Jared Goff Will Work With Ex-Stanford Rival David Shaw With Lions

Shaw is now Detroit's passing-game coordinator after going 3-0 against Cal as the Cardinal's head coach when Goff was the Golden Bears' starting quarterback

Stanford head coach David Shaw (right) after the Cardinal's 41-11 loss to Cal in 2021 / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Former Cal quarterback could not beat David Shaw when Shaw was Stanford’s head coach, but now Goff will try to benefit from Shaw’s wisdom with the Detroit Lions.

Shaw was hired as the Lions passing game coordinator, a move that was reported a few weeks ago but announced officially on Tuesday.  And the key component of Shaw’s job will be Goff, who finished fifth in the MVP voting this past season.   It’s not exactly clear what Shaw’s input in the passing game will be since John Morton is the Lions’ new offensive coordinator and play-caller and Mark Brunell is now the Lions quarterbacks coach. But obviously, as the passing-game coordinator, Shaw will work with Goff at some level.

Shaw was Stanford’s head coach for 12 seasons from 2011 to 2022, reaching a bowl game in eight of those seasons and playing in three Rose Bowls, winning twice in Pasadena.

He was also 3-0 against Cal when Goff was the Golden Bears starting quarterback.

Goff’s first experience against Shaw’s Stanford team in 2013 was a painful one, literally. Goff was a true freshman that season and he went 10-for-19 for 194 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in a 63-13 loss to the 10th-ranked Cardinal.

What is worse is that Goff did not even finish the first half of that game.  He suffered a separated shoulder midway through the second quarter that ended his season and required surgery.

In 2014 as a sophomore, Goff completed 16-of-31 passes for 393 yards and one touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions in a 38-17 loss to Shaw’s Cardinal. That game was remembered more for the many officiating errors made than for the result.

The 2015 season was Goff’s final college season, and the 6-4 Bears figured to have a chance against 15th-ranked Stanford that year.  Goff threw 54 passes in that game – which was only tied for his sixth-most passes in a game in his Cal career under Sonny Dykes – and completed 37 of them for 386 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.  

Despite those numbers and a 139-yard advantage in total offense, Cal suffered a 35-22 loss to the Cardinbal. But at least Goff was not injured in that contest, which was Goff's final Big Game, and he went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft.

Now Shaw is 52 years old and coming off a season as a senior personnel executive with the Denver Broncos, but this job with the Lions is his first coaching job since resigning at Stanford after the 2022 season. Meanwhile Goff is 30 years old and coming off a strong season in which he led the Lions to a 15-2 regular-season record but played poorly in a postseason loss to Washington.

Aside from the Shaw-Goff collaboration, there is Cal connection on the Lions coaching staff. Marques Tuiasosopo, who was a member of the Cal coaching staff for four years from 2017 to 2020, first as the Bears quarterbacks coach and later as their tight ends coach., is now an offensive assistant on the Lions coaching staff.

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