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NFL-1                 3/1/99

SHAWS LONE NFL FATHER-SON COACHING DUO ON SAME TEAM

During an NFL season, coaches can’t always spend the time they would like with their families.

For WILLIE and DAVID SHAW of the Oakland Raiders, that is not a problem.

Willie is the defensive coordinator of the Raiders. Son David is the team’s offensive quality control coach. Together, they form the lone father-son coaching duo on the same team in the NFL.

They are close, literally and figuratively.

"He has an office right next to mine," says Willie. "We see each other two or three times a day. He is real busy and so am I, but it’s nice to have him so close."

The Shaws are among four father-son coaching tandems in the NFL this year (see below). But only Willie and David are on the same team.

As the Raiders’ defensive coordinator, Willie Shaw has overall responsibility for the team’s defense. And in ’98 in his first season with Oakland, he did an exemplary job. The Raiders vaulted from a last-place defensive finish in 1997 to the league’s fifth-best in ’98. They allowed 284.4 yards per game, compared to 382.3 in ’97.

The biggest improvement came on pass defense. The unit, with CHARLES WOODSON tying for the NFL rookie lead with five interceptions, finished fourth in the league (179.8 passing yards per game allowed), 26 spots better (241.9) than in ’97.

"Willie gave us leadership no one player can provide," said safety ALBERT LEWIS.

Raiders head coach JON GRUDEN agreed.

"He’s a real intense guy, he’s been in wars," says Gruden, referring to Shaw’s Air Force duty in the Vietnam War out of high school. "Our players see that. They appreciate that. He made good adjustments with our defense."

David, 26, has always been around football. He would follow his father to training camps when Willie was an assistant with the Detroit Lions in the mid-’80s. David grew to play wide receiver for Stanford when Willie was the school’s defensive coordinator. While at Stanford, David became one of only three athletes in school history to letter in three varsity sports – football, basketball and track.

"He really lived with the game," Willie says. "He went to training camps with me, he has played the game, he enjoys the game and he has had some good teachers. I’ve always encouraged him to be very good at whatever he decides to do. He’s very involved and he does a real good job with what he does. He is going to be a good coach, but he’s going to be good at whatever he wants to do."

David joined the Raiders last season after serving under Gruden as an offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997. After graduating from Stanford, David was an assistant coach at Western Washington University and Idaho State, and was a coaching intern with the St. Louis Rams in the summer of 1995.

As coach of quality control on offense, David’s responsibilities include drawing up plays on a computer, a job once held by Gruden when he worked under MIKE HOLMGREN when both were with the San Francisco 49ers.

"It’s a great help to have our whole offense on a diskette," David says. "We can always refer back to what we did against a team, what we did in certain situations."

Willie’s coaching career began in 1970 as an assistant at San Diego City College. He spent 17 years in the college ranks, including two tours with Stanford (1974-76 and 1989-91). His second stay was as defensive coordinator under then-head coach DENNIS GREEN.

Willie joined the Raiders after a season as the defensive backs coach of the New Orleans Saints. The Saints ranked sixth in the NFL in pass defense under Shaw.

He served as defensive coordinator for the Rams in 1995 and 1996 and also worked with the San Diego Chargers and Minnesota Vikings. He was the Chargers’ defensive backs coach in 1994 when they went to Super Bowl XXIX.

Father and son understand that the opportunity of coaching with the same club may not last forever.

"As a coach, I want to go where the best opportunity is," David says. "It so happens that this time it was with my dad but the next time it may not be, so we’re just both taking advantage of this opportunity.

"But it is nice to just step next door and talk to my dad."

NFL FATHER-SON COACHING TANDEMS