force | 0–1 (Wikipedia: 6–2–1) | ||||
| 1957 | Air Force | 3–6–1 | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
- Alvord WolffConsensus All‑American, 1938
- John SchiechlConsensus All‑American, 1939
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 5 | 2–2–1 | 50% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Against rivals | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Conference games | 7 | 2–4–1 | 36% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 35 | 19–10–6 | 63% |
| At home | 35 | 27–6–2 | 80% |
| On the road | 34 | 18–12–4 | 59% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 52 | 38–10–4 | 77% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 21 | 8–11–2 | 43% |
His own 73 games on file, 1937–1957, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Bachman 1938–1941 | 3–0–1 | Michigan State | 4 | |
| Babe Horrell 1939–1942 | 2–1–1 | UCLA | 4 | |
| Tiny Thornhill 1937–1939 | 3–0 | Stanford | 3 | |
| Slip Madigan 1937–1939 | 2–1 | Saint Mary’s (CA) | 3 | |
| Ike Armstrong 1939–1942 | 2–0–1 | Utah | 3 | |
| Jeff Cravath 1941–1945 | 1–2 | San Francisco, USC | 3 |
Buck Shaw’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Mary’s (CA)series | 7 | 5–2 |
| UCLAseries | 7 | 3–3–1 |
| San Franciscoseries | 6 | 5–0–1 |
| Stanfordseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| Loyola Marymountseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Michigan Stateseries | 4 | 3–0–1 |
| Utahseries | 4 | 2–1–1 |
| Californiaseries | 2 | 2–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | NC State | Head coach | |
| 1925–28 | Nevada | Head coach | |
| 1929–35 | Santa Clara | Line coach | |
| 1936–42 | Santa Clara | Head coach | |
| 1945 | California | Head coach | |
| 1946–54 | San Francisco 49ers NFL | Head coach | |
| 1956–57 | Air Force | Head coach | |
| 1958–60 | Philadelphia Eagles NFL | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Assistants who became head coaches
- Len CasanovaSanta Clara, Pittsburgh, Oregon
- Nibs PriceCalifornia
- Eddie ErdelatzNavy, Oakland Raiders
- Chuck TaylorStanford
Coached under him, later head coaches (4)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Len Casanova | Santa Clara, 1936–42: assistant coach | Santa Clara, Pittsburgh, Oregon | |
| Nibs Price | California, 1945: assistant coach | California | |
| Eddie Erdelatz | San Francisco 49ers, 1948–49: defensive coordinator | Navy, Oakland Raiders | |
| Chuck Taylor | San Francisco 49ers, 1949–50: assistant coach | Stanford |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.